The world’s oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments exceeded expectations at a Sotheby’s auction on Wednesday. The tablet was expected to sell for US$1 to US$2 million, with the final transaction price being as high as US$5 million.
“This result reflects the unparalleled importance of this artifact,” Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, told reporters. new york times. “Standing in front of this tablet is an experience like no other – it provides a direct connection to shared beliefs and cultural roots that continue to shape our world today.”
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The two-foot-long marble slab contains commandments written in ancient Hebrew and dates to between 300 and 800 AD. Weighing 155 pounds, it is the only complete example of its kind from antiquity.
It was originally discovered in 1913 during railway excavations along the southern coast of what was then Palestine, and according to Jacob Kaplan, who discovered the monument in 1943, it was used as a paving stone with the inscription facing upwards.
In 1947, Kaplan Bulletin of the Jewish Society for the Exploration of Palestine. The tablet was owned by an Israeli antiques dealer in 1995 and subsequently became part of the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn. It was purchased by collector Mitchell S. Cappell in 2016 for $850,000 and has just been auctioned. However, as is not uncommon for such objects, the authenticity of the piece is widely disputed.
The text is similar to known biblical passages cited in Judaism and Christianity, but does not include the third commandment against taking God’s name in vain. It also details the need for worship on Mount Gerizim (near present-day Palestinian city of Nablus, also known as the biblical city of Shechem), which was considered a holy site to the Samaritans.
“It is a rare piece of historical evidence of a tangible connection to an ancient belief that profoundly influenced religious and cultural traditions around the world,” the auction house said in a statement.
After more than ten minutes of intense bidding by interested parties from around the world, the tablet was acquired by an anonymous buyer with the intention of donating it to an institution in Israel.
