The oldest known stone tablet of the Ten Commandments was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for a staggering $5,040,000 in a historic sale. The tablet, which dates back to 300-800 AD, is a remarkable artefact from the late Roman-Byzantine era, approximately 1,500 years ago. Carved from white marble, it weighs 52 kilos and stands 60 centimeters high. It features the Ten Commandments in their Samaritan Israelite version, meticulously engraved in paleo-Hebrew script.
The tablet’s journey to the auction house was a long and winding one. It was initially discovered during excavations for a railway in the Holy Land and later served as a paving stone in a local house for 30 years. In 1943, the tablet was purchased by Jacob Kaplan, a respected municipal archaeologist in Tel Aviv, who recognized its significance. The tablet later changed hands several times, eventually being purchased by Mitchell S. Cappell in 2016 for $850,000.
Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, described the tablet as “a historical artifact of enormous importance” and “a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western civilization.” The sale of the tablet is a significant event, not only because of its historical value but also because it highlights the enduring importance of the Ten Commandments in human culture. As Austin noted, “To encounter this shared piece of cultural heritage is to travel through millennia and connect with cultures and beliefs told through one of humanity’s oldest and most enduring moral codes.”