Home All 50 US States All USA Updates Minute by Minute Ancient stone tablet featuring Ten Commandments to go up for auction

Ancient stone tablet featuring Ten Commandments to go up for auction

0
Ancient stone tablet featuring Ten Commandments to go up for auction

The oldest known stone tablet featuring the Ten Commandments, believed to date between 300 and 800 A.D., is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s in New York later this month. The auction is scheduled for December 18, and the remarkable artifact weighs 155 pounds (about 52 kilograms). The marble slab bears the commandments inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew script, a detail that enhances its historical significance.

Discovered in 1913 during railroad construction along Israel’s southern coast, the tablet was initially overlooked in terms of its archaeological value. For some time, it served as a simple paving stone in a local residence until 1943, when a scholar recognized its importance and purchased it, leading to greater appreciation of its provenance, according to Sotheby’s.

This slab contains the biblical verses familiar to both Jewish and Christian faiths, although it notably lacks the third commandment, which prohibits the misuse of the Lord’s name. In its place, the inscription includes an instruction to worship at Mount Gerizim, a location revered among the Samaritans, highlighting the cultural and religious diversity of the era from which the tablet originates.

Sotheby’s has set a preliminary estimate for the tablet’s auction price between $1 million and $2 million, an indication of its rarity and the interest it is expected to generate among collectors and scholars alike.