And God said,
"Let there be light."
And there was light.
And from this light,
God created life upon earth.
And man was given dominion
over all things upon this earth
and the power to choose
between good and evil.
But each sought to do
his own will
because he knew not
the light of God's law.
Man took dominion over man,
the conquered were made
to serve the conqueror,
the weak were made
to serve the strong,
and freedom
was gone from the world.
So did the Egyptians cause
the children of Israel
to serve with rigor,
and their lives were made bitter
with hard bondage.
And their cry
came up unto God.
And God heard them
and cast into Egypt,
into the lowly hut
of Amram and Yochabel,
the seed of a man
upon whose mind and heart
would be written
God's law
and God's commandments,
one man to stand alone
against an empire.
one man to stand alone
against an empire.
Divine one,
last night,
our astrologers
saw an evil star
enter into
the House of Egypt.
Meaning war?
From the frontiers
of Sinai and Libya
to the cataracts
of the Nile,
what nation would dare
draw the sword against us?
The enemy to fear is
in the heart of Egypt.
What?
The Hebrew slaves
in the land of Goshen.
I number my enemies
by their swords,
not by their chains,
High Priest.
Chains have been
forged into swords
before now, Divine One.
Among these slaves,
there is a prophecy
of a deliverer
who will lead them
out of bondage.
A star proclaims
his birth.
Then let
the Hebrews die!
Slaves are wealth,
Commander.
The more slaves we have,
the more bricks we make.
I would still
see fewer bricks made
and fewer Hebrews in Goshen.
It is our eastern gate.
Since this deliverer
is among their newborn,
only their newborn
need die.
Every newborn Hebrew
man-child shall die.
So let it be written.
So let it be done.
So speaks Rameses I.
No! No!
Oh, where can...?
Oh, no!
Please! Please!
No!
God of Abraham,
take my child
into Thy hands
that he may live
to Thy service.
But, Mother, we have not
even given him a name.
God will
give him a name.
Follow it, Miriam.
Watch it
from the reeds.
See where the Lord
will lead him.
Yes, Mother.
Why didn't you say no?
She didn't think of it.
Here, throw.
You're getting fat.
Too many sesame cakes.
Oh!
Catch a lotus,
and you catch a wish!
What will you wish for, Tulia,
gold or a man?
Gold, of course.
Then I can have
any man.
Gold will never fill
an empty heart.
Quiet,
you chattering geese.
Oh, Memnet,
you're only happy
when you're miserable.
You fools.
To talk of empty hearts
before the Pharaoh's daughter.
What is there in her heart
but the memory
of a dead husband?
We meant no harm, Memnet.
Look! There's something here!
Be sure it's not a crocodile.
Bithiah can charm tears
from a crocodile.
Oh!
What is it, Bithiah?
What did you find?
Only a drifting basket.
Shall we come
and help you get it?
Memnet,
send the girls away.
I'd rather be alone now.
Now see what you've done.
Back to the palace,
all of you.
Go on. All of you.
Musicians, too.
Memnet, we wouldn't
hurt Bithiah.
Bithiah's tired of you,
and so am I.
Off you go. Scat.
You're tired of
everything, Memnet.
Go on. Off you go.
Go on. Hurry up.
You've hurt her enough.
What have you found?
The answer to my prayers.
You prayed for a basket?
No.
I prayed for a son.
Your husband is in
the House of the Dead.
And he has asked
the Nile god
to bring me
this beautiful boy.
Do you know the pattern
of this cloth?
If my son
is covered in it,
it is a royal robe!
Royal?
It is the Levite cloth
of a Hebrew slave!
This child
was put upon the water
to save its life
from your father's edict.
I am the Pharaoh's
daughter,
and this is my son.
He shall be reared
in my house
as the prince
of the two lands.
My mother and
her mother before her
were branded
to the Pharaoh's service.
I will not see you
make this son of slaves
a prince of Egypt.
You will see it, Memnet.
You will see him walk
with his head
among the eagles,
and you will serve him
as you serve me.
Fill the ark with water.
Sink it into silence.
Oh...
Raise your hands,
Memnet.
What you have
buried in the Nile
shall remain buried
in your heart.
Swear it.
I will be silent.
The day you
break that oath
will be the last
your eyes shall ever see.
You will be the glory
of Egypt, my son,
mighty in words and deeds.
Kings shall bow
before you.
Your name will live
when the pyramids are dust.
