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Sha (animal)

Sha or Salawa

The Salawa is a cryptid that has some connection with the chimerical beast of the god Seth in Egyptian mythology called Sha.

In Egyptian Mythology[]

The sha is usually depicted as a slender dog, resembling a greyhound or a jackal, with three distinguishing features: a stiff tail, often forked at the end, which stands straight up or at an angle, whether the animal is sitting, standing, or walking; its ears, also held erect, are usually depicted as squarish or triangular, narrowest at the base and widest at the squarish tops; and a long nose, often with a slight downward curve. It is normally depicted as black, but may also have been reddish.

As a Cryptid[]

In the 1960s, and again in April 1997, stories circulated in Egypt about a mysterious canid, dubbed the salawa or sal'awa (scary wolf). The creature allegedly attacked several small villages in remote parts of southern Egypt, resulting in several injuries and even deaths.

A contemporary report indicates that one of the animals was killed by residents of the Qattamiya suburb and tentatively identified by local police as a hyena. During filming of a 2009 episode of the SyFy channel program, Destination Truth, an animal suspected by the film crew of being the salawa was determined to be a Fennec Fox.

However, the Fennec Fox is much too small to have resulted in the injuries and deaths attributed to the salawa. Also, Fennec Foxes are native to Egypt, so it's very unlikely that locals would so easily misidentify it, especially to such an unrecognizable degree.

In Popular Culture[]

The salawa was featured in a 1997 episode of the Australian TV series Animal X, in which it was said to be able to jump high in the air and have supernatural qualities, these included being like elastic and at the same time virtually indestructible. One supposedly attacked a family in their doorway in Qattamiya and was stunned with a plank, hit on the head with a rock, petrol was poured on it and it was set on fire, but after it had burned for four hours it was still taken away by the authorities in an intact state.

Gallery[]

Depiction of Sha in Hieroglyph[]

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