posted by Hannah Cornwell
Akiko Moroo – Milet. 1020 and the Milesian History
On Monday 6th February Akiko Moroo (Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the CSAD) presented a closed detailed analysis of an inscription from Miletus (Milet. 1020, Miletus Museum, inv. 273), examining the inscription in terms of dating techniques, compositional style and historical context. Opinion in the scholarship has been divided between identifying the text as a Milesian 4th century decree with Athenian type prescript, and a copy of a 5th century Attic decree concerning Miletus.
Through an analysis of other inscriptions from Miletus which date from the 5th to the 4th Centuries B.C., Moroo argued that Milet. 1020 dates to the very end of the 5th Century, based on the style of the inscription. She examined the development of the epigraphic habit of Miletus, highlighting the move away from stoichedon over the cause of the 5th century, and the introduction of the serif into the letter cutting. Milet. 1020 is non-stoichedon and some of the letters appear to be cut with serifs (e.g. E, K, S). As regards the text as an Athenian or Milesian decree, Moroo pointed out the difficulty of such an identification based on the prescript, and rather emphasised the reference to οἱ συγγραφς, as special committees set up by Athens concerning her Empire, as evidence for an Athenian decree.
Moroo concluded that the inscription is a copy of an Athenian decree concerning Miletus, dating to the very end of the 5th century.