And... because I drew you
from the water,
you shall be called
"Moses."
Moses!
Moses!
Moses.
Moses! Moses!
Moses!
He proclaims his
coming from afar,
does he not, my son?
Such favor with the people
can be dangerous, Great Sethi.
To whom, Rameses?
To me or to you?
It would not be
the first time
that fame
has turned a prince
against his Pharaoh.
Or that envy has turned
brother against brother.
Envy is for the weak.
And beauty
is for the strong.
That is what
you have in mind.
If you mean
Nefretiri,
yes, my father.
Is it the princess' beauty
that attracts you, Rameses,
or the fact that
she must marry
the man I choose
to follow me on the throne?
I am the son
of your body.
Who else could be your heir?
The man
best able to rule Egypt
will follow me.
I owe that to my fathers,
not to my sons.
Then I shall follow you.
Shall you?
Do not let ambition
shave your prince's lock.
I sent Moses
to destroy a city.
He returns in triumph.
I sent you to build a city.
Where is it?
It will rise
when I have put fear
into the stiff-necked
Hebrew slaves
who build it.
But this I know, my father...
no pretended brother
will ever have your crown...
or Nefretiri.
Indeed.
Whoever I choose
shall have my crown...
and Nefretiri.
I think I see him, Memnet.
No.
Moses.
It's Moses!
Yes! I can see him!
Moses! Moses!
Listen, Memnet.
Listen.
The trumpets
tell all the world
he's come back to me.
Hear them,
and all their shouts
are drowned
by the beating of my heart.
Moses!
You hear, Memnet?
The whole city calls his name.
I hear them, Nefretiri.
The Lord Moses, Prince of Egypt,
son of the Pharaoh's sister,
beloved of the Nile god,
Commander of
the Southern Host!
Welcome home!
Son of the Nile god!
Prince Moses!
The blessings of the god
Amon-ra be upon you,
Great Prince.
He has brought down
the pride of Ethiopia...
The old windbag.
I agree with him.
May your name be exalted
on earth, O Conqueror,
even as the sun is exalted
in the heavens.
Welcome to my sister's son.
We have heard how you took ibis
from the Nile
to destroy the venomous serpents
used against you
when you laid siege
to the City of Saba.
May my arm stay strong
in your service, Great Sethi.
Who is
this fair young god
come into the House
of Pharaoh?
No need to tell you
how I share her joy
at your return.
No need, my brother.
Great One,
I bring you Ethiopia!
Command them to kneel
before Pharaoh.
Command what you have
conquered, my brother.
I bring the Ethiopian king
and his sister in friendship,
as an ally to guard
our southern gates.
My son has dealt wisely
with you, Ethiopia.
Welcome as a friend.
Great King,
I will ask but one favor
of your friendship.
This green stone
from our mountains...
that I may give it
to your prince of Egypt,
for he is kind
as well as wise.
It is pleasing to the gods
to see a man honored
by his enemies.
And such a beautiful enemy.
See to their comfort.
Divine One,
here is the full count
of Ethiopia's tribute.
Bearers!
I am sending down the Nile
full barges
of such wealth
as you see here...
logs of ebony,
and trees of myrrh,
all for your
new Treasure City.
A handsome tribute
indeed, Moses.
Unfortunately, I have no new
Treasure City.
And you will have none.
The stiff-necked slaves
die more willingly
than bend their backs
in your service.
Why?
They believe
a deliverer has come
to lead them
from their bondage.
Deliverer?
Deliverer!
He has been foretold by
every falling star
since my father's time.
And now you make him
an excuse
for your failure
to build my city!
I am not one
to make excuses.
If you doubt me,
let Moses build the city.
No. No.
He's just trying to keep
Moses away from you, Sethi.
Or you, perhaps.
I think our roosters would
crow more softly
on another roof.
Stand before me,
both of you.
Would you please
your Pharaoh, Moses?
Your wish is my will.
Then you build my city.
Wise decision.
A noble task.
Rameses.
Do you believe this
slave deliverer is a myth?
What I believe
is of no account.
What matters is the slaves
believe in him.
Of course, of course.
Then you, too,
shall go to Goshen.
Learn if this deliverer
be a myth or man.
If a myth, bring him
to me in a bottle.
If a man...
bring him to me in chains.
So let it be written.
So let it be done.
Your fragrance is like the wine
of Babylon.
I could...
