Egyptian dog collar

Humans have had canine companions going back at least 12,000 years and there is proof that dog collars have been in use prior to 3100 B.C. Archaeologists unearthed a dog buried with the pre-dynastic King Cuo of China wearing a collar of gold, silver, and turquoise. At the peak of ancient Egyptian civilization, collars and leads were standard for dog training and dogs wearing them were commonly found as motifs on tomb walls and earthenware. The dog collars of the day were beautiful works of art made out of leather, embellished with copper, bronze and gold. The collars were made in one long strip, and then glued or sewn together. This very fashionable collar is one of two discovered by the French explorer Loret in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian nobleman Maiherpri (1440 B.C.). The two leather collars were pink and both depicted hunting scenes embossed into the leather with one of the collars featuring the dog's name: “Tantanuit.”