The Tablets of Stone or Stone Tablets, also known as the Tablets of Law, (in Hebrew: Luchot HaBrit - "the tablets [of] the covenant") refers to the two pieces of special stone inscripted with the Ten Commandments when Moses ascended Mount Sinai as recorded in the Book of Exodus. Exodus 31:18 refers to the tablets as the Tablets of Testimony because they give insight into the nature of God, and they have also been known as the Tables of Law.

According to traditional teachings of Judaism in the Talmud, they were made of blue sapphire stone as a symbolic reminder of the sky, the heavens, and ultimately of God's throne. There were two sets: the first was inscribed by God himself, and which were smashed by Moses when he was enraged by the sight of the Children of Israel worshiping Golden Calf and the second set inscribed by Moses which he carved out later, as commanded by God, as an atonement. Both the first shattered set and the second unbroken set were stored in the Ark of the Covenant (the aron habrit in Hebrew).

Christian replicas

Replicas of the tablets, known as tabots or sellats, are a vital part of the practice of Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

That church claims to possess the original Ark of the Covenant is the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum.

External link

• Ark of the Covenant page