Throughout the years I have often wondered, when reading a book about ancient Egypt,and, seeing picture after picture of monuments and artifacts covered with hieroglypics, what did the language sound like? Their art, architecture, religion, and rituals, have fascinated us for centuries, but the culture and sound of the language was a mystery until the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799, which gave the first clue to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglypics. It was called the Rosetta stone after the city in northern Egypt where it was found.

The Rosetta stone was written in three separate parts: Old Egyptian, Hieroglypics Demotic ( colloquial speech ), and Greek. Starting out with the Greek text which included the names of King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra, Egyptologist Jean Francois Champollion was able to decipher the hieroglypics in 1882. When Egypt became Christianized, hieroglypics were discouraged since they were considered pagan. At the time the Rosetta stone was carved (332 B.C.), Greeks and Egyptians lived in harmony. Greek was the language of the .Egyptian court, the heritage of the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. What was the origin of the language spoken in Egypt before the Christian and Arab occupation of Egypt? When did it evolve? Is it still spoken and, if so, where? Hieroglypic writing was sculptured or cut on stone, sometimes vertically, or from left to right. The characters were for the most part recognizable pictures of objects. It was the picture script of the ancient Egyptian priesthood ,and only those who served in the temples new the secret of the writing, which usually related to priestly functions. Also, it was too slow and difficult a method of writing for the needs of everyday business.

In time ,the cursive form of hieroglypics developed into an uncomplicated form called Demotic, which means "of or relating to the people. It was a simplified form of the ancient Hieratic writing which was used at first chiefly for business and social purposes but later also for religious and literary works.

Demotic Egyptian was the stage of the Egyptian language that paved the way for Coptic and was known to be spoken from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. After the Greek occupation of Egypt under Alexander The Great it is reasonable that the Greek language would have influenced the Egyptian language and, up to the 2nd century A.D., about 150 years after the death of Cleopatra, the Coptic language had incorporated many Greek letters. And so, the Coptic language, which today is only heard in the religious service of the Coptic church, evolved from the ancient Demotic Egyptian once spoken during the time of the Pharaohs.

In 68 A.D. St Mark, founder of the Coptic church in Egypt was martyred. Christianity had spread to upper and lower Egypt and by the 2nd century A.D. religious schools sent missionaries to Sudan, Ethiopia, the Sinai peninsula India and Europe. In 284 A.D. the Emperor Diocletian persecuted the Coptic community. The Islamic faith was brought to Egypt in 641 A.D. bringing with it a new wave of opression. In order to remain Christian they had to pay heavy taxes. Many were ousted from high positions and when Arabic was proclaimed the official language in the 11th century, anyone disobeying was tortured.

Although the Coptic language was no longer spoken in public and the Copts had to speak Arabic, for a time they continued to use their own writing. Eventually it was displaced by the Arabic script. Forbidden to speak their language in public, they were allowed to continue to sing their Coptic hymns in church. And so it is today that the Coptic language, the true descendant of the language of ancient Egypt, is still to be heard in the chanting of the Coptic church.

Egyptologist Etienne Drioton once wrote: " the key to the secret of the music of the Pharaohs can be found in a good, modern-day rendition of Coptic liturgical music.*

* quote from the C.D. Liturge Der Koptisch Orthodoxen Kirche } produced by Christophorus- ein Label der MusiContact GmbH, Heuauerweg 21, 69124 Heidelberg

- Hieroglypics were mostly pictures
- Hieratic, evolving from Hieroglypics became cursive handwriting
- Demotic was the speech of the people
- Coptic is the only survivor of the ancient Egyptian language

References:
The Pronunciation of Ancient Egyptian:
http://www.friesian.com/egypt.htm