How much is the Word of God worth? A tablet believed to be one of the earliest written records of the Ten Commandments has sold in New York for just over $5 million this week.
The marble stone, dating to 300 to 800 BC, was found in 1913 in what is now Israel.
It is about 2-feet tall and weighs more than 52 kg.
It was first uncovered during the building of a railway where it was probably deposited after Crusader or Roman invaders destroyed its original setting.
Unrecognised, it was used as a paving stone until archaeologist Dr Jacob Kaplan spotted it and picked it up.
He wrote the first scholarly works on what is now recognised as one of the most important and complete links to an ancient religious experience.
The Tablet is one of the earliest known records of the Ten Commandments. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
The tablet has 20 lines of text, containing nine of what are now known as the ten commandments. The advice to not take the name of the lord in vain is omitted.
Also on the tablet is an instruction to use Mount Gerizim for worship, a Samaritan tradition.
By the 1990s the stone was in the hands of an antique dealer. It was sold for $850,000 in 2016 and went into this sale with a top estimate of $1 million to $2 million.
But an intense, 10-minute bidding battle pushed the price well beyond that. It finally sold for $5.04 million.
Richard Austin, Sotheby’s Global Head of Books and Manuscripts said: “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.
“Presenting such a treasure from antiquity has been a profound honor, and seeing it resonate so deeply with collectors globally is immensely rewarding.”
Judaica can be extremely collectible.
Last year, Sotheby’s auctioned an historic Hebrew Bible called the Codex Sassoon, realising $38.1 million. Earlier this year, a Spanish book, the Shem Tova Bible made $7 million at auction.
Before the sale, Sotheby’s said they expected the buyer to come from an institution. In fact, the Tablet has been bought by a private buyer who will donate it to an Israeli institution.
