Female Sloughi nursing her 5 cubs - Middle Kingdom limestone figurine 2033 - 1710 BC - Egypt - Louvre Museum in Paris.
The Sloughi is a very ancient greyhound. Genetic research has found that this breed is at least 8,000 years old and is indigenous to Northern Africa (no relation to Salukis or other 'Oriental' greyhounds). Zooarchaeologists have found a sloughi skeleton dated over 5,500 years ago in predynastic Egypt; the first representations of this African greyhound date back to the same period (an ivory statuette and a hunting scene painted on tomb 100 of Nekhen).
I wrote about this ancient breed in "ORIGINS - In search of ancient dog breeds" (Part One: from Prehistory to Ancient Greece) online in paper and electronic format. In English, Italian, Spanish, French and Russian.
If you are interested in understanding how dogs and humans evolved in ancient times, you know what to do.
#pets #PetsAreFamily #puppylove #Archaeology #history #art #Egyptology #Dogs
On Sloughi hound, its ancient origins, its #relationship with #ancient #Egyptian #PEOPLE1 and what I wrote about this breed in my #book #ORIGINS (details in the alternative text)
#dogs #dogsarefamily #pets #puppy #Archaeology #History #art #AncientKingdoms #Egypt