The Egyptian dog Abuwtiyuw , also transcribed as Abutiu (died before 2280 BC), was one of the earliest documented domestic animals whose name is known. He is believed to have been a royal guard dog who lived in the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC), and received an elaborate ceremonial burial in the Giza Necropolis at the behest of a pharaoh whose name is unknown.
35-580: An inscribed stone listing the gifts donated by the pharaoh for Abuwtiyuw's funeral was discovered by Egyptologist George A. Reisner in October 1935. It was apparently part of the spoil material incorporated into the structure of a Sixth Dynasty mastaba (pharaonic-era tomb) after the demolition of the funerary chapel belonging to Abuwtiyuw's owner, where the stone likely had originally been installed. The white limestone tablet measures 54.2 × 28.2 × 23.2 cm (21.3 × 11.1 × 9.1 in). The inscription
70-513: A sighthound , a lightly built hunting dog similar to a greyhound, with erect ears and a curly tail. The text of the inscription translated by Reisner describes the gifts offered by the pharaoh in tribute at Abuwtiyuw's funeral: "The dog which was the guard of His Majesty, Abuwtiyuw is his name. His Majesty ordered that he be buried (ceremonially), that he be given a coffin from the royal treasury, fine linen in great quantity, (and) incense. His Majesty (also) gave perfumed ointment, and (ordered) that
105-406: A type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hounds , which rely on scent and endurance. These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it in sight, and overpowering it by their great speed and agility. They must be able to detect motion quickly, so they have keen vision. Sighthounds must be able to capture fast, agile prey, such as deer and hares , so they have
140-471: A Saluki, appearing in the excavations of Tell Brak dated approximately 4,000 years before present. The earliest complete European description of a sighthound and its work, the Celtic vertragus from Roman Spain of the 2nd century C.E., comes from Arrian 's Cynegeticus . A similar type, possibly a moderately sized male sighthound, with a height of 61–63 cm, of approximately the same historic period,
175-559: A higher number of retinal ganglion cells in their “visual streak”, retain more heightened sensitivity than other dog types to objects and rapid movement in the horizontal field of vision. Sighthounds such as the Saluki/Sloughi type (both named after the Seleucid Empire ) may have existed for at least 5,000 years, with the earliest presumed sighthound remains of a male with a shoulder height around 54 cm, compared to
210-431: A light, lean head, which is dolichocephalic in proportion. This shape can create the illusion that their heads are longer than usual. Wolves and other wild dogs are dolichocephalic or mesaticephalic , but some domestic dogs have become brachycephalic (short-headed) due to artificial selection by humans over the course of 12,000 years. Dolichocephalic dogs have a wider field of vision but smaller overlap between
245-580: A record of 2–1. Reisner began his studies at Harvard University in 1885. There he gained a B.A. degree in 1889, followed by a M.A. in 1891 and a Ph.D in Semitic Languages in 1893. With the support of his advisor, assyriologist David Gordon Lyon , he became a traveling fellow and started postdoctoral work in Berlin for three years. In Germany, Reisner studied hieroglyphics with Kurt Sethe and turned towards Egyptology as his main field. Reisner
280-406: A tomb be built for him by the gangs of masons. His Majesty did this for him in order that he (the dog) might be Honoured (before the great god, Anubis)." Although it was common to bury dogs in ancient Egypt, the funeral of Abuwtiyuw was unusually elaborate, an honour normally reserved for upper-class humans. The pharaoh's gifts suggest that the corpse was mummified, as was commonly done with humans at
315-628: A very flexible back and long legs for a long stride, a deep chest to support an unusually (compared to other dogs) large heart, very efficient lungs for both anaerobic and aerobic sprints, and a lean, wiry body to keep their weight at a minimum. Sighthounds have unique anatomical and physiological features, likely due to intentional selection for hunting by speed and sight; laboratory studies have established reference intervals for hematology and serum biochemical profiles in sighthounds, some of which are shared by all sighthounds and some of which may be unique to one breed. The typical sighthound type has
350-656: Is composed of ten vertical rows of hieroglyphs, separated by vertical lines. Abuwtiyuw appears to have been a sighthound , a lightly built hunting dog similar to a greyhound , with erect ears and a curly tail. The tomb in which his tablet was discovered is in Cemetery G 2100 in Giza West Field, close to the western side of the Great Pyramid of Giza ( Pyramid of Khufu /Kheops). Herodotus documents that in ancient Persia dogs were protected animals, held in
385-409: Is highly unlikely that dogs would have been eaten. Radiographs of exhumed dogs in the ancient world have revealed that the mummification process involved wrapping the embalmed bones together with bandages and placing them within a wooden statue of Anubis , the jackal-headed deity associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion . The only source from which Abuwtiyuw
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#1732782348775420-422: Is known is a stone inscription tablet that may have come from the funerary chapel of the dog's owner. The tablet was apparently among spolia used to build another grave in approximately 2280 BC, a sixth-Dynasty mastaba , after the chapel's demolition. It was discovered on 13 October 1935 by Egyptologist George A. Reisner during a joint Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts expedition, and removed from
