For Greek Demotic, see the article Dhimotiki
Demotic referes to both the ancient Egyptian script preceded by hieratic and the late stage of the Egyptian language that the Demotic script was used to write. After the introduction of demotic, hieratic remained in use for religious purposes, while demotic was used for economic and literary purposes. In contrast to hieratic, demotic was often carved into stone and wood.
Demotic was in use by 660 BC and became the dominant script of ancient Egypt by 600 BC. In the early 4th century, demotic was increasingly replaced by Greek; its last known use was in AD 451 upon the walls of the temple of Philae.
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Last updated: 10-11-2005 10:35:51
