A rare and ancient artifact is set to be auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York next month. The artifact in question is a marble tablet inscribed with nine of the Ten Commandments, believed to be the oldest intact version of its kind in stone. Measuring two feet in height and weighing 115 pounds, this piece of history is estimated to fetch around $2 million at the upcoming sale.
The Commandments, inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew script, date back to the Late Roman-Byzantine Era, which spans from around 300 to 800 CE. Discovered in 1913 during railway excavations near what was once known as Iamnia, now Yavneh in Israel, the tablet was initially used as a paving stone at the threshold of a local residence for 30 years before its true significance was recognized.
Featuring 20 lines of text, the tablet includes all but one of the Ten Commandments found in the Book of Exodus. The missing commandment is “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Additionally, the tablet contains an instruction to worship at the holy site of Mount Gerizim, a sacred place for the Samaritans.
The provenance of the tablet traces back to 1943 when it was purchased by scholar and archaeologist Y. Kaplan. Over the years, it changed hands and eventually ended up at the Living Torah Museum in New York. In 2016, the tablet was sold for $850,000 to Mitchell Stuart Cappell in a sale organized by Heritage Auctions, with the condition that it be made available for public display.
Now, the tablet may find a new owner as it goes up for auction on December 18. Prior to the sale, the piece will be on display at Sotheby’s in New York starting December 5. Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of Books and Manuscripts, expressed the significance of this artifact, stating that it provides a unique opportunity to connect with cultures and faiths through one of humanity’s earliest moral codes.
