The best-preserved Moses Ten Commandments scroll goes on display in New York.

Mail Online - A piece of the Ten Commandments leather parchment scroll dating back 2,000 years goes on display in New York begginning from Dec. 16.

The incredible artefact is on display at the Discovery Times Square Exposition as part of its Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times exhibition.

The museum describes the scroll, which consists of just four complete and two damaged columns, as ‘the oldest complete example of the Ten Commandments in the world’.

Risa Levitt Kohn, professor of Hebrew Bible and Judaism at San Diego State University, told Discovery News: ‘You can actually see, up close, the oldest parchment copy of laws that have influenced so much of western religious and secular culture.

‘Indeed, this text has had such a large and lasting influence on American civil and criminal law.’

The Ten Commandments is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a group of approximately 900 manuscripts that were discovered by Bedouin shepherds between 1947 and 1956 in a series of caves on the north shore of the lake.

The source of the scrolls is still debated, but many scholars believe that they may have been penned by a mysterious sect called the Essenes.

The Ten Commandments scroll on display in New York was discovered in 1952 and dates from 50BC to 1AD.

The text, written in Hebrew, is that of the Ten Commandments from the fifth book of the Old Testament, called Deuteronomy, and the scroll was likely used as a prayer leaflet.

While it’s the best-preserved, it’s not the oldest version of the commandments. That honour goes to the Nash Papyrus on display at the University of Cambridge, which was found in Egypt and dates back to 150BC.

The New York parchment, which measures just 18 inches long by three inches tall, is made from animal skin and is extremely fragile. It’s even susceptible to changes in light and temperature, so visitors will not be allowed to touch it. The Ten Commandments appear in two books in the Bible – Deuteronomy and Exodus. These Commandments provide the foundation for a civilised society. 

They forbid murder, theft, dishonesty, adultery, and envy. They demand a day of rest each week, the honoring of one’s parents to ensure a family’s longevity, and, the foundation of monotheism, an allegiance to only one god. In Exodus, the Sabbath is a day for the Israelites to remember because God created the world in six days. 

In Deuteronomy, the Sabbath is to be honored because the Israelites should remember they were born into slavery and God set them free. In this Deuteronomy scroll both reasons are mentioned. 

According to Exodus they are carved into two stone tablets and given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

The Ten Commandments scroll will be on display until January 2.