Archaeology and ScriptsThe End of the Old Scripts

The Last Demotic

The last dated Demotic inscription, also at Philae, comes from AD 452.

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The last hieroglyphs were carved at Philae in AD 394. Demotic, the everyday script, lasted longer. Its last dated text is also at Philae.

Key idea

The last dated Demotic inscription is a short graffito on the roof of the temple of Isis at Philae, dated to December AD 452: about sixty years after the last hieroglyphs. After that, Egyptian was written only in Coptic.

Why it works

Demotic was more widely known than hieroglyphs: it was the script of documents, used by many more scribes. But by the 5th century its uses had shrunk to a few religious texts, mummy labels and graffiti, mostly written by priests and pilgrims. Philae, the last open temple, was where its last writers worked. Coptic, easier to learn, had taken over the rest.
The end of the old scripts.
ScriptLast dated useWhere
HieroglyphicAD 394Philae, beside the figure of Mandulis
DemoticDecember AD 452Philae, the roof of the temple of Isis
Copticstill used in church todaythe Coptic Church
From the last Demotic (452), sixty years after the last hieroglyphs (394), to the closing of Philae and the Arab conquest.

Many of the last Demotic texts at Philae are short graffiti scratched by priests and visitors on the temple walls and roof: a name, a prayer, a date. They are small, but they are firm evidence that a few people, almost all of them connected with the temple, could still write the old script in the middle of the 5th century. Less than a century later, when Justinian closed the temple, the old Egyptian scripts were gone, and Coptic was the only way left to write the language.

Worked example: Which ended first?

Did hieroglyphs or Demotic end first, and by how many years?
  1. Hieroglyphs: AD 394. Demotic: AD 452.
  2. 452 − 394 = 58 years.
  3. So hieroglyphs ended first; Demotic lasted about sixty years longer.

Answer: Hieroglyphs, by 58 years.

Worked example: Across the era line

The first Demotic texts date from about 650 BC. For how many years was Demotic in use, up to AD 452?
  1. There is no year 0, so the span is 650 + 452 − 1.
  2. 650 + 452 = 1,102; minus 1 = 1,101.
  3. About 1,100 years.

Answer: About 1,100 years.

Common mistake

Thinking hieroglyphs outlasted Demotic. Demotic lasted about sixty years longer. The formal script ended first because it was tied to the temples and their few trained carvers.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.

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Sources and further reading

@teddyrookbook GitHub