Jerusalem's Israel Museum to display oldest known copy of the Ten Commandments

The oldest known complete version of the Ten Commandments has gone on display for the first time in Israel.

The 2,000-year-old artefact is part of an exhibition at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem dedicated to pivotal objects in human history, from prehistory to the present.

The scroll, which belongs to the Israel Antiquities Authority, is dated between the years 30BC and 1BC. It was discovered in Qumran along with the other Dead Sea Scrolls in the mid-20th century.

Qumran is an archaeological site where a rich trove of ancient texts, including the oldest known versions of the Hebrew Bible were discovered by Bedouin.

Because of its delicate state the parchment document has gone on display only rarely, including on a recent trip to the United States, said the New York Times. The scroll will be shown for about four weeks, after which it will be returned to a more protected environment and a facsimile will be displayed instead, a spokeswoman for the museum said.

The exhibition, A Brief History of Humankind - which runs until 2 January 2016 - marks the museum's 50th anniversary. It includes a number of ancient documents from the museum's collection, including some of the world's oldest coins and some of the first known stone tools.