But you are
the throne princess,
and by the Pharaoh's law,
you can marry only a Pharaoh.
I shall marry a Pharaoh.
You.
Rameses might not
agree with that idea.
But Sethi might.
While you were gone,
I kept your name on his lips,
your praises in his ears.
But now, unless
you can succeed,
you'll be the prince
of desert province
I'll be Rameses' wife.
Oh, Moses,
build the city for him,
and Sethi will
deny you nothing.
I will build the city
for love of Sethi,
not for the throne
of Egypt.
But I am Egypt.
Now the flame
you lighted
burns close
to the throne.
Your tongue will dig
your grave, Memnet.
A conqueror
already conquered?
The first face
I looked for
and the last I find.
Mother.
I was thanking the gods
for your safe return.
But I find you
in grave danger here.
An intoxicating
danger, Mother.
Marry her if you can,
my son,
but never fall
in love with her.
Oh...
I'll be less
trouble to him
than the Hebrew slaves
of Goshen.
Goshen?
You've guzzled enough!
Bring those bricks up
and get on!
You, there's
other swine to water.
Water girl! Water!
Get those bricks
back on.
Here! Water lily!
My name is Lilia.
To me you are a lily,
and I want water.
Joshua.
Joshua, I thought
you'd never come down.
Water before love,
my girl.
Does it take
the whole Nile
to quench your thirst?
No, just your lips.
Be careful, my love.
Dathan's eyes can
see through stone.
Dathan is a vulture
feeding on the flesh
of his own people.
When he looks at me,
I'm afraid.
If he touches you, I'll strangle
him with his own whip.
And bring death
to a thousand of us?
Is life in bondage
better than death?
Joshua.
We must have hope.
God will send us
the deliverer.
Hope.
On the heels of every hope
walks Dathan.
You are Dathan,
the Hebrew overseer.
Chief Hebrew overseer,
Mighty One.
Baka, the master builder,
has told me
that I can rely on you.
I am warmed by his favor.
Rely on you to sell your own
mother for a price.
Well, who am I
to deny the word
of the master builder?
Where is this
would-be deliverer
who would set
the Hebrews free?
Who can say,
Immortal Prince?
They do not
confide in me.
But it is possible
to learn.
No doubt.
You have rats' ears
and a ferret's nose.
To use in your service,
Son of Pharaoh.
Add to them
the eyes of a weasel
and find me
this deliverer.
Come on, push!
Come on, push!
Over this way a little more.
Lean your backs
into it!
Keep pushing!
Old woman! Old woman!
More grease
under the center stone.
Pull! Pull!
You over there, pull!
Pull!
No.
Yochabel!
Help me!
Stop the stone!
Keep working!
Pull!
Keep pulling up there.
Yochabel is caught!
Stop the stone!
You over there,
pull!
Come on, pull!
Bend your backs,
you dogs. Pull!
Move it over there!
Pull! Pull!
Pull!
You'll kill her!
Stop the stone!
We don't stop a moving block
for an old woman!
Lay on the lash!
Keep it moving!
Yochabel!
Stop the stone!
Stop the stone!
Keep moving there!
Keep...
Hold! Hold all!
Hold on all ropes!
Hold the poles!
Hold the poles!
Down!
- Water!
- Water!
- Water!
- Water!
Let the old woman loose.
She'll stay where she is,
and you'll die in a lion pit.
Joshua!
No, not to Joshua.
Run to the prince
and beg mercy.
Mercy from Rameses?
No, no, the prince Moses,
there on the pavilion.
After her!
After her!
Stop her!
Stop that girl!
Don't let her go!
Stop her!
Stop that girl!
Stop her!
Mercy!
Prince Moses!
Mercy,
Prince Moses!
Come here!
Mercy?
What have you done?
Not for myself,
Lord Prince.
For a slave who saved old
Yochabel and me from death
between the granite blocks.
A delicate flower to be
pressed between walls of stone.
How were you saved?
A stonecutter
struck the overseer.
There can be only one punishment
for the stonecutter.
Blood makes poor mortar.
Come.
Prince Moses!
Prince Moses!
Get away, you.
Would you bury
the old woman alive
in a tomb of rock?
My Noble One, it caught.
I had not the strength
to free myself.
Your shoulders
should not bear a burden,
old woman.
The Lord
has renewed my strength
and lightened my burdens.
He would have done better
to remove them.
They use the old ones
to do the work
of greasing the stones,
Lord Prince.
