Old Egyptian is the stage of the
Egyptian language spoken from 2600 BC to 2000 BC during the
Old Kingdom and
First Intermediate Period. The
Pyramid Texts are the largest body of literature written in this phase of the language. Tomb walls of elite
Egyptians from this period bear autobiographical writings representing Old Egyptian. One of its distinguishing characteristics is the tripling of
ideograms, phonograms, and
determinatives to indicate the plural. Overall, it does not differ significantly from
Middle Egyptian, the classical stage of the language, though it is based on a different dialect.