The world’s oldest stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments has changed hands in a dramatic sale at Sotheby’s New York for a staggering $5.04 million.
The artefact, a relic of Jewish and Christian heritage, captivated collectors and historians alike. After a ten-minute bidding war, the hammer finally fell. The anonymous buyer has pledged to donate the piece to an Israeli institution. The sale exceeded its pre-auction estimate of 1–2 million. It places the tablet’s status as a cultural treasure and a highly sought-after collector’s item.
The stone slab dates back to the late Roman-Byzantine period (300–640 C.E.), measures approximately two feet tall, and features 20 lines of Paleo-Hebrew script. The text includes nine of the Ten Commandments recorded in the Exodus Book in six forms. Notably, the directive against taking the Lord’s name in vain is replaced with an injunction to worship at Mount Gerizim, a sacred site for the Samaritan community near present-day Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
The tablet was believed to have once decorated the entrance of a synagogue. Roman or Crusader forces later destroyed it, offering a rare insight into religious practices. Unearthed in 1913 near the ancient town of Yibna (modern-day Yavne, Israel) during railroad excavations, the tablet’s journey has been as tumultuous as its history. The artefact was acquired primarily by a local Arab man who used it as courtyard flooring. It was heavily worn before it was sold to Y in 1943. Kaplan collaborated with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, an archaeologist and future President of Israel, on a scholarly article documenting its significance.
The Living Torah Museum of New York later acquired the tablet, sold at a Heritage Auctions sale in Beverly Hills for $850,000 in 2016. The Israel Antiquities Authority designated it a national treasure, requiring that it remain accessible to the public—a stipulation honoured by its new owner.
The tablet was described by Sotheby’s as “a tangible link to beliefs that helped shape Western civilisation.” Richard Austin, Global Head of Books and Manuscripts, said: To encounter this shared piece of cultural heritage is to travel through millennia to connect with cultures and faiths told through one of humanity’s earliest and enduring moral codes “As it prepares for its next chapter in an Israeli institution as it prepares for its next chapter the tablet serves both as a testament to ancient history and as a reminder of the enduring power of faith, art and culture to transcend time and borders.
Top Photo Courtesy Sotheby’s