Earliest complete stone tablet of the 10 Commandments up for auction

The Manila Times

Earliest complete stone tablet of the 10 Commandments up for auction  The earliest, complete stone tablet of the 10 Commandments will hit the auction block at Sotheby’s New York later this month. The tablet, dating to the late Roman-Byzantine era, is approximately 1,500 years old. Weighing 115 pounds and measuring approximately 2 feet in height, the marble tablet was unearthed in 1913 during railway excavations along the southern coast of Israel, near the sites of early synagogues, mosques and churches. The significance of the discovery went unrecognized for decades, Sotheby’s said. The tablet contains only 9 of the 10 commandments found in the Book of Exodus. The stone tablet hits the auction block on Dec. 18, 2024 in New York City and has a pre-sale estimate of $1 million to $2 million.   REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net     Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #10commandments

Transcript

00:00Behind us we have one of the most important treasures that I have ever handled.

00:24It is the earliest complete stone tablet of the Ten Commandments.

00:30It dates back to the late Roman Byzantine period from over 1500 years ago and it is

00:37inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script with the words of the Ten Commandments as is familiar

00:44to millions of people around the world in the Christian and Hebrew Bible.

01:14These stones are incredibly rare.

01:20We have a census where we have found a total of ten, but all other nine are fragments which

01:27contain only part of the Ten Commandments.

01:30This is the only one which contains the complete Ten Commandments.

01:35This is also the earliest with the complete Ten Commandments.

02:00This stone weighs 115 pounds.

02:04It measures about 20 by 22 inches and in fact this is exactly the same measurements

02:11that the rabbis in the early first centuries agreed was the measurements of the original

02:15Ten Commandments that Moses carried down from the mount.

02:20After that we have, this is honor your father and your mother, this is you should not kill.

02:42Paleo-Hebrew is a script that the Jewish people used from the 10th century before the Common

02:47Era until the 5th century of the Common Era.

02:51It's closely modeled on Phoenician script.

02:55At that point in the 5th century before the Common Era, the Jewish people began using

03:00Ksav Ashuri which is the Hebrew that we know today.

03:05So while the text, the language is still Hebrew, the script is known as Paleo-Hebrew.

03:12Lo tirtzach, you should not kill, and lo t'ach, you should not commit adultery.

03:28It has the first nine commandments as we know them.

03:32The third commandment, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain, is not there because

03:38this commandment was written by a Samaritan for use in a Samaritan synagogue, place of

03:45worship, and instead the 10th commandment here is the admonition that one should worship

03:52on Mount Grizim.

03:54Mount Grizim is a holy site near Nablus where the Samaritans still worship.

04:25This treasure, the earliest 10 commandment tablets, extant, is coming for auction on

04:32December 18th at Sotheby's.

04:34The estimate is $1 to $2 million.

04:36I have been asked why it's so low, and on December 18th we will find out exactly where

04:42it goes.

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