A rare artifact not shown in the U.S. since 2013 is currently on display at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, as part of the library’s ongoing exhibit, “Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition.” 

Known as the Ten Commandment Scroll, it is believed to be the oldest existing copy of the Ten Commandments. Permitted for display only two weeks every two years, the scroll’s short run at the Reagan Library will end on April 24. 

“I cannot underestimate the significance of this piece,” said Melissa Giller, chief marketing officer at the Reagan Foundation. “The guiding principles of the Ten Commandments are the same laws and guidelines we use to this day, both morally and legally.”  

Giller noted the scroll’s exhibition at the Reagan Library, the first time it has ever been displayed in the nation’s most populous state, coincides with both Passover in Judaism and Holy Week and Easter Week in Christianity.  

The scroll, known as 4Q41, is a fragment from the Dead Sea Scroll unearthings in Qumran Cave 4 in 1952. It contains two passages from Deuteronomy, 8:5-10 and 5:1–6:1. 

“Of the 30 copies of the Ten Commandments found by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 1952, 4Q41 is not only the oldest, but is the only one written on leather,” Giller said. The other copies were transcribed on parchment or papyrus, which makes reading the Hebrew text easier. The ink has sunk into the leather on 4Q41 but is still legible, Giller said. To preserve the scroll for future generations, it is only permitted to be shown in extreme low-level light on a very rare basis. 

Because of these requirements, the Ten Commandments Scroll will only be shown at the Reagan Library during the nationwide Dead Sea Scrolls tour. 

When he visited the Synagogue of Rome in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI referred to the Ten Commandments as “a great ethical code for all humanity.” In that same address, Benedict went on to highlight how the Ten Commandments recognized one God against the temptation of other idols, how the Commandments respect life, and its promotion and preservation of the sanctity of the family.  

“The Ten Commandments shed light on good and evil, on truth and falsehood, on justice and injustice, and they match the criteria of every human person's right conscience,” Benedict summarized.  

And as Pope Francis reminded the faithful in 2018: “The last words of the Decalogue educate everyone to recognize themselves as beggars. They help us to face the disorder of our heart, to stop living selfishly and become poor in spirit, authentic in the presence of the Father, allowing ourselves to be redeemed by the Son and taught by the Holy Spirit.” 

In 2020, EWTN produced an original series on the Ten Commandments hosted by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers and Dominican Father Brian Mullady, God’s Blueprint for a Happy Life.  

The 1956 Cecil B. DeMille epic, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is traditionally broadcast on network television at Easter (this year, it aired last weekend, to coincide with the start of Passover). This Easter, the Ten Commandments Scroll offers a unique opportunity to glimpse the most ancient copy of what God decreed to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is also a season that offers a unique opportunity in ecumenical solidarity: This year, Easter is celebrated the same day on both the Gregorian and Orthodox calendars. 

VISIT

The Reagan Library encourages tickets for the exhibit to be purchased ahead of time.