Ancient Ten Commandments Tablet Sold At Auction For $850,000

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - The world's earliest-known stone inscription of the Ten Commandments has sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $850,000.

Heritage Auctions says the tablet sold Wednesday night at a public auction of ancient Biblical archaeology artifacts.

The two-foot square marble slab weighs about 115 pounds and is inscribed in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan.

Heritage says the tablet likely adorned the entrance of a synagogue that was destroyed by the Romans between A.D. 400 and 600, or by the Crusaders in the 11th century.

The auction house says the Israeli Antiquities Authorities approved export of the piece to the United States in 2005. The only condition is that it must be displayed in a public museum. Heritage says the new owner is under obligation to do that.