Oldest carving of the Ten Commandments could sell for $2million: 1,500-year-old stone tablet was used as a paving slab for 30 years before significance was spotted

A 1,500-year-old stone tablet bearing the oldest known inscription of the Ten Commandments is expected to sell for up to $2million (£1.57million) at auction.

The marble slab was found in Israel in 1913 but then spent 30 years being used as a paving stone at the entrance of a home before its significance was spotted.

The stone, which weighs 115 pounds and is around two feet tall, was hard to identify because its inscription is written in Paleo-Hebrew, which fell out of widespread use centuries ago.

The twenty lines of text incised on the stone closely follow the Biblical verses familiar to both Christian and Jewish traditions - bar one key difference.

Only nine of the commandments found in the Old Testament's Book of Exodus are present.

The traditional third commandment - 'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain' - is omitted in favour of a directive to worship on Mount Gerizim, a holy site specific to the Samaritans.

The Samaritans broke off from mainstream Judaism nearly 3,000 years ago, but observe similar religious practices and hold sacred a very similar version of the Hebrew Bible (what Christians know as the Old Testament).

The tablet is being sold in New York via Sotheby's auction house next month, after it goes on public display.

Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby's' specialist in Judaica, said: 'This is the earliest known complete tablet of the ten commandments, which are of course the moral code that underpin western civilisation.

'It is an astonishing find. When you see it you can feel the resonance of the communication.'

The original site of the tablet - likely a synagogue - was likely destroyed either by the Romans during invasions of the region between 400-600 AD or in the Crusades in the 11th century.

The tablet is the only complete one from the Late Byzantine period that bears the Ten Commandments.

It was discovered during railway excavations near the sites of early synagogues, mosques and churches.

The first two lines on the tablet are dedications and then the commandments are listed.

In 1943, the tablet was bought by a scholar who spotted its significance after translating the Paleo-Hebrew script.

The scholar, known only as Mr Kaplan, then held onto the treasure until the 1990s, when it was sold.

It was sold again in 2005 and then bought by its current owner, collector Dr Mitchell Stuart Kappell, in 2016.

It is expected to sell for at least $1million (£785,000).

Ms Liberman Mintz added: 'This is such a thrilling treasure to be able to offer. It is not often one can purchase a tablet of the 10 commandments.'