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The Long History of Dogs and Humans
The dog has had no animal companionship with humankind like the one it shares with humans. Dogs have been trailing people since the deserts in Mesopotamia to the hills in ancient Israel and in the streets in Rome; dogs have been guarding, hunting, herding, and providing company. We have a story that is intertwined with theirs, which can be seen in art, scripture, and myth, even before they were the favorite pets of the present day.
Some additional layer has been introduced to that story by modern science. Using such tools as the dog breed test. Now, researchers can track the evolution of dogs and identify how the ancient breeds were dispersed to different continents and how humans influenced them throughout thousands of years.
Dogs in the Ancient World
The records of archaeology claim that dogs were kept more than 20,000 years ago, when there was not even agriculture or written language. The existence of ancient remains of the Near East and Europe shows that the primordial man not only coexisted with dogs, but also buried them with respect, frequently with objects or food, an indication of emotional and symbolic significance.
Ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, dogs were linked to Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the afterlife, who escorted souls to the next world. Egyptians kept dogs as hunting partners and household protectors and gave them loving names like Good Herdsman or Brave One. Others were even mummified and buried with their owners, and the fact that they were now spiritually important is demonstrated.
Dogs are also mentioned in the bible both positively and negatively. They were referred to as scavengers within the urban streets, but they had practical purposes of guarding flocks and property. Dogs, represented in Proverbs and in the Gospels, are symbols of humility and loyalty - and these words reverberate through the long history that dog and man have shared.
In Assyria and Babylon, temples and palaces were defended by large mastiff-like dogs. There are stone reliefs of Nineveh that depict the marching of dogs with hunters and kings. To ancient people, dogs were not just a work tool, but also symbolized loyalty and guardianship, which is also valued in modern times.
From Working Partner to Family Member
The role of dogs has been changing with civilization. Dogs played a crucial role in the survival of nomadic societies as they alerted hunters, pulled loads, and protected the camps. Dogs became new guardians, companions, and status symbols as human beings moved in and established cities.
There were already specific breeds of dogs during the Roman Empire. Romans kept dogs as war dogs, as herding dogs, and as pets. Authors such as Virgil and Columella wrote about certain ones, including fast hunting dogs and huge estate guardians. Canine fidelity was often represented in art and mosaics, the term Cave Canem (“Beware of the Dog”) becoming immortal.
This domestication, or taming of an animal and turning it into a companion, was one of the first times humans controlled the evolution of a particular animal to a particular end. By selective breeding, individuals focused on features such as power, intelligence, or affection without being aware that they were defining the tremendous diversity of breeds we are familiar with today.
What Modern Genetics Reveals
Whereas ancient history only gave us pictures and monuments, modern genetics gives us what the ancients never had a chance to give: a minute map of the canine lineage. DNA sequencing has helped scientists to find that all dogs have a common ancestor with the gray wolves. However, in thousands of years, there were hundreds of different genetic lineages created by geographical separation and selective breeding.
This science is accessible even to non-researchers and pet owners through such tools as the dog breed test. These tests determine the breed composition of a dog, the evolutionary origin of a dog, and even indicate inherited health problems by examining thousands of genetic markers.
This information is priceless to historians and archeologists. By comparing the modern DNA with the ancient bones, scientists are able to observe how the early dogs moved with the human beings across the regions, Fertile Crescent to Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The genetic map of dogs, in most aspects, reflects the history of human civilization itself.
Faithfulness Through the Ages
One of the dog images that has been consistent across cultures is that of being loyal. Since the angelic dogs of Assyrian shrines, or since the shepherd of the Judean valleys, humans have long been used to their faithful companions, the dogs.
Science has provided us with new instruments to appreciate that bond not merely in the form of tales or even in scripture, but rather in the form of a common biology that we have written into our DNA. Curiosity is the same reason that made ancient people carve the likeness of their dogs in stone, which makes geneticists crack their genomes.
It is all a dog story, and it is our story on this earth: two races growing together, learning to coexist, to cooperate, to love, and also to be faithful. Dogs have long been and always will be members of the human family, as we read about them in ancient books or as we learn about them in contemporary science.