If they are killed,
it is no loss.
Are you a master builder
or a master butcher?
If we stop moving stones
for every grease woman
who falls,
the city would
never rise.
If the slaves are not driven,
they will not work.
If their work lags,
it is because they are not fed.
You seem strong enough.
I am a stonecutter.
The Pharaohs like
their images cut deep.
Hold your whip!
You know it is death
to strike an Egyptian?
I know it.
Yet you struck him. Why?
To save the old woman.
What is she to you?
An old woman.
Lord Prince, send him
to his death.
The man has courage.
You do not speak
like a slave.
God made men.
Men made slaves.
Which god?
The God of Abraham.
The Almighty God.
If your god is almighty,
why does he
leave you in bondage?
He will choose
the hour of our freedom
and the man
who will deliver us.
Lord Prince,
this man speaks treason.
It is not treason
to want freedom.
Release him.
Difficulty with
the slaves, my brother?
None that could not be
cured by a ration of grain
and a day of rest.
A day of rest?
When your horses tire,
they're rested.
When they hunger,
they're fed.
Slaves draw
stone and brick.
My horses draw
the next Pharaoh.
Is there any grain
stored here in Goshen?
None that you would
dare take, my brother.
The temple granaries
are full.
Bring the push-pole men
and some women with baskets.
I will...
Great Prince.
I warn you Moses,
that the temple grain belongs
to the gods.
What the gods can digest
will not sour in the belly
of a slave.
Push-pole men!
You, back where
you belong!
I have
the prince's orders.
One and two poles, up!
Bring a hundred women
with baskets!
Elisheba, bring
your basket women.
Baskets!
Push-poles, follow me.
Out of the way.
Break open the bins.
Out of the way.
Stand back.
Aha!
Well, well.
Divine One.
Hmm?
- There!
- Oh!
My jackals have
your hounds at bay.
Dogs at bay are dangerous.
When they walk upright
and feed on temple grain.
Of course, of course.
You've been
bringing petitions
against Moses for months.
Well, the city's
being built,
and I'm winning
this game.
So don't interrupt us
with trifles.
Before your city
is finished,
these trifles
will surprise you.
Life is full
of surprises.
- Aha.
- Oh!
And today, I have one
for you, my kitten.
Moses!
Mm-hmm.
And Rameses.
You crocodile.
There, triples!
You've lost!
I'll never let
you win again.
Aha. You thought
that by losing to me
you would win for Moses.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you know,
crowns are sometimes lost
by smiles and dimples.
And so is patience.
Yours?
Are the plans
for my jubilee complete?
Are the plans
for my jubilee complete?
All but your proclamation
for the marriage of Prince
Rameses to Nefretiri.
No.
Are you quite sure
it will be Rameses?
Who else could be
your successor?
Moses, of course.
Because of Moses,
there is no wheat
in the temple granaries.
You don't look any leaner.
You're both very generous
with your advice.
Will you take mine?
No. I will choose
my own successor.
Did you lose your head,
my sweet?
I sent you to Goshen
to bring me the head
of the jackal
who would free the slaves.
Where is it?
The slaves do not need
a deliverer now.
They have Moses.
Is that a riddle?
He gives them
the priests' grain
and one day in seven
to rest.
They call it
"The Day of Moses."
This man makes
himself a god.
I prefer him as a man.
You would prefer
him as Pharaoh.
Are you afraid of Moses?
Yes, because now he holds
Ethiopia in his left hand,
Goshen in his right,
and you, my Pharaoh,
are in-between them.
Do you imply that he would
raise the slaves against me?
I've been his father.
Ambition knows no father.
Moses could no more betray you
than I could, Sethi.
He can tell me that
when he arrives.
He will not
be here, my father.
What?
I sent for both of you.
His word is that
he cannot attend you,
being pressed
by other matters.
Did you hear that?
Other matters?
My escort.
I will ride
with you, my son,
to see what
rears itself in Goshen...
a city or treason.
You lying adder.
You'll destroy yourself
with your own venom
if you try to turn Sethi
against Moses.
You would turn
Sethi against me.
Remember, my sweet,
that you must be wife
to the next Pharaoh.
You are
going to be mine,
all mine, like my dog
or my horse or my falcon.
Only I
will love you more
and trust you less.
You will never
do the things to me
you would have done to Moses.
I know you, my sweet.
