The Bossier banner., 1892-03-03
A DOG IN OLD EGYPT.
He Was Friend. and Treated Like HUI
man Being.

man Being.
In Egypt the dog was friend and
faithful servant. He lived in the house
with his master, followed him in his
walks, attended the public ceremonies,
sometimes free, at other times held IN
leash by slave or child, or in prlncely
families by favorite dwarf. At his
meals he had his place marked under
the benches of the guests. AS in Greece
and Rome, he was there to dispose OF
bones the fragments of meat, and the
pieces of bread that were thrown down,
and in a general way to keep the dining
room clean. These were certainly not
very refined fashions, and if our house
| dogs had to satisfy themselves in this
way, they would be likely to die OF hun
| ger.
The ancients did not feel the delicate
| tastes and disgusts in such matters that
we experience; their life presented ex-
cessive refnements and rude features
| of which we have no idea, side by side.
The house dog in Egypt was domestic,
working at his trade, only his trade was
one Of those in which we have ceased to
employ him: it may not have been a
great thing that he was lost, but it is in
the kitchen or his kennel that he fin
ishes up his masters dessert.
The house dog was shaved, combed
and washed. He was sometimes tinted
with benna as if he were woman. He
wore fine collars on his neck, furnished
sometimes with an earthernware clasp
in the shape of bell or flower Chill
dren played with him, became attached
to him, and the hero of one story, to
whom his fates had predicted at his
birth that he would die of the bite of n
dog willingly confronted the threatened
danger rather than be separated from
the dog which he had raised. He, of
course, had a name, to which he an
swered: Si-togai, the son of the bat;
l. Akeni the ferreter; Khaoubson, the
lamp or star; Soubou, the strong, and
Nahsi, the black.
He is seen with kings as well as with
common persons. Ramesis H., during
the earlier years of his reign, was al
ways escorted by female dog, which
was called Anaitiennaktou, or brave as
the goddess Anaitis A petty king OF
the eleventh dynasty, about $500 B. c.,
had five dogs, which he SO loved that he
carved their names and engraved thei,
portraits on his tomb. They were, in
deedsA Slooded animals, whose names
revealed their foreign origin The
finest of them was called Abaikarou, &
faithful transcription of the word A bal
; kour, by which the hunting dog is desig
, mated in many of the Rerber districts
The shepherds had dogs Of medium
7 size, with pointed ears, like those whicl
> guard the focks of Upper Egypt
, Hunters sought out two or three kind
y of hounds, some having straight ear
and short tails, and some dropping ear
and long tail, like the slouguis of tn
modern Berbers. They are to be see
\ in many of the tombs, springing in pur
: suit of gazelles and antelopes or rur
!, ming down the hare and the ostrich.
few pugs, heavy and .grotesque lik
ours, are represented occasionally
rather as house dogs than as hunter:
These animals were in considerabl
number, and made the ancient Egyptia
villages as dangerous at night as moe
ern villages are. An officer relegate
, to one of the delta burgs a few year
q after the death of Rameses II. con
! planned bitterly of their boldness in
a letter addressed to one of his chiefs:
:, when, sometimes, he says, ''tf
~ people of the country meet to drin
/. Cilician beer and go out to open tt
~ bottles-there are two hundred larl
&C. mastiffs and three hundred wolf-doI
"a waiting all day at the door of my hou
- every time go out at nightfall
y. take part in the feast am kept out
"a have not with me the little wolf-dt
20 of Nahilon, the royal scribe, who lodg
=. with me. He saves me from the 9th
~ dogs. At whatever time / go he. go
- with me on the street, and when
barks l run, swinging my clubs al
rs whips. It is, in fact, only pack
-. NANCY, high-tailed wolf-dogs prowlil
~ around the cattle-pens. When tn
M have made their round, the largest on
N in front, in compact mass, as If in
10 bunch, one would say that it was t
&C enchantmentof some god, a flame whi
h. had fixed itself out and would not
rn 60"
III Rowing dogs are less numerous a
he less ferocious now, but they become
To- times terrible to strangers. 1t has OFF
re happened to me, when casually passi
re. through village of upper Egypt abe
be midnight, to be reminded when I
ch them of the bulldog in one of Dicke
I n novels, :" bitter of man and killer
If chickens for sport, which usually Ii
a on the right side of the street, but q
he hid itself on the left side, SO as to
md ready to jump upon the first passer-b
MT: AS it is under Tewfik Pasha, so it '
md in the time of Rameses H., and the
of perience of the present day enables
- to understand exactly what our SCI
meant in the passage have just quot
Mature.
oor Birds and the wind.
'uc- All birds seem to have instinc
az l,ror,ladoa that II thew once surrer