Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription
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Object Label
Demotic script first appeared about 700 B.C.E. It is more cursive than hieratic, and many demotic signs do not correspond exactly with the hieroglyphs used to write the same word. The large number of surviving demotic documents, many of which are not the work of professional scribes, suggests that literacy in Egypt had become more widespread by the time this script appeared. This ostrakon (inscribed stone or pottery fragment) records a prayer to the god Amun to restore a blind man’s sight. It concludes with the words: “Return to me, my great Lord, Amun. I am defenseless; let me not perish; do not forget me.”
Caption
Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription, 305–30 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1821E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1821E_erg456.jpg)
Title
Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription
Date
305–30 B.C.E.
Period
Ptolemaic Period
Geography
Reportedly from: Thebes, Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.1821E
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
I just saw this Ostracon with Demotic Inscription and wondered whether Demotic script has anything to do with the written Arabic language today?
The two scripts are indirectly related. The root alphabet that many Western and Near Eastern scripts can be traced back to is known as Proto-Canaanite or Proto-Sinaitic. This alphabet is directly based on a dramatically simplified version of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs; Demotic is a cursive form of hieroglyphs.Modern Arabic comes from Nabataean, which is based on Aramaic, which is based on Phoenician, which comes directly from Proto-Canaanite.Thank you!Tell me more
Scholars use the word ostrakon to described scraps of stone or pottery that have been written on drawn on. These materials, in the ancient Mediterranean, functioned much like we use scrap paper today.They were often used for quick records, like this prayer that was likely written down to archived in a temple to Amun.
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