Maltese (dog)

The Maltese is a small dog that originated in Malta and brought around the Mediterranean. Phoenician traders may have brought precursors of this dog to Ancient Egypt. The tomb of Ramesses II contains statues of dogs, which resemble the Maltese. The name of the dog came from the island Malta. Maltese dogs are small, up to about 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length, and 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) in weight. The Maltese is well-known, and although not widely as popular as other small dogs, many pieces of non-cinematic media have been made about the latter; books, comic strips, and toys even feature the Maltese as the archetypical type of bichon.