VII. Conclusion and Exercises
The short overview on the previous pages concludes this introduction to Demotic. The interested reader may now view Demotic in a less dramatic way than Grapow did in 1939. Although there are some challenges to overcome in the study of Demotic, it can be a very rewarding experience to decipher a script and texts that have not been read for ca. 2000 years. Of course, this module can only give a limited perspective on Demotic. Therefore, a selected bibliography is appended on the next page. The following exercises may serve to repeat the contents of the previous pages and to deepen understanding.
Exercise I
To show the rewarding effect of deciphering Demotic script, the following two Demotic names can be easily read with the knowledge of the previous pages.
a)
b)
Exercise II
Exercise III
In order to elaborate on the transliteration of Demotic, Joachim Quack wrote an article on this matter. There, he discusses possible systems of transliteration as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The article was pubished as follows:
Quack, J.F., Bemerkungen zur Struktur der demotischen Schrift und zur Umschrift des Demotischen, in: Depauw, M. / Broux, Y. (edd.), Acts of the Tenth International Congress of Demotic Studies. Leuven. 26-30 August 2008, Leuven / Paris / Walpole (MA) 2014, 207-242.
a) Read the article carefully.
b) Write a short essay on this article taking into account your knowledge from the module and Quack's ideas. Sum up all of the attempts at Demotic transliteration and their difficulties in your own words and choose one attempt that you would support for the future of Demotic studies with appropriate arguments (ca. 750-1000 words).