a winsome game marker

from the walters art museum, PD: CC-BY

This small dog figure dates from Egypt ca. 2850 BCE (Early Dynastic Period, late 1st-2nd dynasty).  He was found in Abydos, and made of hippo ivory.  He is identified as a game piece, and I thought he might be part of a set for an ancient Egyptian game we call Hounds and Jackals.  That can't be though because as you see here Hounds and Jackals is like cribbage. Perhaps it's from the game Menet.  Even so, look how personable he is with a minimum of detail but the cleanest and most understandable of forms.  Nothing extra, but all dog.