A study of the letter forms used suggested that the marble slab on which the decree was inscribed had been carved in the first half of the 3rd century BC, raising the question of how the text had survived for two centuries, particularly given that Athens was sacked by the Persians in 480 and again in 479 BC in the Achaemenid destruction of Athens.
A study of the letter forms on a marble slab where the decree was inscribed suggested it was carved in the first half of the 3rd century BC, prompting questions about how the text survived for two centuries given that Athens was sacked by the Persians in 480 and again in 479 BC during the Achaemenid destruction of Athens.