The oldest known stone tablet of the Ten Commandments to be auctioned by Sotheby's

An ancient marble tablet inscribed with an ancient Hebrew version of the biblical Ten Commandments is set to be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York on December 18. The auction house announced that the tablet will be exhibited to the public starting December 5. Sotheby's presented the tablet on Tuesday in a statement as "the oldest known version" of the Ten Commandments made in stone.

The tablet dates from the Byzantine era and is approximately 1,500 years old. Weighing 52 kilograms and standing about 60 centimeters high, the stone bears twenty lines of text engraved in Paleo-Hebrew, a script that went out of common use many centuries ago. The twenty lines of text closely follow the biblical verses familiar to both Christian and Jewish traditions.

However, although ten commandments are inscribed on the plaque, there is one commandment not found in the Book of Exodus: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." Sotheby's specified that the commandment not found in the Book of Exodus is to pray on Mount Gerizim, a specific sacred place for the Samaritans.

The tablet is estimated to sell for between one and two million dollars. "This remarkable tablet is not only a historical artifact of enormous importance, but a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western civilization," said Sotheby's Global Director of Books and Manuscripts, according to Los Andes. The director added, "Encountering this shared piece of cultural heritage is traveling through millennia and connecting with cultures and beliefs told through one of humanity's oldest and most enduring moral codes."

Sharon Liberman Mintz, a Sotheby's specialist, stated, "This is the earliest of all known tablets with the commandments," according to Komsomolskaya Pravda. Sotheby's presents the tablet as a demonstration "of the moral code that underpins Western civilization" and emphasizes its relevance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, stating it represents a true "bridge between faiths, regions, and epochs."

The tablet's history dates back to its unearthing in 1913 during excavations to build a railway line along the southern coast of what is now Israel. At the time of its discovery, its importance was not recognized, and the discovery went unnoticed for many decades, as stated in Sotheby's auction announcement. For thirty years, the plaque served as a paving stone at the entrance of a house, with the inscription facing up and exposed to foot traffic.

In 1943, a scholar recognized the tablet's importance and bought it, acknowledging it as an important Samaritan Decalogue containing fundamental divine precepts for many religions. After the scholar, its subsequent fate is unknown and unclear. It is unclear what happened to the tablet immediately after it was bought in 1943, and it is unclear who is currently selling the tablet.

The original location of the slab was probably a synagogue, which was destroyed either by the Romans during their invasions of the region between 400-600 AD, or during the Crusades in the 11th century, emphasized the expert.

The tablet has awakened great interest due to its cultural and historical value. The Ten Commandments are the central element of the Jewish and Christian faiths and are also recognized in Islam. According to the story narrated in the Book of Exodus, God wrote these commandments on two stone tablets (the tablets of the law) and gave them to Moses for the Jews to fulfill.

Before the auction, the slab will be on public display starting December 5.

Sources: Los Andes, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Clarín, DW (Deutsche Welle)

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq