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The world's earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments has just been sold at an auction in Beverly Hills, California for a whopping $850,000 (£682,489).
The inscription — which has earned a reputation for being the "national treasure" of Israel — stands 2 feet tall. It is a square marble slab that weighs 115 pounds. Done in 4th century A.D., it has an early Hebrew script called Samaritan, according to the Daily Mail.
It was sold by Heritage Auctions during its public sale of ancient biblical archaeology artefacts. David Michaels, director of ancient coins and antiquities of Heritage Auctions, said the tablet was most likely made to adorn the entrance of a synagogue that was destroyed by the Romans sometime between A.D. 400 and 600. It could have also been destroyed by the Crusaders in the 11th century.
Michaels said the Israeli Antiquities Authorities approved the export of the tablet to the U.S. in 2005, with the sole stipulation that it be displayed in a public museum. Despite the recent purchase of the tablet, it will still be available for public viewing.
"The sale of this tablet does not mean it will be hidden away from the public," Michaels clarified. "The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public."
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The tablet was first discovered in 1913 during excavations for a railway station near Yavneh in Israel. It emerged years later when it was purchased by an Arab man, who decided to place it in the floor of his courtyard. Because of this, some of the letters in the centre of the slab were worn down.
It was later purchased by a certain Mr. Y. Kaplan in 1943. He owned it for 50 years before it was bought by antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch in the 1990s. It was last owned by a prominent rabbi, who purchased it for his Living Torah Museum in New York in 2005. The Israel Antiquities Authority gave the rabbi its approval to have the tablet displayed at the museum before being sold recently at the auction.
The new owner does not wish to be named. The starting bid for the Ten Commandments tablet was $300,000 (£240,878).