You're a sharp-clawed,
treacherous
little peacock.
But you're food
for the gods,
and I'm going to
have all of you.
None of me.
Did you think
my kiss was a promise
of what you'll have?
No, my pompous one.
It was to let you know
what you will not have.
I could never love you.
Does that matter?
You will be my wife.
You will come to me
whenever I call you,
and I will enjoy that
very much.
Whether you enjoy it or not
is your own affair...
but I think you will.
That drop puts too much strain
on the stone.
We need more sand.
I'm going to risk it, Baka.
There's little time
till the day of jubilee.
If the stone cracks,
you may crack with it.
Ready blue signal.
Blue pennant.
Blue pennant!
Snubbers, ready!
Snubbers ready.
Green pennant.
Mallet men, ready!
Mallet men, ready!
Green lines, stand by!
Clear the main...!
Mallet men ready.
You are not pleased
to see me here.
I am, Great Pharaoh,
but now I have
important things to do.
Red pennant, stand by.
So Rameses tells me.
Oh?
More important things
than obeying my orders?
You ordered me
to finish this city.
The strain on that stone
is too great.
We cannot wait.
Red pennant!
Red pennant!
Strike!
The stone will break.
There are slaves
on the ropes.
There is the obelisk
of your jubilee.
Baka, put slaves
to removing the sand
until the stone
settles to its base.
Pharaoh is pleased?
With the obelisk, yes.
But not with certain accusations
made against you.
By whom?
You raided the
temple granaries?
Yes.
You gave the grain
to the slaves?
Yes.
You gave them one day
in seven to rest.
Yes.
Did you do all this
to gain their favor?
A city is built
of brick, Pharaoh.
The strong make many,
the starving make few.
The dead make none.
So much for accusations.
Now judge the results.
Pylons commemorate
your victory at Kadesh,
where you broke the Amorites.
Are there any higher in Egypt?
There are none higher
in the world.
With so many slaves, you could
build... an army.
But I have built a city.
of these lions of Pharaoh
will guard its gates,
and it shall be the city
of Sethi's glory.
Hmm.
Are these slaves
loyal to Sethi's glory
or to you, Moses?
The slaves
worship their god,
and I serve only you.
Let your own image proclaim my
loyalty for a thousand years.
Superb!
Rameses.
And this you call treason?
Who would take
a throne by force
that he has earned
by deeds?
For this and Ethiopia,
your name shall be carved
beside mine on every pylon.
Yours, Rameses,
will be nowhere,
for in my judgment book,
you have accused
your brother falsely.
Come.
Great Pharaoh, he is the son
of your body.
I need no help, Moses,
to hold what is mine.
I decide what is yours.
Come with me, Moses.
Will you lose a throne
because Moses builds a city?
The city that he builds
shall bear my name.
The woman that he loves
shall bear my child.
So it shall be written.
So it shall be done.
Yes.
This is for
the temple ceremony.
This?
Oh, this...
is for my wedding night.
You will never wear it.
Why not?
I have brought you
a cloth more revealing.
Send them away.
Go, then,
while I hear what this puckered
old persimmon
has to say.
Well...
what croakings of doom
have you today?
You prepare for a marriage
that will never be.
You've been
drinking honey wine.
I shall not let the Pharaoh
and Rameses be betrayed.
Why should a slave care
which Pharaoh rules?
For years,
I have been silent.
Now all the kings
of Egypt
cry out to me
from their tombs,
"Let no Hebrew
sit upon our throne."
What are you saying?
Rameses has the blood
of many kings.
And Moses?
He is lower than the dust.
Not one drop of royal blood
flows through his veins.
He is the son
of Hebrew slaves.
I'll have you torn
into so many pieces,
even the vultures
won't find them.
Who hatched
this lie... Rameses?
Rameses
does not know... yet.
You will repeat this
to Bithiah.
It was Bithiah who drew a slave
child from the Nile,
called him son
and prince of Egypt,
blinding herself to the truth,
from the pain of an empty womb.
Were you alone with Bithiah?
A little girl led me to the
Hebrew woman Yochabel,
that the child might be
suckled by his true mother.
Take care, old frog.
You croak too much
against Moses.
Would you mingle the blood
of slaves with your own?
He will be my husband.
I shall have no other.
Then use this to wrap your
firstborn.
Torn from a Levite's robe.
It was Moses'
swaddling cloth.
And your shroud.
Do you think I care
whose son he is?
