CNN
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The oldest known tablet bearing the inscription Ten Commandments of the Old Testament is expected to bring in up to $2 million when it increases to auction next month.

The stone, which dates back about 1,500 years to the late Roman-Byzantine era, is a remarkable artifact of the ancient world, but it remained forgotten for hundreds of years.

Weighing 115 pounds and measuring two feet tall, the stone was discovered in 1913 during excavations for a new railway line in the southern part of what is now Israel.

It was found near the sites of early synagogues, mosques and churches and bore the 10 biblical laws in paleo-Hebrew script. Despite this, the significance of the find was not fully appreciated and the stone was used as paving outside a house for three decades. The inscription was placed face up and the stone was exposed to heavy foot traffic.

Fortunately, the historic significance of the slab was eventually recognized and preserved.

According to a press release sent to CNN by Sotheby’s, which will auction the tablet in New York next month, the stone was sold to a scholar in 1943. This anonymous individual “recognized it as an important Samaritan Decalogue presenting the central divine precepts for many people. religious denominations, which may have originally been displayed in a synagogue or private dwelling,” the statement said.

Samaritanism is an ancient monotheistic religion based on the first five books of the Old Testament. Although linked to Judaism, Samaritanism has Mount Gerizim – in today’s West Bank – as Jehovah’s place of residence, rather than Mount Zion.

The location where the tablet originally stood was likely destroyed either by Roman invasions from 400 to 600 CE or the Crusades of the late 11th century, Sotheby’s said.

In a short video clip Commenting on the sale, the auction house describes the Ten Commandments from the Book of Exodus as the “cornerstone of law and morality” and the “founding text of Western civilization.”

The stone features 20 lines of text that closely follow Bible verses common to both Jewish and Christian traditions. However, only nine of the ten commandments of Exodus are included, the only one missing being: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” In its place is a new directive to worship on Mount Gerizim.

Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, said in the press release: “This remarkable tablet is not only a hugely important historical artifact, but also a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape civilization Western. To encounter this piece of shared cultural heritage is to travel across millennia and connect with cultures and beliefs told through one of humanity’s oldest and most enduring moral codes.

The auction will take place on December 18 but the tablet will be available at the auctioneer’s New York showroom from December 5.

Last year, a Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old sold for $38.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York. THE Codex Sassoondating from the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century, has been described as “one of the most important and singular texts in the history of humanity”.