Other Ancient Egyptian Dogs

The stela [grave marker] on the left was found at Abydos and comes from the Middle Kingdom [c. 2040 -1640 BCE]. It was made for Dedusobek, a man about whom scholars know little.

Notice the small dog under the deceased's chair. Some dachshund owners believe that their breed has ancient Egyptian origins, and this stela might give them proof. The dog has a long, stocky body and short legs, typical of the breed.

Another plausible identification is that this dog is a basenji, either full-grown or a puppy. It has the basenji's upright ears and curly tail. Its legs and build, however, do not fit the breed profile. Notice, though, that the artist who carved this piece has trouble with legs and torsos in general. Although Dedusobek, the seated man, is in relatively good form, the child on his lap is not. One factor contributing to the young boy's odd look is his disproportionately long legs; another is his unnaturally long and thin midriff. If the artist was having trouble getting human legs and torsos right, he might have had the same difficulty with those of dogs. Or, perhaps, dachshund owners are correct, and their breed has origins as ancient as those of basenjis.

These two wall paintings come from Beni Hasan, a necropolis containing tombs primarily from the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties. Many of the rock-cut tombs belong to the nomarchs [provincial governors] of the "Oryx" nome and provide important insight into culture of Middle Kingdom Egypt.

Notice that the top dog has the general build of a basenji, but the long rat tail flowing behind it makes the animal either a mix or member of another breed, perhaps a pharaoh or Ibizan hound. The collar makes it unmistakably a domesticated animal and not a jackal or other wild canid sneaking up on the man in front of it.

The bottom dog has the lean build and long legs of a typical sight hound. It resembles a greyhound or general Egyptian "hunting" hound.

The Twelfth-Dynasty coffin on the left belongs to Khui, a man wealthy enough to have a decorated casket—a luxury which only members of the highest ranking classes could afford.

Khui is here depicted with his favorite dog, Iupu. Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo analyzes the scene thus: "The touching tenderness of the master towards his faithful canine servant is typical of the spirit of the Middle Kingdom, an age when sentiment frequently prevailed over form, leading to the creation of delightful works of art that are characterized by freshness and immediacy."

Notice that the dog has the form of a basenji: thin build, long legs, upright ears, and curled tail. Its coloring is all wrong, however. Dalmatian owners like to claim that their breed has ancient Egyptian origins, and this canine representation might be their evidence. Egyptian Treasures notes that the dog is "very similar to the dogs that can be still seen in the Egyptian countryside today."

This wall painting is from the tomb-chapel of Rekhmire at Thebes. Rekhmire served Thutmose III and Amenhotep II during the Eighteenth Dynasty. The dogs at the top left are part of a scene illustrating the arrival of foreign tribute from Nubia, Syria, and Crete.

According to The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, scholars find this scene especially important because it includes "valuable information on trade and tribute, indicating the kinds of raw materials and artefacts that were acquired from particular geographical areas, which has also proved useful in dating surviving imported goods."

Patrick Houlihan, author of The Animal World of the Pharaohs, identifies these dogs as a "pack of hunting hounds."

The wall painting on the left is from the tomb of Ipy, which in located at Deir el-Medineh. Ipy is with his pet dog drawing water from the Nile with the shaduf.

Egypt, The World of the Pharaohs describes the device like this: "A long stick hangs on an upright post that is free to swivel. On one end there is a heavy stone or lump of Nile mud serving as a counterpoise. At the other end is a bucket at the end of a long rope that is dipped into a low-lying canal and the water then transferred to a higher canal."

Although Ipy lived during the Nineteenth Dynasty [c. 1240 BCE], the shaduf that he employs here is still in use today as a method of irrigating gardens and obtaining drinking water.

The dog is perhaps a greyhound or smooth coated saluki puppy.

Papyrus was very expensive, so ancient Egyptian artisans made rough sketches, notes, and doodles on other available material, primarily flat flakes of white limestone or shards of broken pots. These "rough drafts" are called ostraca.

This New Kingdom piece contains a hunting scene in which three dogs are attacking a striped hyena. According to Patrick Houlihan, author of The Animal World of the Pharaohs, the Egyptians "kept hyenas in captivity ... [where] they were fattened for the funerary table—and presumably eaten in everyday life too. ... Most hyenas were caught alive during hunting forays along the desert margins and then held and fed until slaughter."

Houlihan identifies the dogs as salukis.

Howard Carter, the archeologist famous for discovering King Tutankhamun's tomb, found this New Kingdom ostracon during his excavations in the Valley of the Kings.

The piece shows a king and his dog slaying a lion, a scene which scholars believe symbolically represents the pharaoh overcoming the enemies of Egypt.

This ostracon is atypical. Unlike most of the "rough drafts" that ostraca are, this one does not contain a scene found in any royal tomb.

Houlihan identifies this dog as a saluki.

The most exciting twentieth-century discovery in Egypt was, of course, the tomb of King Tutankhamun, found in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, west of Luxor. Unlike most royal burial sites, this one had never suffered the thieving of looters. The tomb had been virtually undisturbed since Tutankhamun's death in 1327 BCE, so it held all of the items originally buried with the king. This treasury of beautiful artifacts has allowed scholars to draw more complete and accurate conclusions about New Kingdom royal burial practices.

On the right is one artifact from the collection—the king's fly-whisk. It is made of wood covered in gold. The curved edge is pierced with thirty holes into which white and dark brown ostrich feathers were once fixed.

One side contains a scene of the young king hunting ostriches from his chariot. Notice that beside the chariot running full out is a heavy boned hunting dog. Obviously, the dog is fast, for it can keep up with a horse-drawn chariot to chase an ostrich, a bird capable of running 40 miles per hour. Although it shares some characteristics with a greyhound, its lion-like, long tail and heavy build make it a different breed.

The scene to the left comes from a painted sandal box found by Howard Carter in King Tutankhamun's tomb.

Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo describes the scene thus:

The dominant figure is that of Tutankhamun in his chariot with the reins tied around his waist, leaving his hands free to shoot arrows into the confused mass of enemies. The pharaoh ... represents the guarantor of order, while the enemy hordes ... personify chaos.

Notice the two dogs who have accompanied their master into battle. Determining their breed is difficult because of the lack of realistic proportion. "Size encodes importance in Egyptian art," says Gay Robins, author of The Art of Ancient Egypt. The largest figure is typically the tomb owner, in this case Tutankhamun. Are the dogs in proportion to their master and his horses? Then they might be greyhounds or smooth coated salukis. Or are they in proportion to the Nubians they are attacking? If so, then they are a much more frightening breed of dog.

The wall decoration on the right is a painted sunk relief. It depicts Pabasa and his dog, both of whom lived during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. His tomb-chapel is located at Thebes, specifically in an ongoing excavation at the Asasif necropolis.

The deceased with a favorite pet beneath his chair is a typical motif in ancient Egyptian art, found in tombs for both royalty and more common citizens. Pabasa was merely the steward of a priestess of Amun.

Houlihan identifies the dog beneath the chair as a saluki. Its thin build, floppy ears, and long tail might also make it a young greyhound. The dog's name, Hekenu or "Exultation," is recorded in the hieroglyphics.

Ancient Egyptians recorded over seventy dog names. According to Egyptian Household Animals, these names "refer to colour ['Blacky,' 'Ebony'], to character ['Good Herdsman,' 'Reliable,' 'Brave One'], and to qualities such as speed ['North-wind,' 'Antelope']. Some were even given numbers as names ['the Fifth,' 'the Sixth'], on par with the Roman first names Quintus and Sextus. ... Whether the appellation 'Useless' is an insult or a name of affection remains uncertain."