ster like a dog. The wolf did
not like strangers, however, and was very shy in their presence.

In the Old and New Testaments the dog is spoken of almost with
abhorrence; it ranked amongst the unclean beasts: traffic in it was
considered as an abomination, and it was forbidden to be offered in the
sanctuary in the discharge of any vow. Part of the Jewish ritual was the
preservation of the Israelites from the idolatry which at that time
prevailed among every other people. Dogs were held in considerable
veneration by the Egyptians, from whose tyranny the Israelites had just
escaped; figures of them appeared on the friezes of most of the temples,
and they were regarded as emblems of the divine being. Herodotus,
speaking of the sanctity in which some animals were held by the
Egyptians, says that the people of every family in which a dog died
shaved themselves--their expression of mourning--adding that this was a
custom of his own time.

The cause of this attachment to and veneration for the dog is, however,
explained in a far more probable and pleasing way than by many of the
fables of ancient mythology. The prosperity of Lower Egypt, and almost
the very subsistence of its inhabitants, depended upon the annual
overflowing of the Nile; and they looked for it with the utmost anxiety.
Its approach was announced by the appearance of a certain star, Sirius,
and as soon as that star was seen above the horizon the people hastened
to remove their flocks to the higher ground and abandoned the lower
pastures to the fertilizing influence of the stream. They hailed it as
their guard and protector; and, associating with its apparent
watchfulness the well-known fidelity of the dog, they called it the
"dog-star" and worshipped it. It was in far later periods and in other
countries that the appearance of the dog-star was regarded as the signal
of insufferable heat or prevalent disease. In Ethiopia, not only was
great veneration paid to the dog, but the inhabitants used to elect a
dog as their king. It was kept in great state, and surrounded by a
numerous train of officers and guards: when it fawned upon them it was
supposed to be pleased with their proceedings; when it growled, it
disapproved of the manner in which their government was conducted. Such
indications of will were implicitly obeyed, or were translated by the
worshippers as their own caprice or interest indicated.

Even 1000 years after this period, the dog was highly esteemed