Abuwtiyuw

Abuwtiyuw
ˁbw tjw
Name of the dog according to Reisner,
transcription according to Gardiner's sign list

The Egyptian dog Abuwtiyuw, (IPA: ʔ-bwit-ʔew) also transcribed as Abutiu (died before 2280 BC), was one of the earliest documented domestic animals whose name is known. He is believed to have been a royal guard dog who lived in the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC), and received an elaborate ceremonial burial in the Giza Necropolis at the behest of a pharaoh whose name is unknown.

An inscribed stone listing the gifts donated by the pharaoh for Abuwtiyuw's funeral was discovered by Egyptologist George A. Reisner in October 1935. It was apparently part of the spoil material incorporated into the structure of a Sixth Dynasty mastaba (pharaonic-era tomb) after the demolition of the funerary chapel belonging to Abuwtiyuw's owner, where the stone likely had originally been installed. The white limestone tablet measures 54.2×28.2×23.2 cm (21.3×11.1×9.1 in). The inscription is composed of ten vertical rows of hieroglyphs, separated by vertical lines.

Abuwtiyuw appears to have been a sighthound, a lightly built hunting dog similar to a greyhound, with erect ears and a curly tail. The tomb in which his tablet was discovered is in Cemetery G 2100 in Giza West Field, close to the western side of the Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Khufu/Kheops).

Herodotus documents that in ancient Persia dogs were protected animals, held in the highest esteem during their lifetime. According to the ancient Greeks, dogs in ancient Egypt were treated with the same respect as they were in Persia, and were commonly mummified after death before being buried in family tombs. The ancient Egyptians and others of the Near East believed that dogs were spiritual beings, similar to humans, and they were "often associated with particular deities and the powers they wield". A number of the early dynastic royal burial grounds contain the graves of dogs, along with women and servants of the royal household.Ashkelon cemetery in the Southern District of Israel is perhaps the best-documented dog cemetery in the ancient world, but dog mummies have been unearthed en masse in sites across Egypt including Rhoda in Upper Egypt,Thebes, Abydos, and near Maghagha.

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