DOG, THE. The sacrifice of dogs is mentioned as a heathen practice in the Book of Isaiah (lxvi. 3). Accord ing to Al-Nadim, they were sacred among the Har ranlans. The Harranians offered sacrificial gifts to the dog, " and in certain mysteries dogs were solemnly declared to be the brothers of the myste" (Robertson Smith, R.S.). Jacob of Sarug mentions " the Lord with the dogs " as one of the deities of Corrine. In the legend of the invention of the purple dye, the Tyrian Heracles or Melcarth is accompanied by a dog. Among the Muhammadan black dogs are supposed to have a demoniac character. In a hymn to the Egyptian god Amon-Ra it is said that " the gods gather as dogs round his feet." To the Greek goddess Hecate dogs were sacrificed. " In this case the victim was the sacred animal of the goddess to which it was offered; Hecate is represented in mythology as accompanied by demoniac dogs, and in her worship she loved to be addressed by the name of Dog. Here, therefore, the victim is not only
a sacred animal, but an animal kindred to the deity to which it is sacrificed " (Robertson Smith). The cow and the dog are held in special reverence by the Naodas. a small caste in India. " The dog is sacred as being the animal on which Bhairava rides, and their most solemn oaths are sworn by a dog or a cow " (R. V. Russell and R. B. Him Lai). In Babylonia, it should be added, an important significance was ascribed to the movements and actions of dogs in divination. " A white dog enter ing a palace means siege of a city; a yellow dog, that the palace will escape disaster; a dog of mixed colours. that the enemy will plunder the palace. Dogs barking at the gates prognosticate a pestilence. mad (logs the destruction of the city, howling dogs the overthrow of the city " (Morris Jastrow. Civ.).