455-555: The Warmington Roman dog is described from a well-preserved skeleton found in England. Sighthound type "gracile" bones, dating from the 8th to 9th century CE, anatomically defined as those of a 70 cm (28 in) high "greyhound", were genetically compared with the modern Greyhound and other sighthounds and found to be almost identical with the modern Greyhound breed, with the exception of only four deletions and one substitution in
490-525: The 25th dynasty of Egypt were buried. The chronology of the tombs that he developed and the interpretations that followed have been more recently disregarded as erroneous. Reisner found the skull of a Nubian female (who he thought was a king) which is in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard . Reisner believed that Kerma was originally the base of an Egyptian governor and that these Egyptian rulers evolved into
525-728: The DNA sequences, which were interpreted as differences probably arising from 11 centuries of breeding of this type of sighthound. Population genomic analysis proposes that true sighthounds originated independently from native dogs and were comprehensively admixed among breeds, supporting the multiple origins hypothesis of sighthounds. Although today most sighthounds are kept primarily as pets , some of them may have been bred for as many as thousands of years to detect movement of prey, then chase, capture, and kill it primarily by speed. They thrive on physical activity. Some have mellow personalities, others are watchful or even hostile towards strangers, but
560-641: The Egyptian origins of the Kushite culture since they were considered somewhat closer to the Caucasian stock. Modern scholarship has recently disregarded these ideas, emphasizing the many links between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Nubia and even advancing the statement that Nubia had a strong influence over Egypt, especially during prehistoric and early historical times. # denotes interim head coach Sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds ) are
595-853: The Western cemetery in Giza was granted by Gaston Maspero , director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service . The area was divided into three sections, and chosen by lot. The southern section was given to the Italians under Ernesto Schiaparelli , the northern strip to the Germans under Ludwig Borchardt , and the middle section to Andrew Reisner. He met Queen Marie of Romania in Giza. During this first expedition, Reisner gathered and catalogued approximately 17.000 objects. In 1907, Reisner
630-406: The eyes and therefore possibly poorer depth perception in some of their field of view than brachycephalic dogs; most, if not all, dogs have less visual acuity than their antecedent, the wolf. There is no science-based evidence to confirm the popular belief that sighthounds have a higher visual acuity than other types of dogs. However, there is increasing evidence that dolichocephalic dogs, thanks to
665-515: The highest esteem during their lifetime. According to the ancient Greeks, dogs in ancient Egypt were treated with the same respect as they were in Persia, and were commonly mummified after death before being buried in family tombs. The ancient Egyptians and others of the Near East believed that dogs were spiritual beings, similar to humans, and they were "often associated with particular deities and
700-561: The importance of recording every discovery in order to provide comprehensive interpretations of a site, taking into account the debris and minor artifacts. In this sense, he distanced himself from the work of previous excavators, whose approaches were more similar to those of treasure hunters. Reisner advanced a theory of stratigraphy in an appendix of his manual Archaeological Fieldwork in Egypt: A Method of Historical Research, published posthumously. Reisner's views on Nubia were conditioned by
735-523: The independent monarchs of Kerma. He also created a list of Egyptian viceroys of Kush . He found the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I , the mother of King Khufu (Cheops in Greek ) who built the Great Pyramid at Giza . During this time he also explored mastabas . Arthur Merton (London Times) remarked in 1936 in the aftermath of the Abuwtiyuw discovery that Reisner "enjoys an unrivalled position not only as
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#1732782348775770-617: The instinct to chase running animals remains strong. Apart from coursing and hunting , various dog sports are practiced with purebred sighthounds, and sometimes with lurchers and longdogs . Such sports include racing , lure coursing , and other events. A number of breeds or types of dogs which do not hunt solely by speed and sight, as well as a number of non-hunting breeds, are currently being recognized as sighthounds, either formally or informally by kennel clubs, or lure and live coursing clubs. These include: When competing in conformation shows , most Anglophone kennel clubs , including
805-586: The name Abuwtiyuw is not fully translatable, but he surmised that ꜥbw ("abuw") is an onomatopoeic representation of a dog's bark, as this component often is found in Ancient Egyptian dog names. Edward C. Martin Jr. claims that the name means 'With Pointed Ears', which would fit the description of the Tesem. George Andrew Reisner George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942)
