The world's earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments, a 1,500-year-old stone tablet, was sold at a US auction for $850,000. It had spent over three decades as a paving stone.
The world's earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments, described as a "national treasure" of Israel, was sold at an auction in Beverly Hills for $850,000 (793,000 euros.)
Chiseled in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan, and weighing 52 kilos, the roughly 1,500-year-old, 63 by 57 centimeter white marble slab was sold on Wednesday night at a public auction of ancient Biblical archaeology artifacts.
The tablet lists nine of the 10 commonly known commandments, omitting "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" and replacing it with a rule for Samaritan worshippers.
It was put up for sale by Rabbi Shaul Deutsch, the founder of the Living Torah Museum in New York. It was auctioned off under one condition: it must be displayed in a public museum, the Dallas-based auctioneer Heritage Auctions said.
Archaeological treasure used as a paving stone for 30 years
The tablet was probably inscribed during the late Roman or Byzantine era between 300 and 800 AD, and marked the entrance of an ancient synagogue that was likely destroyed by the Romans, according to Heritage Auctions.
The tablet was discovered in 1913, during excavation for a railroad line near the modern city of Yavneh in Western Israel. After its discovery, it was used as a paving stone in a private courtyard for 30 years, with the inscription facing up. The foot traffic blurred several words over time, the auction house says.
An archaeologist then owned the slab from 1943 to 2000, and the Israeli Antiquities Authorities approved export of the piece to the United States in 2005.
The auction opened with a $300,000 bid on the tablet. The winning bidder has asked not to be identified.
Hidden chamber in the Valley of Kings: Queen Nefertiti's resting place?
Egypt has discovered hidden chambers adjoining King Tut's burial room. What they conceal will remain a mystery for a few months, but experts speculate that it could be the resting place of mysterious Queen Nefertiti.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Dabrowski
Where is Queen Nefertiti?
Nefertiti's bust, a leading attraction at Berlin's Neues Museum, is world famous. This 3,300-year-old effigy was unearthed in Egypt in 1912 by the German Ludwig Borchardt. Yet her corpse was never found, and the location of her grave remains a mystery. Now Egypt has revealed exciting new finds which could potentially lead to one of the biggest archaeological discoveries ever.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Sohn
Hidden chambers
King Tut's mausoleum is being reexplored. Based on preliminary information from infrared scans, Mamdouh al-Damati, Egypt's minister of antiquities, confirmed on Saturday (28.11.2015) that there is a 90% chance that King Tut's tomb contains hidden chambers. One archaeologist believes Nefertiti's sarcophagus could hidden there.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/K. Desouki
Why it could be Nefertiti
The new exploration was launched after Nicholas Reeves, a British Egyptologist affiliated with the University of Arizona, published his theories last August. Through careful observation, he found that King Tut's small tomb appears to be the antechamber of a larger burial room. He also argues that portraits in the murals represent Nefertiti, and not Tutankhamun.
Image: picture-alliance/robertharding
Unexpected death
The young pharaoh Tutankhamun died unexpectedly at the age of 19, in 1324 BC, after a reign of nine years. Reeves believes that priests decided to reopen Nefertiti's tomb to bury him there, since his own mausoleum had not been built yet.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The greatest find in modern archeology
British Egyptologist Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 was an archaeological sensation. Most such burial rooms had been plundered over the years, but this was the best-preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in Luxor's Valley of Kings. Will the hidden chambers lead to an even more spectacular find?
Image: Imago
Really King Tut's mask?
Among many other treasures, the tomb contained the mummy's iconic golden mask. Yet Reeves believes that it - and about 80 percent of the burial equipment found in Tutankhamun's tomb - was actually made for someone else.
Image: Getty Images/H. Magerstaedt
Japanese infrared scans
Over a period of two days, Japanese radar specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe, pictured above, conducted scans. Measuring temperature variations, the experts discovered that the north wall of King Tut's burial chamber didn't reflect heat the same way the others did, indicating possible pockets of air behind the murals. The scans must be further analyzed by the Japanese expert over the following month.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
King Akhenaten's many wives
The scans were spurred by Nicholas Reeves' theories. Though the renowned British archaeologist (center) has many reasons to believe this chamber could hide Queen Nefertiti, the Great Royal wife of Akhenaten, others are more cautious. Minister of antiquities Damati (left) said the chamber adjoining King Tut's tomb may also have belonged to Kiya, another of Akhenaten's wives.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. El-Mofty
The 'heretic' monotheist cult
Akhenaten is the pharaoh who temporarily converted ancient Egypt to monotheism by imposing the single cult of the sun god Aten. Nefertiti played a major role in this religious revolution. Their rule ended with a military takeover. Later on, the entire family's names were wiped out from official records as they were considered heretics for having abolished the Egyptian pantheon.
Image: bpk/Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, SMB/Margarete Büsing
Impossibly in the Valley of Kings?
This is why it is unclear who succeeded Akhenaten. Reeves argues that it was Nefertiti herself. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former antiquities minister (pictured), believes her involvement in the cult rules out her being entombed in the hidden chamber. "The lady was worshiping Aten with Akhenaten for years. The priests would never have allowed her to be buried in the Valley of the Kings," he told AFP.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Secrets to be unveiled… later
Near present-day Luxor, Egypt's Valley of Kings is where the pharaohs and powerful nobles were buried over 3,000 years ago. After the scans are analyzed, experts will need to determine how to enter the hidden part of the tomb without damaging King Tut's burial chamber. That delicate process could take months.
