The animal first and most often represented in ancient Egyptian art as a companion to man is the dog (Canis familiaris). To the pets known to have been kept by the Egyptians especially belong cats (Felis catus) and monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops, Papio hamadryas, Papio anubis). From the Old Kingdom onwards, Egyptians are often pictured in their tombs with their pets. Occassionally, pets had their names recorded above their images, providing insurance for their eternal life. We know the characteristic proper names of dogs (81), cats (2), monkeys (4), bulls (4), cows (4), horses (15) and lions (1). The Egyptians appreciated all these animals as their own companions very much. Pets are often found buried together with, or else in close vicinity to their owners. They were carefully mummified after the death and placed in coffins or sarcophagi of their own.
The legendary Czech travellers Jiří Hanzelka (1920-2003) and Miroslav Zikmund (* 1919) left a very interesting witness of their meeting the well-known Egyptian Egyptologist Zakaria Goneim (1911-1959), Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, in Luxor in 1947. In 1951 Goneim became the Keeper of the Saqqara necropolis, where he made his world-famous discovery of the unfinished pyramid of king Sekhemkhet. The almost forgotten photographs of Goneim with H+Z are kept in the Museum of Southeastern Moravia at Zlín (Archive H+Z). Goneim‘s unique dedication recorded (17 Oct. 1947) in Egyptian hieroglyphs in the „log-book“ of both travellers is also preserved.