Is there any documentation on what the markings on those tablets say (if anything)? Is it ancient Hebrew? What we know today as the “Hebrew Alphabet” is actually a later Aramaic Alphabet, and the markings on the original Ten Commandments would look different than modern copies in what we know today as Hebrew. Any OT scholars wish to elaborate?
DeMille’s recognized the enormous burden of responsibility he faced in bringing this story to the silver screen, and consulted a number of scholars in various disciplines of antiquity to ensure complete authenticity. Respected Egyptologist Henry Noerdlinger was brought in, as well as a host of experts from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. The challenge was daunting. Dr. Ralph Marcus, another Chicago scholar, wrote a version of the Commandments in an early Canaanite script, practiced in the late Bronze Age (c. 13th century B.C.), Moses’ era. The script is a precursor of what was to become the square Hebrew alphabet, with which the Hebrew Old Testament is written today.
Of additional concern was the order and number of Commandments on each tablet. Early Hebrew writings suggest that the tablets were inscribed with four Commandments on one and six Commandments on the other, the four dealing with Man’s relationship with God, and the six on Man’s relationship with other men. This order was also incorporated into the film Tablets.
Once the design was researched, the actual prop Tablets were created by Paramount Studios scenic artist A.J. Ciraolo using thick, richly hewn fiberglass with hand-applied paint speckling to resemble the red granite of Mount Sinai – one of DeMille’s key requirements. As they were to be carved with God’s “fire bolts”, Ciraolo made them to be slightly irregular with molded chips, craters and dings. The finished tablets measure 23-1/2 in. x 12 in. x 1 1/4 in., which approximates a “six handbreadths” dimension as noted in ancient Midrashic descriptions of the tablets.
I find this rather depressing. One would think these are an important artifact of our culture. They should be in a museum somewhere. Maybe the Smithsonian.
I wonder if these could be displayed in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building?
Is there any documentation on what the markings on those tablets say (if anything)? Is it ancient Hebrew? What we know today as the “Hebrew Alphabet” is actually a later Aramaic Alphabet, and the markings on the original Ten Commandments would look different than modern copies in what we know today as Hebrew. Any OT scholars wish to elaborate?
They were up for auction the day Moses brought them down from the mountain.
Come on floks–the joke here is so obvious: Let’s get up a collection and buy them for Kate, so so she can actually read them to the HoB.
I thought it looked more like “Old English” (Anglo-Saxon) than Hebrew.
JE <><
Commandments? I think they’re more like…guidelines. [/revisionist]
Looks like late Bronze Age early Canaanite script, which would make sense if the prop guys wanted to adhere to some degree of historic authenticity.
From the listing:
DeMille’s recognized the enormous burden of responsibility he faced in bringing this story to the silver screen, and consulted a number of scholars in various disciplines of antiquity to ensure complete authenticity. Respected Egyptologist Henry Noerdlinger was brought in, as well as a host of experts from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. The challenge was daunting. Dr. Ralph Marcus, another Chicago scholar, wrote a version of the Commandments in an early Canaanite script, practiced in the late Bronze Age (c. 13th century B.C.), Moses’ era. The script is a precursor of what was to become the square Hebrew alphabet, with which the Hebrew Old Testament is written today.
Of additional concern was the order and number of Commandments on each tablet. Early Hebrew writings suggest that the tablets were inscribed with four Commandments on one and six Commandments on the other, the four dealing with Man’s relationship with God, and the six on Man’s relationship with other men. This order was also incorporated into the film Tablets.
Once the design was researched, the actual prop Tablets were created by Paramount Studios scenic artist A.J. Ciraolo using thick, richly hewn fiberglass with hand-applied paint speckling to resemble the red granite of Mount Sinai – one of DeMille’s key requirements. As they were to be carved with God’s “fire bolts”, Ciraolo made them to be slightly irregular with molded chips, craters and dings. The finished tablets measure 23-1/2 in. x 12 in. x 1 1/4 in., which approximates a “six handbreadths” dimension as noted in ancient Midrashic descriptions of the tablets.
I find this rather depressing. One would think these are an important artifact of our culture. They should be in a museum somewhere. Maybe the Smithsonian.
ICXC NIKA
[url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]
Thanks, Brien. I guess I’ve subconsciously trained myself to only read the listings on things I might actually be in the position to bid on.