Final answer:
The historic stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments were kept in the Ark of the Covenant, a chest described in the Hebrew Bible and subject to various legends about its final location. Other valuable items and tablets were stored in rectangular chests or temple storerooms with security features.
Step-by-step explanation:
The tablets referenced are typically understood to be the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, which, according to the Hebrew Bible, were kept in the Ark of the Covenant. This sacred chest is a gold-covered wooden chest described in the biblical narrative. The Ark's reputed final location varies depending on historical and cultural tradition, with one legend alleging it can be found in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia.
In historical contexts such as the treasure of Tod found under the temple of Montu at Tod, other precious items and tablets were often stored in rectangular chests. For example, the Tod Treasure, which dates to the reign of Noubkaoure Amenemhat II, included such chests. These containers could hold items of great value, from silver vessels to ingots, chains, and both raw and worked lapis lazuli - as exhibited in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
In the case of storerooms like those found in the northwest and east corner chambers of the White Temple, tablets were stored within the temple's own construction, with walls equipped with wooden shelves and cavities for setting in pivot stones, indicating secure closures.