The ancient Egyptian word for dog was "iwiw", which referred to the dog's bark. Egyptian Dogs, while often depicted as hunting with the master or as watch dogs, but they were never shown as an animal to be petted. They served a roll in hunting, as guard and police dogs, in military actions and as household pets. The ancient Egyptian word for “dog” was iwiw – representing the sound of a dog’s bark. Dogs in Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt is well known for its association with cats but the dog was equally popular and highly regarded. The dog breeds of ancient Egypt were the Basenji, Greyhound, Ibizan, Pharaoh, Saluki, and Whippet and dogs are referenced in the Predynastic Period of Egypt (c. 6000-3150 BCE) through rock carvings and c. 3500-3200 BCE, specifically during the Gerzean Culture (also known as Naqada II Period), in images and written text. Some of the oldest dog breeds can be traced back to ancient Egypt. They were also kept as pets and taken care of. Known to the Egyptians as the sound-wordie, the sound of barking, or as tsm, …
However, these pictures show resemblance to basenji, saluki, greyhounds, mastiffs others. The ancient Egyptians had numerous different types of pets – monkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, hoopoes, falcons, cats, dogs and even ferrets (to keep the granaries free of vermin).
Ancient Egyptian dogs were a big part of society. They are well known to us from ancient Egyptian paintings, but their breed is still difficult to discern completely.
It's often suggested that it was the ancient Egyptians that domesticated dogs. Egyptologist Margaret Bunson notes that dogs “were probably domesticated in Egypt in the Pre-Dynastic eras” and they “served as hunters and as companions for the Egyptians and some mentioned their hounds in … Though dogs were trained for functional roles such as hunting, guarding, and working with the police and military. Some of these ancient dogs have developed into the native Egyptian dog breeds that we know of today. There was even a tomb dating back to 3500 BC that had a painting of a man walking a dog on a leash. The dog breeds of ancient Egypt were the Basenji, Greyhound, Ibizan, Pharaoh, Saluki, and Whippet and dogs are referenced in the Predynastic Period of Egypt (c. 6000-3150 BCE) through rock carvings and c. 3500-3200 BCE, specifically during the Gerzean Culture (also known as Naqada II Period), in images and written text.