Coveting a piece of biblical history?
The earliest known copy of the Ten Commandments carved into stone is set to be auctioned off in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night, but the new owner will need at least $250,000 for an opening bid, according to the Heritage Auctions website.
The 25-by-22.5-inch marble slab is currently owned by the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, which acquired it from the Archeological Center in Israel in 2003.
The piece was first discovered near Yavneh, Palestine (now Israel) in 1913 by workers who either sold or gave it to a wealthy Arab man in the region. Not realizing its historical significance, the owner used the slab as a paving stone in his garden. As a result, it has wear on some of the lettering from having been walked on for many years.
The man's son sold the stone to a Y. Kaplan in 1943, who had it examined and found it to date from between 400 and 600 A.D. It is inscribed with Paleo-Hebrew characters and is written in the Samaritan dialect.
In addition to the Samaritan version of the Ten Commandments, the text begins with a dedication and closes with a command to build a temple on Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank city of Nablus.
The buyer shall not display the tablet on the living room wall, however. A purchase will be approved only if the tablet will be placed in a public museum or given back to Israel, according to terms of the sale.
Bidding begins at 9 p.m. Eastern, and participants can bid online as well as in person.
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