As the English-language exonym suggests, it is sometimes claimed that the Pharaoh Hound descends from the dogs shown in the tomb paintings of Ancient Egypt.

[4] In 1647 Giovanni Francesco Abela, in his Della Descrittione di Malta isola nel Mare Siciliano: con le sue antichità, ed altre notizie, wrote "... we have the dogs called Cernechi, much valued for rabbit-hunting, which are often in demand as far away as France, mainly for [use in] steep and stony mountain terrain".

[6] The modern Cirneco is a Sicilian breed of similar structure and appearance to the Kelb tal-Fenek, but somewhat smaller.

[7] The breed was accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale as the "Pharaoh Hound" in the same year, under the patronage of the UK.

[1] The dogs have an unusual trait of "blushing" when excited or happy, with their ears and noses becoming bright pink.

[citation needed] Finally the hunter takes a ferret (with a small bell attached) from a round wicker basket, and places it into the last entrance to the rabbit's burrow.