Sombol was too sleepy to open his eyes, let alone interact with the visitor who stood over him seeking human-canine contact.
Sensing the intruder's presence, Sombol opened one eye, looked at the man for a second or two, then went back to sleep.
The winter sun was delightful and the place where Sombol was napping – the vast courtyard of Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum, or the GEM – was soothingly quiet. So it came as no surprise that he did not want to be a "good dog" and chose sleep over interacting with a human.
Sombol is one of half a dozen stray dogs that have in recent weeks made the showpiece museum near Cairo's Giza Pyramids their unlikely home, sharing the space with King Tutankhamun's treasures and majestic statues.
Their presence has added another, albeit different, attraction to the thousands of ancient Egyptian artefacts that fill the galleries of the $1-billion museum, which opened in November after years-long delays and is now one of the hottest stops on the country's tourist itinerary.
In a nation with a population of stray dogs estimated at a staggering 10 million to 14 million and a history of brutal, often deadly, animal abuse, it is remarkable that Sombol and the other dogs living at the museum have been met with kindness and care.
Mimi steals the show
The dogs are friendly and relaxed around humans. They are fed by the museum's authorities and receive treats from some of the estimated 15,000 foreign tourists and Egyptians who visit daily.
One dog, Mimi, has stolen the show, becoming an overnight online sensation with videos of her cheerfully approaching visitors viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
"Meet this adorable 'GEM' of a dog, literally," said one Facebook post below a photo of Mimi lounging on a sofa inside the museum. "Mimi is capturing hearts every day and searching for a forever home."
Other photos posted online show the light-brown dog standing upright and looking straight at the camera, or relaxing in a restaurant chair inside.
There are also reels of imaginary messages from the dogs to the museum's patrons, pleading for tolerance and understanding of their presence.
"We've been seeing and hearing a lot of talk about our pack lately," says one of the more popular reels. "We know that not everyone feels comfortable around dogs. Some of you might have had bad experiences; others find us unclean. We respect that. Our home is a world-class museum and we want it to be a place where everyone feels safe."
The presence of the dogs and the care shown to them by museum staff – who try to keep them away from the galleries – are indicative of a much larger development than Mimi's online stardom or the pleasant surprise felt by patrons when they find the animals at the GEM.
The popularity of the dogs speaks to the gradually changing attitude of many Egyptians towards strays, despite recent reports of attacks by canine packs roaming the streets of Egypt's larger cities, including Cairo.
'Friendly by nature'
Egypt remains less than ideal for dogs, however, a growing number of Egyptians – mostly rich but some also poor – regularly feed street dogs, known in Egypt simply as kelab balady.
Others have adopted them as pets, contending they are smarter than foreign breeds, more loyal and reliable as guards. Some foreign residents have become so taken by the local dogs that they adopt them and take them home when they leave Egypt.
"Our street Egyptian dogs are friendly by nature," said Al Husseini Awad, head of animal welfare at the Agriculture Ministry's veterinary services. "But vicious foreign breeds have been brought to Egypt illegally and mated with our street dogs. The result is dogs that look friendly but are in fact vicious."
The government has banned the import of dangerous breeds and made owning them illegal, he said.
Mr Awad's comments reflect a growing pride in domestic breeds among Egypt's dog lovers and experts, who lament that most pet owners continue to choose foreign breeds.
Standing out among the domestic breeds are the lanky and agile Pharaoh Hound and the Armant, which originated in southern Egypt and is known for being a reliable guard dog.
However, strays continue to be a menace in large cities, especially late at night when human and vehicular traffic thin out, leaving them in control of the streets.
Recent media reports of strays biting pedestrians have presented this as a serious danger. The problem has also given rise to satirical online posts showing people begging street dogs to let them walk home in peace late at night.
Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouq, whose brief includes veterinary services, says there was a rapid increase in the stray dog population after the 2011 uprising against president Hosni Mubarak, when most basic services – including policing and rubbish collections – stopped for months.
As part of a campaign called "Egypt free of rabies by 2030", his ministry and non-governmental groups are building dog shelters, and vaccinating and neutering dogs in areas with large canine populations.
The campaign began in Cairo's middle-class area of Ein Shams, where officials say the most complaints about stray dogs are filed.
It is in stark contrast to how Egypt dealt with strays as recently as 20 years ago, when police and veterinary services went out in the middle of the night to shoot them dead, or capture the dogs and put them down.
Residents of poor urban areas with large canine populations have also been known to poison the stray animals, over fears they pose a danger to their children or because their barking disturbs their sleep.
However, such practices now draw strong condemnations from dog lovers and experts and, in some cases, can lead to prosecution.
