The oldest known complete insciption of the Ten Commandments, Samaritan Hebrew on white marble, 300-800 CE.
This culturally invaluable indigenous relic was recently held for auction at Sotheby's in New York with the audacious description of it being a "tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western Civilization" and the estimated price set at around 1 Million USD.
This Israelite Samaritan version of the Ten Commandments was written in Samaritan Hebrew script (close descendant of Paleo-Hebrew) and once part of a Samaritan Synagogue. Samaritans are the closest ethnoreligious cousins of Jews and despite their numbers having dwindled over milennia of imperial rule and forced assimilation they still live in their homeland and maintain their peoplehood, language (Samaritan Hebrew) and culture.
The marble tablet was unearthed in 1913 during railroad excavations along the southern coast of modern-day Israel near the ancient Israelite settlement of Yavne (יַבְנֶה, later يبنى) and is believed to be the only complete example of its kind from antiquity. It was at first used as a paving stone in the courtyard of a local Arab man for decades, with the letters facing up and exposed to foot-traffic, but later recognized for its historical significance. It ended up in the hands of a researcher who sold it abroad which lead to it being removed from the land of its people. After being auctioned in New York it was acquired by an anonymous Jewish buyer who will reportedly have it returned to Israel.
