Detail of the Marble Stele with a Lydian Inscription in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Marble stele with a Lydian inscription
Lydian, 6th century BC (?)
Excavated at Sardis

Accession # 26.59.7

This stele once stood in a row of such monuments at the west end of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis. The inscription is one of the best preserved and most important documents in the Lydian script. Although the letters are akin to those of Greek, the language itself was quite different and has not been completely deciphered. The inscription may be a judicial document related to the transfer of goods from an individual named Mlimnas to the sanctuary of Artemis.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.