The Kuvasz’s Name

The mists of time, ravages of war, and the turbulence of a country occupied at different times by Turks and Soviets has made it difficult to ascertain the earliest history of Hungarian dog breeds. The country, in fact, lost 71 percent of its territory as a result of the Treaty of Trianon at the end of World War I, and lost as well may have been whatever historical breed records that survived earlier upheavals.

With regards to the Kuvasz, educated theories hint at the origin of the breed’s name. Some breed historians believe the name “Kuvasz” may have been a misspelling of the Turkish word “kawasz,” a word meaning “nobility’s armed guard,” a reasonable hypothesis traced to the Ottoman-Turkish takeover.  

Others posit that the word may have originated from the ancient farmers of Russia, the Chuvash, who kept the breed for generations and contributed words to the Hungarian language.

And finally, there is the theory that the name has Sumerian roots. The stem of the word for dog,  “Ku,” coupled with the word for the horse, “Assa,”  produced the word “Ku Assa,” or “dog of the horse.” Since nothing was more important to the ancient warrior than his horse, he entrusted the great white dogs, the “Ku Assa,” to protect his mount. Over time, the Ku Assa’s name morphed into “Ku Ass,” then “Kuasz,” and finally, to “Kuvasz.”  Giving weight to this theory is a find made in 1931 by British archeologist, Sir H. J. McDonald who found in the ruins of the city of Ugarit in Mesopotamia,  a 7000 year-old clay tablet (now on display at the British Museum) that clearly showed the word, “Ku-as-sa”  written in Cuneiform.

As the name evolved, so did the life of the horse mounted warrior who settled down to till the land and raise stock, and a new job emerged for the Kuvasz: Livestock Guardian Dog.

Our image is a photograph taken by Gary Shar that appears as the cover dog for the month of November in National Purebred Dog Day’s 2019 calendar available here.

5 thoughts on “The Kuvasz’s Name”

  1. hhhhmmmmmmm, I’ve been in the breed since 1985. I thought the “Sumerian roots” via the Cuneiform tablets were debunked YEARS ago…….

    • We missed that memo, Beth – might you be able to direct us to the source so we can edit/amend the post to be more accurate?

      • How do you prove a negative to a parent club, Kuvasz Club of America that would rather spread a 30+ year old hoax about Sumerian tablets, then tell the true history of the breed? It’s not romantic, the kuvasz is a farm dog that most likely got its name from the Chuvach people of the Caucasus Mountains who shared many terms and animals with their counterparts in Hungary.

        Kuvasz Fanciers of America spent YEARS trying to convince KCA to take this bogus info and graphics out of their Judges Education, mostly to no avail. The most extensive research can tell is the truth that the first time the words KU ASSA appear is in the small self published book, “Messengers from Ancient Civilizations: The Fascinating Story of Canine Archeology” Paperback – 1974
        by Edmond S. Bordeaux (Author), Norma Nilsson De Bordeaux (Author)

        In that book, the Sumerian connection was credited to Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy, who the authors claim wrote about Hungarian Shepherd Dogs. The graphics are not credited. Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy was the editor of the newsletter of the Puli Club of America, but I have not been able to get any information from that club after several attempts over the years. Dr. Pálfalvy who was a physician in Birmingham, AL after breeding pulik in New York, was morphed by both kuvasz and puli people into an “eminent Sumerologist” on various kuvasz and puli websites.

        This became a circular argument when the only reference to Ku Assa is on websites where it is based on this hoax.

        If anyone would like the pages and pages of research we’ve done over the years that prove Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy never claimed to be “an eminent Sumerologist” and nowhere used the name KU ASSA, just email me.

  2. How do you prove a negative to a parent club, Kuvasz Club of America that would rather spread a 30+ year old hoax about Sumerian tablets, then tell the true history of the breed? It’s not romantic, the kuvasz is a farm dog that most likely got its name from the Chuvach people of the Caucasus Mountains who shared many terms and animals with their counterparts in Hungary.

    Kuvasz Fanciers of America spent YEARS trying to convince KCA to take this bogus info and graphics out of their Judges Education, mostly to no avail. The most extensive research can tell is the truth that the first time the words KU ASSA appear is in the small self published book, “Messengers from Ancient Civilizations: The Fascinating Story of Canine Archeology” Paperback – 1974
    by Edmond S. Bordeaux (Author), Norma Nilsson De Bordeaux (Author)

    In that book, the Sumerian connection was credited to Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy, who the authors claim wrote about Hungarian Shepherd Dogs. The graphics are not credited. Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy was the editor of the newsletter of the Puli Club of America, but I have not been able to get any information from that club after several attempts over the years. Dr. Pálfalvy who was a physician in Birmingham, AL after breeding pulik in New York, was morphed by both kuvasz and puli people into an “eminent Sumerologist” on various kuvasz and puli websites.

    This became a circular argument when the only reference to Ku Assa is on websites where it is based on this hoax.

    If anyone would like the pages and pages of research we’ve done over the years that prove Dr. Sandor Pálfalvy never claimed to be “an eminent Sumerologist” and nowhere used the name KU ASSA, just email me.

    • Thank you for this, Gail. As Puli owners, ourselves, we’re intrigued by what you write, and only wish that Dr. Art Sorkin was still alive so we might pick his brain on this, as well. You’ve given us a new project, so count us among those who would like to see additional research!

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