We all know about the Terracotta Warriors and e Burney Relief sculpture, and yes, while both are significant works of art, there is something that is left out from the spotlight. Possibly one of the greatest inventions humankind has ever thought up of- terracotta dogs, a concept deprived of any attention or praise.
At the excavation sites of Pompeii, they found out that these adobe buddies were used as toy rattles, sculpted with clay, and hollowed out, filled out with bronze beads, dried poppy heads, and pebbles in order to create that rattling sound.
During the Han Dynasty, these hounds were shaped and molded for the purpse of keeping watch for intruders and invasions, as well as for funerary purposes. To stand faithfully by their masters side unwaveringly, beyond eternity in the tombs.
In many Mesoamerican cultures in West Mexico, they were also used for funerary purposes. Based on their stubby legs and potbellied stature, archaeologists think they were not intended to be guard dogs, but were rather a symbol to be associated with food and graves.
Dogs were animals dedicated several Mesopotamian gods, especially the god of medicine, Gula. These figurines were frequently placed under the floors of buildings to guard the the structures from evil, a practice that was common during the late second and early first millenium BC.
And old pal was found at an excavation site in Egypt, which dates back to Amenhotep the II's reign, during the New Kingdom Period. This leaping hunting dog was made to open and close it's jaws using a lever beneath it's chest. When the mouth is opened, two teeth and a red tongue is visible.