Archaeologists specializing in the civilization of ancient Egypt have found what is called today "notebooks", in the ancient Egyptian city of Atrib, which is located to the northeast of the city of Banha, the capital of Qalyubia Governorate (south of the Nile Delta governorates). This discovery consists of about 18,000 pieces. Antique pottery fragments.

According to a report by Science Alert on the 7th of February, many of these pieces were written by students, and they are not of the high quality and expensive, and were within the reach of many, as the Egyptians used them in their Their diaries were used to write what they needed, to exchange letters, or to write literary texts. They were also used to teach students to read and draw.

The archaeologists termed this type of fragments "drawn slits".

The history of these fragments goes back to the Ptolemaic period, two thousand years ago (University of Tübingen)

Drawings and writings in several languages

According to the press release issued by the German University of Tübingen on January 31, the history of these relics dates back to about two thousand years, and was discovered through searches and excavations led by Professor Christian Leites of the Institute for Ancient Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Tübingen. , in cooperation with a team from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities led by researcher Mohamed Abdel Badi.

The pieces were originally pots such as jars to fill water and plates that were broken, so they were converted for the purpose of writing using ink and a reed or a small branch, a technique that was in force until modern times, similar to the tablets that children used in scribes.

This is the second time that scientists have found a large number of pieces. A scientific research team had previously found a large group of "shovels" at the beginning of the twentieth century in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor Governorate in Upper Egypt, which is about 200 kilometers from the city of Atrib.

These fragments contain various drawings and inscriptions (University of Tübingen)

The scientists added - in the press release - that about 80% of the fragments were written in the Demotic language;

It is an official language that was used at the time in administrative letters and discourses during the reign of Ptolemy 12, who ruled from 81 to 59 BC, and again later from 55 to 51 BC, when the city of Atrib was at that time the capital of the state.

As for the rest of the inscriptions, they are in Greek and hieroglyphics, and to a lesser extent in Coptic and Arabic, but the date of these pieces most likely dates back to recent historical periods.

In addition to the inscriptions, there are pieces bearing drawings of animals such as scorpions and birds, and humans, and images of temple deities, and there are geometric drawings, Christian Lights confirmed in the press release.

As for the content, the scholars said that they found writings of the names of the months, numbers, problems in mathematics, and exercises in grammar, in addition to the names of some types of food, and things one needs in his day.

University of Tübingen scientists have been working in the ancient city of Atrib since 2005 as part of a 15-year project (University of Tübingen)

Secrets of the city of Atrib

Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen have been working in the ancient city of Atrib since 2005 as part of a 15-year scientific research project funded by the German Science Foundation, which is still ongoing.

The main objective of this project was to search for the secrets of the great temple built by Ptolemy VII, father of the famous Queen Cleopatra III, which was discovered and shown and is open today for tourists.

Ptolemy VII built this temple about two thousand years ago from the gods at the time, before it was converted into a monastery after the prohibition of pagan religions starting in 380 BC.