Dog Art

The Mesopotamians evidently liked dogs because they did a lot of dog art, especially statues and bas reliefs. At this time none of the dog art discovered shows them playing poker, but scholars feel it’s only a matter of time since all civilizations have some version of that myth.

In the meantime, here are some of the pieces that have been found:


Snarl

Mesopug

MesoStoneDog

They don’t look like any dogs from our story? (Yes, that middle one looks like a sheep to me, too, but it was labeled “dog.”)

Well, here’s Beastie’s ancestor in a terra cotta relief from Ninevah about 850BC:

Beastie Ancient

And this is an ancestor of Bailey’s from around Kammani’s time:

Temple Dog Ancient

But my favorite is the Spirit of Wolfie:

Funny Dog

If that isn’t Wolfie’s worried little soul, I don’t know what is.

6 Comments so far

  1. Downundergal June 26th, 2007 6:33 am

    LOL - Mesopotamian early childhood art. It was probably an ashtray some little mesopotamian kiddie made out of clay for Mothers Day. Or an incense burner.
    Love the Spirit of Wolfie.

  2. Sheryl June 26th, 2007 8:39 am

    Is this book meant to be or what? I love the artwork you keep finding and the way your minds all run with the imagery. This is so much fun.

  3. Diane (TT) June 26th, 2007 11:45 am

    I had no idea there was already such a range of dogs! None of those are generic - they appear to have already been separated into breeds. I guess if I had thought about it, I might have realized, but I hadn’t, so…

  4. Sheryl June 26th, 2007 2:40 pm

    I had to do it. I had to see if my darling Kyanite was a Mesopotamian dog and sure enough here he is, ready to pounce on any stray cookies or unsuspecting round objects
    http://static.flickr.com/52/145249420_5ec4d242c6.jpg

  5. AndreaS June 26th, 2007 4:11 pm

    Oh I need a replica of Wolfie’s little soul. It’s so cute!!

    I had no idea any civilization loved dogs. I knew about the Egyptians and cats, but it’s good to see that dogs at least found a civilization to recognize their value.

  6. Charlene Teglia June 27th, 2007 2:28 pm

    Wolfie has so much personality! And the terra cotta relief is wonderful. Makes me want to go take more art history classes…

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