The Demotic Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
Janet H. Johnson, editor
The Oriental Institute, Chicago
©2001 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
Published 2001. United States of America.
Introduction to the Chicago Demotic Dictionary
The Chicago Demotic Dictionary (CDD) is a lexicographic tool for reading texts written in a late stage of the ancient Egyptian language and in a highly cursive script known as Demotic. In use from ca. 650 B.C. until the middle of the fifth century A.D., Demotic served as the medium for a wide variety of text types. These include "documentary" texts, such as business and legal documents, private letters and administrative inscriptions, and "literary" texts, including not only works of literature per se, for example, narrative texts and pieces of wisdom literature, but also religious and magical texts and scientific texts dealing with topics such as astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. Demotic texts thus not only provide important witnesses for the development of ancient Egyptian linguistic and paleographical traditions but also constitute an indispensable source for reconstructing the social, political, and cultural life of ancient Egypt during a fascinating period of its history. more
Source: Chuck Jones, OI News
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