Archaeologists uncover 1,500-year-old depiction of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments

July 9, 2024

The Christian Post reports that archeologists have discovered a 1,500-year-old relic in southern Austria that is believed to depict Moses receiving the Ten Commandments as well as the Ascension of Christ.

Archeologists with the Innsbruck University of Austria say they first uncovered the relic in 2022, during the excavation of a church in the municipality of Irschen. The discovery consisted of an ivory box adorned with Christian motifs.

One of those motifs shows a man turning his head with a hand rising out of the sky above him. According to the Christian Post, the motif also shows something being placed between the person’s arms along with depictions of biblical figures.

Gerald Grabherr is the lead archeologist in the excavation and says, “This is the typical depiction of the handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man from the Old Testament.”

Grabherr went on to say: “We know of around 40 ivory boxes of this kind worldwide and, as far as I know, the last time one of these was found during excavations was around 100 years ago — the few pyxes that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or exhibited in museums.”

The final motif appears to show a man in a chariot with two horses attached to it by a harness and includes the same hand coming out of the clouds, pulling a figure up into Heaven.

Grabherr says, “We assume that this is a depiction of the ascension of Christ, the fulfillment of the covenant with God.”

Archeologists have been doing excavations in Irschen, which is a part of the Carinthian Drava Valley, since 2016.

Photo: top, Credit: Universität Innsbruck