ISCALA, FLORENCE
BETWEEN EGYPT AND GREECE. The final stage in the development of the ancient Egyptian language, Coptic
emerged in the second century A.D., adopting letters from the Greek alphabet as well as retaining seven
characters from the demotic, a simplified form of hieroglyphics. Pictured is a 10th-century Coptic codex
containing an inscription about the archangel Raphael. Louvre Museum, Paris.