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Languages in North-east Africa and the Near East

Egyptian is part of the family of Afroasiatic languages, which can be divided into the Semitic and Hamitic languages. Egyptian is attested from the Early Dynastic Period (about 3000 BC) to the Islamic Period (AD 642 - today), when it came to be replaced as spoken language by Arabic.

Chart showing the development of the Egyptian language Egyptian as part of other families of languages



 

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