A 1,500-year-old stone tablet with the earliest known chiselled inscription of the Ten Commandments was sold at a US auction on Wednesday for $850,000. The tablet is chiselled with 20 lines of Samaritan script with principles that are fundamental to Judaism and Christianity. The tablet was discovered in 1913 during excavation for a railroad line near the modern city of Yavneh in Western Israel. Deutsch acquired the tablet for temporary display through an agreement with the Israel Antiquities Authority and then bought it outright after a legal settlement, Heritage officials said. "The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public," David Michaels, director of antiquities for Heritage Auctions, said in a statement.

Source: dna November 17, 2016 09:46 UTC