The first knowledge of the Greyhound comes from the Tomb of Amten, in the valley of the Nile, regarded by Egyptologists as belonging to the 4th Dynasty (2900-2751BC)

In Egypt, the ancestors of the modern Greyhounds were used in hunting and kept as treasured companions; the birth of such a hound was second in importance only to the birth of a son. The favourite hounds of the upper class were mummified and buried with their owners.

The Greeks bought these hounds from Egyptian Merchants some time before 1000BC. Art and coins from Greece depict hounds virtually identical to the modern Greyhounds making it fairly certain that the breed has changed very little since 500BC.



-- Edited by Suzanne at 23:52, 2005-12-28