Egyptian Demotic

Egyptian Demotic

The chronologically penultimate variety of the Egyptian language is known as Demotic. Demotic is the most cursive script developed by the Egyptians. This stage of the language has, in many ways, connections to the preceding stage, Late Egyptian, and its successor, Coptic. Despite these affinities, demotic is a complete separated stage of ancient Egyptian language.

The Practical Guide to the Grammar of Egyptian Demotic is a learning tool for those who wants to start the study of the late stage ancient Egyptian language in a highly cursive script known as Demotic. In use from ca. 650 B.C. until the middle of the fifth
century A.D., Demotic served as the medium for a wide variety of text types. These include texts such as business and legal documents, private letters and administrative inscriptions, and literary texts, including not only narrative texts and pieces of wisdom literature, but also religious and magical texts and scientific texts dealing with topics such as astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. Demotic texts thus not only provide important witnesses for the development of ancient Egyptian linguistic and paleographical traditions but also constitute an indispensable source for reconstructing the social, political, and cultural life of ancient Egypt during a fascinating period of its history. Once you finish the entire book, you will have a great
foundation to read, translate and understand, with the help of a dictionairy and much effort, all those texts and get into the life and culture of late Ancient Egyptians.

This publication in an online version is offered as a series of PDF files in the Grammar page.