The world’s oldest stone tablet with the Ten Commandments, as it was described by Sotheby’s auction house, was sold on Wednesday for more than $5 million to an anonymous buyer, who intends to donate it to an Israeli institution.
The tablet’s twenty lines of text closely align with Biblical verses shared by both Christian and Jewish traditions. However, it features only nine of the Ten Commandments from the Book of Exodus, omitting “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” In its place, it includes a unique directive specific to the Samaritans: the command to worship on Mount Gerizim, a sacred site in their faith.
Weighing 115 pounds and standing about two feet tall, the marble tablet inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew script was unearthed in 1913 during railway excavations along Israel’s southern coast, near historic sites of synagogues, mosques, and churches. Its significance remained unrecognized for decades. For thirty years, it was used as a paving stone at the entrance of a local home, with its inscription facing upward and exposed to foot traffic.
In 1943, a scholar purchased the tablet after recognizing it as an important Samaritan Decalogue containing divine precepts central to several faiths. It may have originally been displayed in a synagogue or private home. Its original site was likely destroyed during the Roman invasions between 400-600 CE or the later Crusades of the 11th century.
Sotheby’s expected the tablet to sell for between $1 million and $2 million. However, after more than 10 minutes of intense bidding, it fetched $5.04 million, according to the auction house.
Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, said in a statement: “The result reflects the unparalleled importance of this artifact. To stand before this tablet is an experience unlike any other — it offers a direct connection to the shared roots of faith and culture that continue to shape our world today.”
Except for the missing part about taking the name of the Lord in vain, which we Jews like to call the Third Commandment.
