Writers like to say hieroglyphs ended with Cleopatra. In fact priests kept carving them for more than four centuries after her death in 30 BC, long after Coptic had begun. The very last known inscription is at Philae, the island temple of Isis near Aswan.
Key idea
The last known hieroglyphic inscription was carved at Philae on 24 August AD 394, beside a figure of the Nubian god Mandulis, by a priest named Nesmeterakhem (also written Esmet-Akhom). A Demotic text beside it gives the date: the birthday of Osiris, in year 110 of the era of Diocletian.
Why it works
Philae lay at Egypt's southern frontier, and its cult of Isis was honored by peoples from Nubia as well as Egypt. That helped it outlast the temples of the north, which closed under Christian emperors, especially after Theodosius I's laws against the old cults in 391–392. Philae's temple stayed open until about AD 535–537, when Justinian had it closed. Its last priests could still write the old scripts, but there was no one to teach them to.
Worked example: No year zero
How many years passed between Cleopatra VII's death in 30 BC and the last hieroglyphic inscription in AD 394?
- Our calendar has no year 0: 1 BC is followed directly by AD 1.
- From 30 BC to AD 1 is 30 years; from AD 1 to AD 394 is 393 years.
- Total: 30 + 393 = 423 years. (The rule: BC years + AD years − 1.)
Answer: 423 years.
Worked example: What the inscription says
The hieroglyphic text is a short dedication: before Mandulis, son of Horus, by Nesmeterakhem, "for all time and eternity". Why does such a small text matter so much?
- Its date is fixed exactly by the Demotic beside it.
- No later hieroglyphic inscription is known, so it marks the end of more than 3,500 years of the script.
- It shows the last generation of priests still working in the old way, in a Christian empire.
Answer: It is the last dated use of a script used for over 3,500 years.
The inscription is carved on the gateway of Hadrian, which led toward the Abaton, the sacred place on the neighboring island where Osiris was said to rest. Today the whole temple, gate and graffito included, stands on Agilkia, where it was moved during the Nubian campaign.
Common mistake
Dating the end of hieroglyphs to Cleopatra. They were carved for more than four centuries after her, until AD 394. Check by the gap: 423 years.