The hyena ( yena) is another anti-Semitic “hate sign” identified with the Jew, offering “one of the most straightforward allegories” of the Jew as the devil found in these texts. The hyena resembles the dog-headed man in its identification as a canine, and the hyena’s voice resembles a human. In the stories told about cynocephalie in battle against Christian soldiers, they are often described as whinnying, barking, and howling, as hyenas do. I would postulate that the hyena, a popular symbol of Jews, inspired the Jewish dog-headed men of medieval lore.

QUESTION: The author postulates but does not prove the hyena inspiration. Worth investigating whether contemporary texts explicitly connect hyenas to cynocephali before this claim settles. XREF: Connects to broader scholarship on animal symbols in anti-Semitic medieval and early modern imagery, and to bestiary traditions.

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 216