Rameses cares.
You won't live
to tell him.
Oh!
Oh...
Nefretiri?
Nefretiri?
Have you closed your doors
to make a beggar of a prince?
I'm the beggar, Moses,
begging you to hold me
in your arms.
Kiss me.
Just kiss me.
You're no beggar,
my love.
You're a conqueror,
and I am your captive
for life.
One lifetime
will not be half enough.
You will be
king of Egypt,
and I will be
your footstool.
The man stupid enough to use you
for a footstool
would not be wise enough
to rule Egypt.
Princess!
Princess, the raven has dropped
a black feather at your door!
Who...?
No, Moses. Leave
the world outside.
Pardon. Pardon,
Royal One.
The old nurse Memnet...
Go away. I don't want
to hear anything.
What about Memnet?
She's dead. She must have fallen
from the balcony.
I will not hear
unhappy things tonight.
Go away!
Old Memnet must have walked
that balcony
a thousand times.
What is the death
of one slave to us?
She was a faithful
servant to you.
Can one so rich in love
be so poor in pity?
What kind of a woman
holds me captive?
One who loves you
and will not lose you.
One who will be your wife.
Nothing in the world
can change that, nothing...
neither Rameses'
princely plots
nor Memnet's evil lies.
You've heard Memnet
grumbling all your life.
Why should it upset you now?
Because she grumbled
against you.
Oh, let her threats
be buried with her.
Look. The night's
a crown of stars,
and the darkness
a robe of forgetfulness.
Come, love,
let's share them.
We'll use the moon
for a scepter.
Oh. A piece
of Hebrew cloth.
Memnet may have
dropped it.
Memnet was not a Hebrew.
Why would she
bring this here?
I don't know.
Yes, you do.
Tell me.
She was taking it
to Rameses...
to destroy you.
How could Rameses destroy me
with a piece of cloth?
Oh, Moses, Moses, why
do you question me?
Why do you care?
Yes! I killed her.
What does it matter?
slaves die every day.
What's done is forgotten.
It is not forgotten.
What has this cloth
to do with me? Tell me.
It will make
no difference between us?
How could it
make a difference?
A child
was wrapped in it.
What child?
Bithiah took him
from the river.
Memnet was with her.
Who was this child?
Memnet is dead.
No one need know
who you are.
I love you.
I killed for you.
I'll kill anyone
that comes between us.
Why did you
kill for me, Nefretiri?
If you love me,
do not lie.
Who was the child?
Hold me in your arms.
Hold me close.
You were not born
prince of Egypt, Moses.
You're the son
of Hebrew slaves.
You believe that?
I'll believe anything
you want me to believe.
Say you are not,
I believe you are not.
Love cannot drown
truth, Nefretiri.
You do believe it,
or you would not
have killed Memnet.
I love you.
That's the only
truth I know.
Did this child of the Nile
have a mother?
Memnet called her Yochabel.
I will ask Bithiah.
How could you doubt me?
You did not doubt me
when I held you
as you took
your first step.
It's a wicked lie
spun by Rameses.
Mother, did Rameses
spin this?
The word of your mother
against a piece of cloth
found by Memnet?
How did you know
it was Memnet?
Who else?
Memnet nursed Rameses.
She shall pay
for spreading his lies.
She has paid.
She's dead?
At the hand of Nefretiri.
Put away any fears
or suspicions
that may remain
with you, my son.
Why, your will
will be law in Egypt
when you are crowned
and sceptered as her king.
Memnet spoke of a Hebrew woman
named Yochabel.
Did you ever know her?
No.
Yours was the face I saw
above my cradle,
the only mother
I've ever known.
Wherever I am led
or whatever I must do,
I will always love you.
My chariot!
I will drive to Goshen!
A chariot here in Goshen?
You know who I am?
It has been many years,
Great One.
Who are they?
All that remain
of my children.
I will speak
to you alone.
Why have you...
Why have you come here?
Because Moses will come here.
My son?
No! My son,
and that's all
that he must know.
My lips might deny him,
Great One,
but my eyes never could.
You shall leave Goshen,
you and your family tonight.
We are Levites, appointed
shepherds of Israel.
We cannot leave our people.
Would you take from Moses
all that I have given him?
Would you undo all that
I have done for him?
I have put the throne of Egypt
within his reach.
What can you give
him in its place?
I gave him life.
I gave him love!
Was it your hand
that dried his tears?
