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doubtless known to the inhabitants of Assyria and Babylonia. In the bilingual
lists which give all words in Accadian and Assyrian, we find the Assyrian word
na-adh-ru, "the protecting dog," with the Accadian equivalent, sega lik-ka-gab-a,
which probably means "the good mouth-opening dog;" then follows the Assyrian
cab-bi-luv, from "to tie up" or "chain up;" represented by the same lik-ka-gab-a.
Houghton,* who gives these translations, thinks that na-adh-ru and cab-bi-luv
both stand for some strong dog, which was used both as a watch-dog to guard
the house and as a shepherd-dog to guard the flocks. The idea embodied in the
Assyrian and Accadian words cab-bi-luv and lik-ka-gab-a, "the chained-up mouth-
opening dog," answers well to a house-dog; and the notion conveyed by the
Assyrian and Accadian words, na-adh-ru and sega, "the good protecting dog,"
is quite descriptive of the same kind of dog when used as a shepherd-dog.
One of the best representations of "the good protecting dog" is on the cylinder
seal of Bel-Bin (see tailpiece at end of chapter).† This dog seems to be of a large,
powerful breed, with his tail rolled up and his ears drooping down. Another
shepherd-dog is represented on a cylinder-seal of the Clercq collection.‡ The
other dogs of the Babylonians and Assyrians were all intended for the chase,
from the very large mastiff to the swift grayhound.
Even to-day one still finds in those regions, extending as far as Asia Minor,
a large shepherd-dog of wolf-like appearance, used, as was the case among the
Assyrians, to guard houses and protect the flocks from wild animals. One can
form some idea of the size and savage character of this recent form from the
report of Diest: "In Delilerkoi I had a fight with a dozen savage shepherd-dogs
which were about as large as my little horse and almost pulled me from my saddle."
We may then assume that the Assyro-Babylonian culture did not derive the
Canis matris optimæ from the later inhabitants of Anau; the size of the Assyro-
Babylonian dog favoring rather Albrecht's opinion of the origin of both a large
and a small dog in Central Asia, the large dog being that of the ancient Babylonians
and Assyrians.
If we turn now to the Egyptian culture, thinking perhaps to find there traces
of Canis matris optimæ, the monuments show us several types which correspond
in size and shape to that animal. The real shepherd-dogs of Egypt as we find
them, for instance, in painting and sculpture at Sakarah,‖ and in the pyramids
of Gizeh,¶ often represented with shepherds, seem to have belonged to the gray-
hound form. On the other hand, there frequently occurs a somewhat larger,
short-muzzled, smooth-haired dog which seems to correspond well with the Anau
dog. Good pictures of this animal have been given by Rosellini, but the best
representation is the statue executed in black marble in the museum of the Louvre
in Paris, the dog represented here having erect ears and a rather short head (plate