840-752: The outstanding figure in present-day Egyptology , but also as a man whose soundness of judgement and extensive general knowledge are widely conceded." Although Reisner was not the first to acknowledge the importance of stratigraphy in archaeological excavations, he was one of the first archaeologists to apply it during his excavations in Egypt and develop the methodological principles. Previously, only Flinders Petrie had paid some serious attention to this technique in his book Methods and Aims in Archaeology. Reisner took care on identifying different stratigraphic deposits and removing them layer by layer. He insisted on
875-743: The powers they wield". A number of the early dynastic royal burial grounds contain the graves of dogs, along with women and servants of the royal household. Ashkelon cemetery in the Southern District of Israel is perhaps the best-documented dog cemetery in the ancient world, but dog mummies have been unearthed en masse in sites across Egypt including Rhoda in Upper Egypt, Thebes , Abydos , and near Maghagha . The ancient Egyptians mummified many animal species, from cats and gazelles to crocodiles , baboons , and birds. Typically, many animal species were consumed as meat after death, but it
910-550: The site four days later. The find was recorded by the main expedition photographer, Mohammedani Ibrahim, who took more than 9,321 large-format glass-plate images on Reisner's expeditions. The tablet is now held by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (inventory number JE 67573). Neither the dog's grave nor mummy have been recovered. The tomb in which the tablet was unearthed is in Cemetery G 2100 in Giza West Field, close to
945-568: The team leading the diggings there, Sir Wellcome . From 1919 to 1921, Reisner excavated the sites of Jebel Barkal (The Holy Mountain), el-Kurru and Meroe in Nubia . Upon his studies at Jebel Barkal, in he found the Nubian kings were not buried in the pyramids but outside of them. His studies in the Pyramid field of el-Kurru led him to reconsider the role of this royal cemetery, where kings of
980-569: The term "group B" has fallen into disuse). After a decade in Egypt, Reisner headed the Harvard excavation of Samaria , first in 1908 and Gottlieb Schumacher , and for a second time in 1910, when he discovered written documents testifying the presence of an Egyptian population in 8th century BCE Palestina. In 1910, he was appointed Curator of Egyptian Art at Boston Museum of Fine Arts and in 1911 Resiner and his family traveled back to America, where he reassumed teaching at Harvard. In 1913, Reisner
1015-423: The theoretical ideas of his own time, many of which were based on racist considerations about the progress and decline of cultures. From his perspective, the subsequent stages of Nubia civilization were the result of the influx of external peoples that migrated into the country. He deemed the local black populations incapable of the artistic or architectural achievements he faced during his excavations. He postulated
1050-552: The time, in the belief that the Ka (Egyptian soul) of the dead would enter into its afterlife through the ceremonial burial. Although no images of Abuwtiyuw have been found, the text characterizes him as ṯzm ( Tesem ), a lightly built hunting dog similar to a greyhound , with erect ears and a curly tail. The Tesem dog features in predynastic depictions, making it one of the oldest known breeds of dog, and images of it are common throughout Ancient Egyptian history. According to Reisner,
1085-432: The western side of the Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Khufu /Kheops). The white limestone tablet measures 54.2 × 28.2 × 23.2 cm (21.3 × 11.1 × 9.1 in) and is inscribed with ten vertical rows of hieroglyphs, separated from each other by vertical lines. Part of a leash is visible on the upper-right corner, suggesting that the tablet displayed an image of Abuwtiyuw with his owner. Abuwtiyuw appears to have been
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1120-498: Was an American archeologist of Ancient Egypt , Nubia and Palestine . Reisner was born on November 5, 1867, in Indianapolis . His parents were George Andrew Reisner Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Mason. His father's parents were of German descent. He married Mary Putnam Bronson, with whom he had a daughter, also called Mary. In 1889, Reisner was head football coach at Purdue University , coaching for one season and compiling
1155-716: Was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1914 and the American Philosophical Society in 1940. On his return from Germany in 1899, Reisner organized his first archaeological expedition to Egypt (1899-1905), funded by philanthropist Phoebe Hearst . In subsequent seasons, he excavated the Middle Kingdom sites of Deir el-Ballas and El-Ahaiwah, where he developed an archaeological methodology that characterized his work from that moment on. In 1902, permission to excavate
1190-534: Was hired by the British occupation government in Egypt to conduct an emergency survey in northern Nubia in response to potential damage of archaeological sites during the construction of the Aswan Low Dam . There, he developed a still-in-use chronology that divided the earliest history of Ancient Nubia according to four successive cultural groups that he named Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group X (although
1225-412: Was tasked with training the young archaeologist O.G.S. Crawford in excavation techniques, Crawford was later to warmly recall that Reisner was "an excavator of the first rank". Soon after, he organized the joint expedition Harvard-Boston. Between 1913 and 1916 excavations were conducted in the ancient site of Kerma (Nubia). He also excavated two cemeteries at Jebel Moya , encouraged by the director of
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