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A 1,500-year-old stone tablet with the Ten Commandments has been auctioned in New York for 5.04 million dollars (4.81 million euros), far exceeding expectations.
When the piece was presented, the auction house Sotheby’s expected proceeds to be between 1 and 2 million dollars. According to the auctioneer, it is the only known complete stone tablet with the bids from this period.
The stone was discovered in 1913 during railroad construction in Israel
The piece of marble, which is around 60 centimetres high and weighs 50 kilograms, is engraved with the commandments and prohibitions in ancient Hebrew script—including the prohibitions against murder and stealing. However, the plaque does not contain the commandment not to take God’s name in vain, which, according to the auction house, could have been an oversight on the part of the stone carver.
The stone was discovered in 1913 during railroad construction in southern Israel. However, its significance was not recognized for a long time—the stone was walled in at the entrance to a house, face up, so many people walked over it. It was not until the 1940s that scientists discovered what the plaque was all about.
- source: kurier.at/picture: Image by Oberholster Venita from Pixabay
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