And when he was troubled,
was it your heart
that ached for him?
Yes.
My heart ached for him,
and my arms ached
to hold him...
but I dared not even touch
the hem of his garment.
His heritage from me
could only have been
misery, poverty,
and the lash.
No. I will not take from him
the glory and riches
you have given him.
For this, you shall
be well cared for.
You and your family shall be
taken from Goshen tonight.
No matter where
you send me...
if the God of Abraham
has a purpose for my son,
he will come to know it
and fulfill it.
Come! Gather
your things!
Quickly! Quickly!
I shall see you
want for nothing.
You and your children
shall be given freedom.
Has my mother
forgotten?
Only the Pharaoh
can free a slave.
Moses, do not enter!
There is only
sorrow here.
Are you comforting it,
my mother?
I followed you here to find
this woman Yochabe...
You were the woman who was
caught between the stones.
Until you came.
My son, if you love
me, you will...
I love you, my mother,
but am I your son...
or yours?
No, you are not my son.
If you believe
that men and
women are cattle
to be driven
under the lash,
if you can bow
before idols of stone
and golden images
of beasts,
you are not my son.
My son would be a slave.
His hands would be gnarled
and broken
from the brick pits,
his back scarred from
the taskmaster's whip,
but in his heart
would burn the spirit
of the living God.
Does this god
demand a scarred back
and broken hands
as the price of his favor?
This desert god is the hope
of the hopeless.
Your place is
in the palace halls.
You have mounted
to the sun on golden wings.
You belong to me,
to Nefretiri, to Sethi,
to all those who love you.
Do they love less
who have no hope?
Will you swear
in the name of this god
that you are
not my mother?
We do not
even know his name.
Then look into my eyes
and tell me you
are not my mother.
Oh, Moses, Moses,
I cannot. I cannot.
I am your brother Aaron.
I am Miriam, your sister.
I am your brother Moses.
No! No, get ready
to leave!
Hurry!
They're going away, Moses.
The secret's going with them.
No one need ever know the shame
I've brought upon you.
Shame?
What change is there in me?
Egyptian or Hebrew,
I am still Moses.
These are the same hands,
the same arms,
same face that were mine
a moment ago.
A moment ago,
you were her son,
the strength of Egypt.
Now you are mine,
a slave of Egypt.
You find no shame in this?
If there is no shame in me,
how can I feel shame
for the woman who bore me...
or the race that bred me?
Oh, God of my fathers!
Moses, what will you do?
This is the binding tie...
and here I will stay.
Moses.
To find the meaning
of what I am...
why a Hebrew...
or any man
must be a slave.
Put back your things.
You are not leaving.
Moses...
has she done
more for you than I?
Will the life she gave you
be more useful in
the black pits of slavery?
Cannot justice and truth
be served better
upon a throne,
where all men may benefit
from your goodness...
and strength?
I do not know what power
shapes my way,
but my feet
are set upon a road
that I must follow.
Forgive me, Bithiah.
God of our fathers,
who has appointed an end
to the bondage of Israel,
blessed am I among
all mothers in the land,
for my eyes have beheld
Thy deliverer.
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
that treadeth out the corn,
making straw
for the bricks of Egypt,
nor spare the arms
that endlessly winnow
the grain in the wind
to separate the wheat
from the chaff,
wheat borne stolidly
on the backs
of countless slaves
from the heavy-laden
Nile boats
to the teeming shore.
Endlessly they plod
beneath
the sheaves of wheat
and endlessly
return for more.
A golden harvest
to the threshers,
the grain saved
to feed the masters,
bitterness
to feed the slaves.
And to feed
the brick pits,
straw carried on
the bowed backs of women.
Down into
the never-ending valley
of toil and agony,
stretching mile after mile,
an inferno
of mud-soaked bodies,
where the treaders' feet
churn clay and straw
into the mixture
for the Pharaoh's bricks,
and everywhere the lash
of watchful taskmasters,
ready to sting
the backs of the weary.
Blades chopping straw...
mattocks chopping clay,
a ceaseless cycle
of unending drudgery.
From the mixing feet
of treaders
to the pouring hands
of brick molders
moves the constant
stream of mud,
the lowly seed of tall cities.
Day after day, year after year,
century after century,
bondage without rest,
toil without reward.
These are the children
of misery,
the afflicted,
the hopeless, the oppressed.
