Archaeologist Takes Closer Look at Sidewalk Stone, Realizes It’s Ancient Bible Artifact, Now Worth $2 Million
The oldest inscribed tablet of the Ten Commandments is scheduled to be auctioned by Sotheby’s on December 18, with an estimated value of $1 million to $2 million. This rare artifact, weighing 115 pounds and standing two feet tall, is the only complete tablet from the Late Byzantine period, dating back 1,500 years. It features 20 lines of Paleo-Hebrew text, with nine commandments visible. Interestingly, instead of the traditional commandment against taking the Lord’s name in vain, the tablet instructs worshippers to venerate at Mount Gerizim, a site sacred to Samaritans.
Initially discovered in 1913 during railway construction in southern Israel, the tablet was used as a common sidewalk stone by its subsequent owner, who was unaware of its significance. Its true importance was recognized in 1943 by an archaeologist. In 2016, it was sold for $850,000 at auction. Sotheby’s representatives stress the artifact’s cultural and historical importance, highlighting its connection to the moral foundations of Western civilization.
For decades it was merely a sidewalk stone at a home in the Middle East, its significance unbeknownst to its owner.
Now, the oldest inscribed tablet of the Ten Commandments is set to auction for $1 million to $2 million, according to a Sotheby’s news release.
The relic is the only complete tablet of the Ten Commandments in existence from the Late Byzantine period, which ranged from 300–800 A.D.
Sotheby’s is set to auction the 1,500-year-old piece on Dec. 18.
“We understood how powerful the object was and we were really thrilled to be able to offer it for sale to the public,” Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby’s international senior specialist of Judaica, books and manuscripts, told ARTnews.
“This is really one-of-a-kind,” Mintz said. “It’s one of the most important historic artifacts that I’ve ever handled.”
The marble relic weighs a hefty 115 pounds and stands two feet tall.
The oldest stone tablet of the Ten Commandments will be sold by Sotheby’s during a single lot auction on December 18th. https://t.co/Cx3yEtHZJ8
— Artsy (@artsy) November 13, 2024
Twenty lines of Paleo-Hebrew text are etched into the stone, with nine of the Ten Commandments being visible, according to Sotheby’s.
One commandment has been replaced with a much different instruction, however.
Instead of “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain,” the tablet instructs followers to worship on Mount Gerizim, a site holy to the Samaritans, according to Sotheby’s.
The tablet was first unearthed in 1913 during railway construction along Israel’s southern coast.
It was found near sites of early synagogues, mosques and churches, according to Sotheby’s.
After its discovery, it was sold to a local Arab and subsequently used as a sidewalk stone for his home — its inscription facing up and exposed to foot traffic, according to Artnet.
“People didn’t realize the significance of it. It looked like just a big marble slab,” said Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch, according to the New York Post.
Then, in 1943, an archaeologist recognized the true value of the stone and purchased it.
In 2016, New York’s Living Torah Museum sold it at auction for $850,000 to an unknown buyer in Beverly Hills.
“This remarkable tablet is not only a vastly important historic artifact, but a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western civilization,” said Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts.
“To encounter this d piece of cultural heritage is to journey through millennia and connect with cultures and faiths told through one of humanity’s earliest and most enduring moral codes.”
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