Demotic (Egyptian)
| Demotic |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Type | |
| Languages | Demotic (Egyptian language) |
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Time period
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c. 650 BCE–5th century CE |
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Parent systems
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Hieratic
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Child systems
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Meroitic |
| Direction | Right-to-left |
| ISO 15924 | Egyd, 070 |
| Demotic | |
|---|---|
| Region | Ancient Egypt |
| Era | ca. 450 BCE to CE 450, when it evolved into Coptic |
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Afro-Asiatic
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Early forms
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Demotic (from Ancient Greek: δημοτικός dēmotikós, "popular") is the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Nile Delta, and the stage of the Egyptian language written in this script, following Late Egyptian and preceding Coptic. The term was first used by the Greek historian Herodotus to distinguish it from hieratic and hieroglyphic scripts. By convention, the word "Demotic" is capitalized in order to distinguish it from demotic Greek.
The Demotic script was referred to by the Egyptians as sš n šˤ.t "document writing", which the 2nd century scholar Clement of Alexandria called επιστολογραφική (epistolographikē) "letter writing", while early Western scholars, notably Thomas Young, formerly referred to it as "Enchorial Egyptian". The script was used for more than a thousand years, and during that time a number of developmental stages occurred. It is written and read from right to left, while earlier hieroglyphics could be written from top to bottom, left to right, or right to left.
Early Demotic (often referred to by the German term Frühdemotisch) developed in Lower Egypt during the later part of the 25th dynasty, particularly found on stelae from the Serapeum at Saqqara. It is generally dated between 650 and 400 BC, as most texts written in Early Demotic are dated to the 26th dynasty and the following Persian period (the 27th dynasty). After the reunification of Egypt under Psametik I, Demotic replaced Abnormal Hieratic in Upper Egypt, particularly during the reign of Amasis, when it became the official administrative and legal script. During this period, Demotic was used only for administrative, legal, and commercial texts, while hieroglyphs and hieratic were reserved for other texts.
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