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A stone tablet engraved with the Ten Commandments sold for over $5 million despite questions of authenticity

The anonymous purchaser has agreed to return the tablet to Israel

1,500-year-old Hebrew inscription of the Ten Commandments (Photo: Sotheby’s)
 
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A stone tablet, which world-renowned Sotheby’s auction house described as the world’s oldest, sold for over $5 million on Wednesday evening. Sotheby’s claims the tablet is approximately 1,500 years old, dating back to somewhere between 300 and 800 A.D.

The stone tablet, weighing about 52 kg (115 lbs) and standing 60 cm (24 in) tall, and inscribed with ancient Hebrew script sold for $5.04 million at Sotheby's in New York, more than double the initial estimates.

The bidding for the tablet was intense, attracting participants from across the world. The anonymous buyer pledged to transfer the tablet to an Israeli institution for public display.

The tablet contains 20 lines of text in Paleo-Hebrew script, very close to the biblical Ten Commandments.

One surprising detail regarding the tablet is that the biblical commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," has been replaced with an instruction to worship God on Mt. Gerizim, the hill considered sacred to the Samaritan community and mentioned in the Gospel of John in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:20). The Samaritan community continued to maintain a significant presence in Israel even into the late Roman-Byzantine period. 

According to Tel Aviv archaeologist, Jacob Kaplan, the tablet was discovered by chance in 1913, during railroad construction near Yavne. He claimed that the tablet served as a paving stone at the entrance to a local house for a couple of decades, leading to partial erosion of the inscription.

Kaplan said he first saw the tablet in 1943 and purchased it in 1947. He then collaborated with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Israel's second president, to publish the research, where Ben-Zvi declared it a "national treasure."

The tablet was eventually acquired by Rabbi Shaul Deutsch, who brought it to the United States for exhibition at his museum in Brooklyn.

Richard Austin, Sotheby’s Global Head of Books and Manuscripts, said: "This remarkable tablet is not only a vastly important historic artifact, but a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western civilization. To encounter this shared 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."

Several historical experts have expressed doubts about the tablet's authenticity, noting that artifacts relating to biblical archaeology are often fabricated due to the high price they can command.

Dr. Brian I. Daniels, director of Research and Programs at the Penn Cultural Heritage Center in Philadelphia, told the New York Times that "objects from this region of the world are rife with fakes.”

“It’s not uncommon for spectacular finds to have elaborately embellished stories of discovery,” he added. 

Dr. Christopher A. Rollston, the chairman of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University, also raised concerns about the tablet's dating. 

“Sotheby’s is stating that this Samaritan Ten Commandments inscription is circa 1,500 years old,” Rollston said. “But there is no way that this can be known. After all, these were not found on an archaeological excavation. We don’t even know who actually found them.” 

Rollston also questions the claim that the tablet was discovered in 1913 during railroad construction, pointing out the lack of contemporary documentation.

"Such stories are often fabricated by traders or forgers to give an object an aura of authenticity," he warned.

Even the unique inscription on the tablet, omitting the third commandment and substituting the instruction to worship on Mt. Gerizim raises questions. 

“Forgers during the past 150 years, when they fabricate their forgeries, often throw in surprising content,” Rollston noted. “And they do this so as to garner more interest in their forgery.” 

Despite the doubts, Sotheby's maintains that the inscription has undergone natural wear and aging, which strengthens the theory that it is an ancient and authentic item. 

In a statement from the anonymous buyer, it was revealed that the tablet will be returned to Israel, where its authenticity may undergo a more thorough examination.

The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.

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