4. The ordinary language of the country, after Christianity was introduced into it; this is called =Coptic=. It ceased to be used in Egypt as a spoken language, probably about the twelfth century, but the Holy Scriptures and the Services are in several places in Egypt read in Coptic on Sundays and Festivals, although very few people understand what is being read. Four dialects of Coptic are distinguished: (1) That of Upper Egypt, called “Sahidic.” (2) That of Lower Egypt, called “Boheiric.” (3) The dialect of Ṣûhâḳ and its neighbourhood. (4) The dialect of the district of the Fayyûm. It is a noteworthy fact that, from the beginning of the second century of our era to the twelfth, the language of ancient Egypt was preserved, in a modified form, chiefly through the translations of the Holy Scriptures, which were made from Greek into Coptic. [Illustration: A page of hieratic writing from the Great Harris Papyrus.] =Egyptian Writing= was of three kinds, which are called “Hieroglyphic,” “Hieratic,” and “Demotic.” The oldest form is the =hieroglyphic= (_i.e._, sacred engraved writing), or purely pictorial, which was employed in inscriptions upon temples, tombs, statues, sepulchral tablets, etc., and for monumental purposes generally. At a very early period it was found that the hieroglyphic form of writing was cumbrous, and that in cases where it was important to write quickly on papyrus, the pictorial characters were inconvenient. The scribes, therefore, began first to modify, and secondly to abbreviate the pictorial characters, and at length the form of writing called =hieratic= (_i.e._, the priests’ writing) was developed. Hieratic was a style of cursive writing much used by the priests in copying literary compositions on papyrus from the IVth or Vth dynasty to the XXVIth dynasty. This form of writing is well illustrated by the above reproduction of a page from the Great Harris Papyrus in the British Museum (No. 9999), which was written about B.C. 1200. The text is read from right to left, and the following is a transcript into hieroglyphic characters of the first two lines:— 1. 𓆓𓐳𓂧𓇋𓐰𓈖𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓀭𓍹𓐼𓇳𓄊𓌷𓐰𓏏𓆄𓌻𓇋𓏠𓐰𓈖𓀭𓐽𓍺𓀭𓋹𓍑𓋴 𓅮𓄿𓊹𓀭𓉻𓐰𓏛𓐍𓐰𓂋𓀙𓏲𓀀𓏪𓄂𓐰𓏏𓐱𓏲𓐰𓏭𓏴𓐰𓂻𓀀𓏪𓏌𓐰𓏤𓇾𓐰𓏤𓐱𓈇𓀎𓀀𓏪 𓈖𓐰𓏏𓎛𓏏𓐰𓂋𓇋𓆳𓄛𓐰𓏦𓆷𓄿𓏭𓐰𓂋𓐰𓂧𓏤𓄿𓈖𓐰𓄿𓌙𓀀𓏪𓌔𓐰𓏏𓐱𓏤𓀀𓏪𓆈𓐰𓏏𓐱𓏦 2. 𓋹𓈖𓐰𓐍𓐱𓏲𓀀𓏥𓐰𓎟𓏌𓐰𓏤𓇾𓐰𓏤𓐱𓈇𓈖𓇾𓐰𓏤𓐱𓈇𓌻𓇋𓆳𓊖𓐰𓊖𓄔𓅓𓏜𓏲𓐰𓈖𓐰𓏦𓂞𓐰𓏲𓀭 𓂝𓐰𓌴𓄿𓅓𓏲𓐰𓁻𓏏𓐰𓈖𓐰𓏦𓅓𓈖𓐰𓄿𓇌𓏪𓀭𓅜𓐍𓐰𓏲𓏜𓏪𓇋𓀁𓁹𓐰𓂋𓐰𓏲𓀭𓇋𓏲 𓀭𓅓𓇓𓏏𓐰𓈖𓀭𓈖𓂋𓐰𓐍𓇌𓅛𓀀𓁐𓏪𓃹𓐰𓈖𓅮𓄿𓇾𓐰𓏤𓐱𓈇𓈖