Ancient Egypt, Romano-Egyptian period, ca. 30 BCE to 300 CE. An adorable and quite rare faience amulet in the form of a dog standing in profile, with his head turned out toward the viewer. Dots of yellow glaze delineate the pointed ears, curled tail, fretted collar, and petite legs, while black pigment highlights the eyes and nose. The inclusion of dog amulets in burials likely held a symbolic meaning. Dogs were connected to the myth of Isis, who was accompanied by dogs during her search for the body of Osiris. The dog is also associated with the star Sirius/Sothis, which announced the flooding of the Nile. Faience dogs like this one may have been a treasured reminder of an ordinary person's pet during life, serving now as a watchdog in the afterlife. The breed of the dog represented cannot be identified, but it is thought that it is a forerunner of the African Basenji. Size: 1.2" W x 1" H (3 cm x 2.5 cm); 3.2" H (8.1 cm) on included custom stand.

The Sothic dog of Isis was connected with the dog star Sirius, the heliacal rising of which marked the first day of the year and the coming of the yearly flooding of the Nile (the inundation). Figures of the Sothic dog were popular during the 1st and 2nd Century CE - valued for the domestic shrines as a harbinger of the New Year and to protect the household from the chaos caused by the rising waters.

Egyptologist Dorothea Arnold writes, "Egyptians were closely attached to their dogs, which served as hunting and watchdogs, status symbols, and companions. About seventy dog names are known from texts and inscriptions. They bear striking resemblance to the names given [to] modern pets - from Ebony, Blacky, and Trusty to Son-of-the-Moon, North-wind, Good-for-Nothing, and, more simply, The Fifth or The Sixth." Later, "Many dog burials have been found in Egypt, some with stele bearing the animal's name or with a sarcophagus, and at least one Eighteenth Dynasty leather dog collar has survived." (Arnold, Dorothea. "An Egyptian Bestiary." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 1995, Vol. LII, p. 57)

Similar faience dog amulets can be found in the British Museum (EA34902) and in the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy (Cat. 7210 ?; v.n.2327).

Provenance: private Elyria, Ohio, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA, August 1, 2011

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#178598

Expected abrasions and softening of detail as shown, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact, excellent, and wearable as a pendant with nice remaining pigments.