You have met the Rosetta Stone and the Demotic script. They meet in the middle of the stone: the 32 lines of Demotic between the broken hieroglyphs and the Greek.
Key idea
The Demotic text of the Rosetta Stone has 32 lines and is the best preserved of its two Egyptian texts. It was the first to yield results: Silvestre de Sacy and Johan Åkerblad read its personal names in 1802, and Thomas Young built his work on comparing it with the Greek and with the hieroglyphs.
Why it works
A decipherer needs as much text as possible. The hieroglyphic section is broken: only the last 14 lines survive, and many of those are damaged at the ends. The Demotic is nearly complete, so names and phrases could be found in it where the hieroglyphs are missing. Comparing Demotic groups with the hieroglyphs above also showed that the two scripts were related.
| Text | Lines left | State |
|---|---|---|
| Hieroglyphic | 14 | the most damaged: the top of the stone is lost |
| Demotic | 32 | well preserved |
| Greek | 54 | the lower part damaged at the right edge |
Worked example: Åkerblad's names
In 1802 Åkerblad found every personal name of the Greek text in the Demotic. How could he do that without reading Demotic?
- He knew where in the Greek each name came, and how often.
- He looked for groups in the Demotic at matching places that repeated as often, and compared their shapes with each other.
- Then he tested sound values from one name on another, and used Coptic to guess at words like "Greek" and "temple".
Answer: By matching positions and repetitions with the Greek, then testing the sounds.
Worked example: Young's comparisons
Thomas Young found about 80 groups in the Demotic that matched groups in the hieroglyphs. What did that show?
- If Demotic groups correspond to hieroglyphic groups, the two scripts are related.
- So Demotic is not an alphabet invented separately: it descends from hieroglyphs and uses word signs as well as sound signs.
- This corrected Åkerblad, who had thought Demotic was alphabetic.
Answer: That Demotic is derived from hieroglyphs and mixes kinds of sign.
The decree itself names its three scripts: it orders that it be written in "sacred", "native" and "Greek" letters, that is, hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek. Scholars still debate which version was drafted first.
Common mistake
Thinking the hieroglyphic part is the longest. It is the most damaged: only 14 lines survive. The Demotic has 32 and the Greek 54.