Egyptian Language

The Rise and Fall of the Egyptian Language

Egypt has an ancient and fabled history that dates back thousands of years. Considered one of the cradles of our civilization, the Egyptians revolutionized building and construction techniques, communication, and written language. Written records of the Egyptian language date all the way back to around 3200 B.C. Though not in use today, the Egyptian language originated and evolved through several millennia to become a benchmark of oral and written communication and record-keeping.

The Egyptian language is a member of the Afro-Asiatic group of languages that include Berber (spoken in Morocco and Algeria) and Semitic (includes the Arabic and Hebrew languages). The language continued to be used until the 5th century A.D. It was replaced by Arabic as Egypt's official language (which remains the case today) when the country was taken over by Arab Muslims. The last phase of the Egyptian language, Coptic, remain in partial use today as a ceremonial language for the Coptic Church.

There are 6 chronological divisions that experts have identified regarding the Egyptian language. These include Archaic Egyptian (used before 2600 B.C.), Old Egyptian (used between 2600-2000 B.C.), Middle Egyptian (used between 2000-1300 B.C.), Late Egyptian (used between 1300 - 700 B.C.), Demotic Egyptian (used between the 7th Century B.C. and the 4th Century A.D.), and Coptic (used primarily between the 3rd and 17 centuries A.D.).

The Archaic Egyptian language (used before 2600 B.C.) demonstrates the first appearance of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics was Egypt's written language, comprised of pictures and sound symbols.  It is long considered the world's oldest system of written language. There are records of this written language back to 3200 B.C., to which the famed Narmer Palette is dated. Hieroglyphics ceased to be used sometime around the 4th century B.C.

The Demotic language of Egypt (used between the 7th century B.C and the 4th century A.D.) is made up of both the Ancient Egyptian writing language taken from some forms of hieratic (cursive forms of hieroglyphics) and the Egyptian language used during this period. It was used for over 1000 years, going through several evolutions during its lifespan. Early Demotic was in use between 650 - 450 BCE (Before the Christian Era), and was used primarily for administrative, legal, and commercial volumes. Middle Demotic was used between 400 - 30 BCE, which was the Ptolemaic period of Egypt's history (Cleopatra reigned during this time). This period saw an increased use of Demotic in literature and religious writings. When Greek took over at the end of the 3rd century BCE, Demotic all but lost its legality on official documents.  Late Demotic, or Roman Demotic, was in use between 30 BCE and 452 CE (Christian Era). It was used less and less in public arenas once the Romans seized control of Egypt, likely in favor of Latin. There were some literary documents produced in Late Demotic, dating to around the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.  The last dated instance of Demotic writing is dated December 11, 452 CE in the form of a graffito.

The Coptic form of the Egyptian language was in use between the 3rd and 17th centuries AD.  It is considered the last stage of the Egyptian languages. During this time, the written language used the Coptic alphabet, which was a somewhat altered form of the Greek Alphabet, with extra letters derived from the Egyptian language included. It thrived from AD 200 until around AD 1100. Today, it survives for ceremonial and religious purposes.

The Egyptian empire lives on in our history books and in legendary tales of Gods and Goddesses, the Afterlife, and in religious allegory.  They were a strong and intelligent civilization that revolutionized many aspects of commerce, law, and life that we can see in subtle ways in our world today.  They were most influential with their language, especially the written form.  The written form of Egyptian language, hieroglyphics, paved the way for the use of alphabets and helped to introduce methods of communication and record keeping to the world.  Though Arabic is now the official language of Egypt, there remain today telltale signs of the Egyptian language that lasted for millennia.

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