Page 43 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 6
P. 43
T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 4 3
and, unlike his hunting colleagues visually It cannot therefore be ruled out that the
depicted in the Rekhmire – Tribute, carrying continuity of hunting with Sloughi and its
its tail upwards; it is more than six years old. predecessors may be as stable as the
If the Tribute – Scene of Rekhmire is composition of the current population
combined with the lifetime of Amenhotep suggests.
(Amenophis) II (1427-1401 BC), it is
reasonable to link this hunting dog to And they have always hunted together:
Amenhotep II, which also suggests a royal both human and Sloughi, Sloughi and
edict for its mummification. human. Mainly on foot, occasionally with
horses.
The Sighthound, originating from “Central
Africa” is one of the precursors of Sloughis. Finally I would like to quote Ibn Khaldun
again: the country shapes the culture -
Hunting together, that is to say working and that is the culture of Sloughis, which has
walking together through their hunting been the same for centuries, even
grounds, it must have given its owner great millennia.
pleasure and happiness. The fact that it
came to Egypt as a tribute is testament to its But what does this mean to “Sloughi
very high value and appreciation. people”?
As we saw with reference to hunting in When the Sloughi runs through the
ancient Greece, hunting dogs were also landscape 'as it does while hunting', let
imported from Libya. your eyes run with it, and delight in the
vision of your Sloughi’s happiness in those
Thus, there were hunting dogs in ancient fields, in the hills and valleys of its life!
North Africa. The same applies to the (Fig.23)
time that Romans and other peoples
occupied the region.
The research of today’s North African
population shows that the proportion of
natives who are Berber is still higher than
that of other genetic groups such as
Europeans and Turks. The Arabs are clearly
in the minority.
Figure 23: happy Amaya in the landcape. © Th.Liedtke
