
The Mwo (MZ) consists of 71 numbered units, conventionally called chapters. The first 39 of these are on ethical or other doctrinal topics. Of them, 30 (MZ 8-37) are grouped in ten sets of three, which I will call triplets, each set having a collective title; 2 (MZ 38-39) form a duplet, also with a collective title; the other 7 (MZ 1-7) are individually titled singlets. Stylistic inconsistencies occur among and within triplets, in a pattern which suggests evolution over time. I here propose an order of composition of the triplets from this internal evidence, and extend that argument to the duplet and singlet chapters. I note the history of the Mician movement which this sequence implies, and compare it with contemporary evidence as a final test of the hypothesis, and as a way of providing the hypothesis with some approximate dates.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/a_brooks/10/