Decree of Canopus | |
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Material | Granodiorite |
Size | 7 feet 4 inches in height |
Writing | Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic, and Koine Greek script |
Created | 238 BC |
Discovered | 1866 Tanis, Egypt |
Discovered by | Karl Richard Lepsius |
Present location | Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt |
The Decree of Canopus is a trilingual inscription in three scripts, which dates from the Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt. It was written in three writing systems: Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic, and Koine Greek, on several ancient Egyptian memorial stones, or steles. The inscription is a record of a great assembly of priests held at Canopus, Egypt, on 7 Appellaios (Mac.) = 17 Tybi (Eg.) year 9 of Ptolemy III = Thursday 7 March 238 BC (proleptic Julian calendar). Their decree honoured Pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes; Queen Berenice, his wife; and Princess Berenice.[1]