Sotheby’s, the renowned New York auction house specializing in art and historical artifacts, announced a stone tablet engraved with the Ten Commandments sold for $5 million at an auction on Wednesday.
The impressive sale price was reached despite doubts surrounding the tablet’s authenticity. While no one has claimed it to be the original Biblical stone tablet, some experts have questioned its provenance, which is said to date between 300 and 800 CE.
Another point of contention is that the 115-pound (52-kilogram) slab, purportedly discovered in 1913 in what is now Israel, only features nine of the Ten Commandments revered by both Jews and Christians.
Nevertheless, excitement surrounding the tablet remained strong, with bids eventually climbing to $4.2 million. The final sale, including fees, amounted to $5 million.
Sharon Liberman Mintz, a Judaica specialist at Sotheby’s, discussed the significance of the piece, noting it is one of the oldest known tablets of the Ten Commandments. She described it as a “thrilling” object, adding, “There is no other stone like it in private hands.” Mintz had been working with the artifact since it was displayed at Sotheby’s on December 9 in New York City.
Despite the doubts, the auction house had initially expected the tablet to sell for $1 to $2 million. Its high price tag surprised many, especially considering it does not contain the commandment against taking the Lord’s name in vain.
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The tablet was discovered during excavations for a rail line and bears a Paleo-Hebrew script. According to Sotheby’s, it was privately held until an archaeologist in Israel recognized its historical value and purchased it. The slab eventually found its way to the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn before being sold to a private collector.
In a statement, Sotheby’s emphasized that the tablet has been examined by prominent scholars and published in various academic works. However, several experts remain skeptical about its origins.
“Maybe it’s absolutely authentic,” said Brian Daniels of the Penn Cultural Heritage Center in Philadelphia. “Objects from this region of the world are rife with fakes.”
Christopher Rollston, a professor of Biblical and Near Eastern languages at George Washington University, raised further concerns, stating, “There is no way to know the age of the inscription. We have zero documentation from 1913, and since pillagers and forgers often concoct such stories to lend credibility to an inscription, this could be a tall tale fabricated by a forger or antiquities dealer.”
