Valuable discovery: Stone tablet with Ten Commandments brings over 5 million!

Valuable discovery: Stone tablet with Ten Commandments brings over 5 million!

In a spectacular auction in New York, a stone tablet with the Ten Commandments that is over 1,500 years old was recently sold for an impressive 5.04 million dollars (approx. 4.81 million euros). This sum exceeded the estimates of the auction house Sotheby's, which had expected proceeds of 1 to 2 million dollars. The tablet is considered to be the only completely preserved example from the late Byzantine period and shows the commandments and prohibitions in ancient Hebrew script, which, among other things, forbid killing and stealing. The board weighs 52 kilograms and measures about 60 centimeters in height katholisch.de reported.

The story of this remarkable artifact begins in 1913, when it was discovered during railway construction in Israel. For decades the true value of the table was not recognized; it served as a paving stone until scientists began to examine its significance in the 1940s. Interestingly, the commandment not to take God's name in vain is missing from the tablet. Instead, an additional commandment was added requiring worship of God at Mount Gerizim, a central location for the Samaritans. Richard Austin, head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby's, emphasized the plaque as a "tangible link to the beliefs that have shaped Western civilization," underscoring its immense cultural significance krone.at reported.