Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Demotic - Language of Everyday Egyptians

As teachers, I believe, we teach a very neat history in our class.  Our textbooks have made history very neat, almost, in some cases, different than what the every day people of the time would remember.  I like to ask my students why, and how we decide what should be left out of our books.  A case in point is hieroglyphics which, according to this article, was the language of the elite (re: pharaohs).  Did you know, for example, that on the Rosetta Stone both Greek and Demotic, the language of the everyday Egyptians was also found.  This is a fascinating article on a now completed dictionary of that ancient Egyptian language. 

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