A variety of functions has always characterized the dog, determining various symbolic meanings and contradictory conceptions. This paper aims at studying the religious meaning and use of dogs in the Phoenician and Punic religion, by considering the archeological, zooarchaeological, epigraphic, iconographic and textual evidence. In order to achieve this objective, the role of this animal in daily life and the thorny issue of dog meat consumption (cynophagia) are examined. This study focuses on the Phoenician/Punic regions in the Western Mediterranean during the 9th-2nd centuries BC. However, the “Phoenician” evidence from Cyprus and Levant, as well as the data from the other Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures, will be also considered from a comparative perspective.
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