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The Times of India
The Times of India
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TOI World Desk

Rare Ten Commandments tablet once used as paving stone sells for $5.04 million despite doubts

Sotheby Archaeology Israel Jacob Kaplan Railways New York

A rare stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for $5.04 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on 18 December 2024, decades after it was reportedly used as a paving stone. According to The New York Times, the tablet was discovered during railway construction near the coast of what is now southern Israel in 1913, but its historical significance was not recognised immediately. Sotheby’s dated the 115-pound artefact to the late Roman-Byzantine period, around 1,500 years ago. However, experts questioned its provenance and authenticity because its discovery lacked independently verifiable archaeological documentation.

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