Oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sells for over $5M

NEW YORK (AP) — The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for more than $5 million at an auction on Wednesday.

Sotheby’s said the 155-pound (52-kilogram) marble slab was acquired by an anonymous buyer who plans to donate it to an Israeli institution.

The New York-based auction house said the final price exceeded the presale estimate of $1 million to $2 million and followed more than 10 minutes of “intense bidding” during the global competition.

The tablet dates from 300 to 800 A.D. and is inscribed with the commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script — the only complete example of its kind from antiquity, according to Sotheby's.

It was unearthed during railroad excavations along the southern coast of Israel in 1913 and was not recognized as historically significant at first.

Sotheby's said the tablet was used as a paving stone at a local home until 1943 when it was sold to a scholar who grasped its significance.

“A tangible link to ancient beliefs that have profoundly shaped global religious and cultural traditions, it serves as a rare testament to history,” the auction house said.

The text inscribed on the slab follows the Biblical verses familiar to Christian and Jewish traditions but omits the third commandment against taking the name of the Lord in vain. It includes a new directive to worship on Mount Gerizim, a holy site specific to the Samaritans, Sotheby's said.

The oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, weighing 115-pounds and approximately 1,500 years old, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where it is to be offered for auction in a single lot sale, Dec, 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby's Judaica Specialist, Books & Manuscripts, discusses the oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, weighing 115-pounds and approximately 1,500 years old, that is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where it is to be offered for auction in a single lot sale, Dec, 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, weighing 115-pounds and approximately 1,500 years old, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where it is to be offered for auction in a single lot sale, Dec, 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, weighing 115-pounds and approximately 1,500 years old, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where it is to be offered for auction in a single lot sale, Dec, 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby's Judaica Specialist, Books & Manuscripts, discusses the oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, weighing 115-pounds and approximately 1,500 years old, that is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where it is to be offered for auction in a single lot sale, Dec, 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.

Four apartment buildings were damaged in the bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Power company DTEK said two of its energy facilities suffered significant damage. The company said that 10 substations that distribute electricity in the Odesa region were damaged in December alone.

Russia has this year escalated its long-range attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. In recent months, as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor approaches its four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.

From January to November this year, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier this month. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.

Russia’s sustained drone and missile attacks have taken place against backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with the heads of European governments supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.

The ongoing attacks, meantime, are inflaming tensions.

The overnight Odesa strikes “are further evidence of the enemy’s terror tactics, which deliberately target civilian infrastructure,” Kiper, the regional head, said.

Moscow has alleged that Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia with 91 long-range drones late Sunday and early Monday. Ukrainian officials deny the claim and say it’s a ruse to derail progress in the peace negotiations.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed Wednesday that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 127 drones at the country during the night, with 101 of them intercepted by air defenses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.

The Ukrainian attack started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, but it was quickly put out, local authorities said.

This story has corrected the day of the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian president’s residence to late Sunday and early Monday, instead of late Saturday and early Sunday.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)