Oldest Inscribed Tablet of the Ten Commandments Achieves $5.04 Million at Sotheby’s New York

NEW YORK, 18 NOVEMBER 2024 -  At Sotheby’s New York, the oldest inscribed stone tablet of the Ten Commandments—dating to the Late Roman-Byzantine period (ca. 300–800 CE)—achieved $5,040,000, surpassing its pre-sale estimate of $1–2 million. The 115-pound marble artifact, inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew, sparked fierce global competition, with over ten minutes of intense bidding before ultimately being acquired by an anonymous buyer who plans to donate it to an Israeli institution.

Unearthed in 1913 along the southern coast of the Land of Israel, this extraordinary tablet is the only complete example of its kind from antiquity. A tangible link to ancient beliefs that have profoundly shaped global religious and cultural traditions, it serves as a rare testament to history.

After being used as a paving stone, the Tablet was identified in 1943 by leading archaeologist Dr. Jacob Kaplan as a rare Samaritan Decalogue. It features nine Biblical commandments and a unique directive to worship on Mount Gerizim, central to Samaritan tradition. In 1947, Kaplan published its significance in the Bulletin of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, explaining its 1913 discovery during railroad excavations. 

Following Dr. Kaplan’s publication revealing the significance of the Tablet in 1947, this historical object has been studied by leading scholars in the field and published in numerous scholarly articles and books, the most recent of which was published earlier this year.*