World’s Oldest Ten Commandments Tablet to Be Auctioned at Sotheby’s

The 1,500-year-old Yavne Tablet, carved in Paleo-Hebrew script, is expected to fetch up to $2 million at the December 18 auction.

The Yavne Tablet, a 155-pound marble slab inscribed with the Ten Commandments, dates back to 300–800 A.D. during the late Roman-Byzantine era.
Discovered in 1913 during railroad excavations in Israel, the artifact was initially overlooked and used as a paving stone for decades.
The inscription, written in Paleo-Hebrew, mirrors traditional Christian and Jewish biblical verses but omits the third commandment and includes a directive to worship on Mount Gerizim, a site sacred to Samaritans.
Sotheby’s describes the artifact as the earliest surviving complete inscribed stone tablet of the Ten Commandments, showcasing the original formulation of the Decalogue.
Bidding for the tablet will start at $1 million, with Sotheby’s estimating the final price could reach up to $2 million.