“He is a gentleman. He grew up with a Saluki.” – Arab Proverb.

It’s been said that the Saluki is as old as civilization, and certainly the breed has been revered by Bedouins since, well, always. Bred by Arab tribesmen to catch and bring down game, these people felt that Salukis had nothing in common with the “kelb,” common dogs that guarded campsites. Like the ancients before them, the Bedouin honored the Saluki as al-hurr (also seen as El Hor), “or the noble one.” Poets called the Saluki “the Prince of swiftness.”

The breed’s cultural value is underscored today with special rooms in a national museum in Qatar devoted to the desert Arab’s hunting partners: The falcon, the horse, and the Saluki. Concerned that a younger generation might forget what helped shape their culture, the Amir of Qatar, Shaikh Khalifa opened the museum and included a tribute to the breed so that it will be known in a way that’s both real, and to us, romantic: “A born hunter, the saluqi in the desert night will raise its head to the moon and issue a long wail of imitation in answer to calling wolves.” – from the Greyhound of the Desert.

Image: “The Saluki” by Erna Goudbeek is no longer available, but the artist may be contacted here