Turkish Olive Oil Wrestling

Modern-day Turkish oil wrestling is a sports spectacle that draws approximately a thousand barefoot wrestlers covered in olive oil and stripped to the waist, wearing pants of water buffalo leather (Sansal; "Turk Fight Series"). Oil wrestling is accompanied by a large fair featuring music and celebrations, where people eat roast lamb to the accompaniment of belly dancing and traditional drum and flute music (Sansal). Oil wrestling in Turkey dates back to the Persian Era, when in 1065 B.C., the legendary wrestler Rostam engaged in it to "[save] his country from the evil forces" (Sansal).

Modern Turkish oil wrestling, however, is most likely a modern variation of the oil wrestling that occurred in ancient Greece. The "'tr

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Category: History - T