Page 34 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 7
P. 34
T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 3 4
Source Bergström et al., (kya = kilo years ago)
The genetic origins of the African Sloughi The original dogs from the Levant were
and Asian Saluki types completely replaced there by dogs from
Iran 3,800 BC and from Europe 300 BC.
In 2020, the sequencing of ancient canine These dogs also include the dogs of the
genomes revealed that the origins of Asian Saluki type, i.e. not African Sloughis.
modern dogs from sub-Saharan Africa have In contrast to Africa, the Neolithic
a single origin from Anatolia and the population from the Levant does not seem
Levant, dating back to 5,000 BC. In the to have any ancestors to today's dogs there.
Neolithic context, the Levant describes the Instead, the dogs from 300 BC make up 81%
area in which agriculture and cattle of ancestors in Iran and 18% have ancestors
breeding originated, i.e. Mesopotamia, but in Europe.
also Egypt along the Nile. This immigration
in the Neolithic from Syria/Palestine/Sinai The oldest dog finds in Africa come from
lasted only a few centuries (Bergström et the Nile Delta (3,900 BC) and from Esh
al.). Shareinab on the Nile in what is now Sudan
(3,500 BC).
