History of the Language

Ancient Egyptian had several phases and (chronologically) they are:

- Old Egyptian (2600-2100) - the oldest form of the language.
This was the simplest writing.

- Middle Egyptian - developed during the Middle Kingdom.
It is called the classical form of the language.
In this blog, I use Middle Egyptian!

- Late Egyptian - spoken during the Late Kingdom.
At that time, Middle Egyptian was still used in writing.


Demotic - used Greek letters in writing.
There were some additional signs for the sounds
that weren't present in Greek.




Coptic - the last phase.
Still used in Coptic (Egyptian Christian) church.





Hieratic was cursive hieroglyphic script.
It was present throughout Old, Middle and Late Kingdom.
Hieratic was written with reed brush and ink on papyrus.