Egypt ; and tlie specimen here delineated
(Fig. 237) is from one of the tombs of the IYth
dynasty, 3400 years b . c.420 This dog is
cotemporary with the hieroglyphic dog, and
next to that is the oldest form of grey-hound
we possess. There are now extant only the
monuments of the IYth, Vth, and Vlth dynasties
in detail, and very few of other dynasties
to the Xlth inclusive ; or we should, in
all probability, have beheld portrayed many
other varieties of dogs. Again, it is quite
by accident that dogs are figured at all in the
early pyramid days ; because the Egyptian
artist was not exhibiting a gallery of Natural History in these painted sepulchres,
but merely introducing, with the likeness of the deceased proprietor, those things the
latter had loved during his lifetime ; among them the portrait of his favorite greyhound.
When arrived at the Xllth dynasty we find a very rich collection, because
we happen to have stumbled upon -the tomb of a great dog-fancier. It is worthy of
remark, however, that although the Egyptians have accidentally represented almost
the whole fauna of the Nile on the monuments, yet there were some common animals
which never appear in sculptures now extant— as the wild ass, the wild boar, &c.
Some dogs have likewise been left out, because there was no object in. drawing them.
Martin (Hist., of the Dog) informs us that a similar variety of grey-hound is very common
still in Asia and Africa ; and Mr. William A. Gliddon, who has spent years in the
Indian Archipelago, informs me that a curl-tailed grey-hound of this form is quite
common among the Dyaks of Borneo, and among the aboriginal inhabitants of the Malayan
peninsula. They make good hunting dogs. Color—dark brown, with black spots.
The species of grey-hound given in the above sketch is often repeated on the monuments
of the I Vth, Yth, and’Vlth dynasties, with precisely the same characters—long,
erect ears, curled tail, &c. ; only the tail in some specimens is much shorter than in
others, having evidently been cut.
Fia. 238.421 Fig. 2S9.422
Hyena.
For the instruction of orthodox naturalists, who derive all canidoe from the Noachian
' pair of wolves, we submit the grandsire (Fig. 238) of the
F ig. 240.423 said lupine couple, who was alive in Egypt 3400 years b . c.;
together with one of their hyena uncles (Fig. 2 3 9 ) ;,and a
jackal (Fig. 240)— their cousin in perhaps the forty-
second degree.
The scarcity of documents from the I Vth to the end of
the Xlth dynasty, compels us to descend to the Xllth —
Jackal. 2400-2100 years b . c. Here we stand, not merely at a
point which is several centuries before the birth of Abraham ; but, at a day when, if
the deluge occurred at b. o. 2348, the Egyptians, besides the wolves, hyenas, and
jackals, in a wild state, possessed many kinds of dogs running about their houses,
along with the common dog and grey-hound, preceding; whereas N oah’s seamanship,
several hundred years afterwards, could only rescue one pair of wolves from drowning
on the summit of Mount Ararat, thousands of feet above the line of perpetual glaciers.
The subjoined specimen (Fig. 241) of another
species, is from the tomb of R oti, who
kept his kennel admirably stocked, during
the Xllth dynasty. This dog is beautifully
drawn and colored on the monument, and
is one of the most superb canine relics of
antiquity. Mr. Gliddon informs me that
this is not only the common gazelle dog of
Nubia at the present day, but that their
ears are still cropped by the natives in the
same way; as Prisse’s drawing attests.426
We have not been able to find the portrait
of an ancient rough hound, alluded to
by Hamilton Smith; but here (Fig. 242) is
the modern rough-haired grey-hound of
Arabia, probably the same; and. which
will be interesting to the reader as a contrast
to the other grey-hounds: it bears all
the marks of a distinct species; but resembles
the Laconian breed.
Fig . 241.424
Fig. 242. «5
Another variety of grey-hound is said by
Morton to be represented , with rougher
hair, and bushy tail, not unlike the modern Arabian grey-hound.
A grey-hound exactly like the English grey-hound, with semi-pendent ears, is seen on
a statue of the Vatican at Rome.
Martin, whose work is full of instructive matter, says— “ Now we have, in Modern
Egypt and Arabia, and also in Persia, varieties of grey-hound closely resembling those
on the ancient remains of art; and it would appear that two or three varieties exist J p ,,
one smooth, another long-haired, and another smooth but with long-haired ears resembling
those of a spaniel. In Persia, the grey-hound, to judge from specimens we have
seen, is silk-haired, with a fringed tail. They were of a black color; but a fine breed,
we are informed, is of a slate or ash color, as are some of the smooth-haired greyhounds
depicted in Egyptian paintings. In Arabia, a large, rough, powerful race
exists; and about Akaba, according to Laborde, a breed of slender form, fleet, with
a long tail, very hairy, in the form of a brush, with the ears erect and pointed—H
closely resembling, in fact, many of those figured by the ancient Egyptians. In Rou-
melia, a spaniel-eared race exists. Col. Sykes, who states that none of the domesticated
dogs of Dukhun are common to Europe, observes that the first in strength and
■size iB the Brinjaree dog, somewhat resembling the Persian grey-hound (in the possession
of the Zoological Society), but more powerful. North of the Caspian, in Tartary
and Russia, there exists a breed of large, rough grey-hounds. We may here allude to
thh great Albanian dog of former times, and at present extant, which perhaps belongs
to the grey-hound family.” 427
The grey-hound can thus he distinctly traced hack in several forms for 2000, and in
one for more than 5000 years; and there is every reason to helieve the Egyptian class
emhraced at least two, if not more, distinct species. Unlike all other dogs of the chase,
they are almost destitute of smell, and pursue game hy the eye alone. This deficiency
of smell is connected with anatomical peculiarities, which must not he overlooked;
because you cannot, hy breeding, give a more powerful organ of scent to a grey-hound,
without changing the animal into, something else than a grey-hound.