And he went out
unto his brethren
and looked
on their burdens.
Water girl.
Here.
Here's water.
Keep in line!
That's a hard dance
you do, old man.
We've been dancing it
for years...
to grim music.
And the only deliverer
that has come to us
is death.
Back to work,
you gray mules.
You're strange
to the pits.
Your back is unscarred.
You bring a warm smile
with your cool water.
My smile is for
a stonecutter.
The water is for you.
I thank you.
Your voice is not strange.
You are...
One of many who thirst.
You there!
Come here!
That is Baka, the master
builder.
Does he call me or you?
You, water girl!
I'm thirsty.
He does not thirst
for water.
Beauty is but a curse
to our women.
Water, Noble One?
No, wine...
the wine of beauty.
What beauty can my lord find
in these mud pits?
A lotus flower blooms
in the Nile's gray mud.
Dathan, she will do well
as a house slave.
Do not take me
from my people.
There would be danger.
Danger from
such lovely hands?
There are other hands
strong enough to kill.
Our mud flower has a thorn.
Oh, please, Lord Baka,
I beg you.
Tears?
When you have been bathed
in scented water,
when your limbs have been
caressed by sweet oils
and your hair
combed with sandalwood,
there will be no time
for tears.
She's not worthy of your
magnificence.
Let my eyes...
Your eyes had best find
the deliverer, Dathan,
or you will have no eyes.
Bring the girl.
May the hand of God
strike him.
Dance, you mud turtles.
Dance!
You rot our bodies,
steal hope from our souls.
Must you also shame
and defile our women?
Dance, you squealing goat!
We are not animals.
We are men,
made in the image of God.
This will change
your image.
Dance, you.
Get that straw cutter.
Leave him, or you'll
be murdered with him.
I'll not leave a man
to die in the mud.
Thank you, my son...
but death is better
than bondage,
for my days are ended
and my prayer unanswered.
What prayer, old man?
That before death
closed my eyes,
I might behold
the deliverer
who will lead all men
to freedom.
What deliverer could break
the power of Pharaoh?
You!
Clay carriers, throw this
carrion to the vultures!
You! Take his place.
Now dance this straw
into the mud, you dogs.
Clear a path there!
Clear a path!
Stand aside, you!
Make way!
Clear a path!
Come on, get back!
Out of the way!
Keep your eyes
on the ground!
Now feel this, Hebrew.
I need another oarsman
for my barge,
a strong slave.
Your word is our
will, Great Lady.
The large one there.
You, come up here!
No. No, not that one.
The very dirty one there.
Yes, that one.
He may serve my purpose.
You.
You!
Out of the pit!
Out of the way!
Back to work!
Clear a path there!
Clear a path!
Stand aside, you!
Back to work!
Clear a path!
First friend
of the Pharaoh,
keeper of the royal seal,
prince of On,
prince of Memphis,
prince of Thebes,
beloved of the Nile god,
conqueror of Ethiopia,
general of generals,
commander
of the Egyptian host...
a man of mud!
Is that what you want,
to be a slave?
Then why aren't you kneeling
at the feet of a princess?
I am afraid the mud pits
have stiffened
my knees, Royal One.
Shall I call back
the guards?
Do you think they
could bend them?
Oh, Moses, Moses,
you stubborn,
splendid, adorable fool.
Ah!
I'm not kneeling
to a princess.
No.
You're kneeling
to a woman
who's been worried about you
day and night
since you disappeared.
What is there in the mud
of these slave pits
that could keep you
from my arms?
My people.
They may be your people,
but do you have to
wallow with them,
smell like them?
If they are stained, it's
with the mud of slavery,
and if they reek, it's with
the stench of injustice.
If you want to
help your people,
come back to the palace.
And hide the truth
from Sethi...
that I am Hebrew and a slave?
The truth would break
his dear old heart
and send Bithiah
into exile or death.
Think of us and stop hearing
the cries of your people.
Their god does not hear
their cry.
Will Rameses hear it
if he is Pharaoh?
No. He would grind them
into the clay they mold,
double their labors.
What about me?
Think of me as his wife.
Do you want to see me
in Rameses' arms?
No!
Then come back with me.
Oh, Moses,
the gods have fashioned you
for greatness.
The splendor of your name will
last beyond the pyramids.
When you are Pharaoh,
you can free your people,
worship whatever gods
you please...
so long as I can worship you.
I will come to you
at the palace
on the day
of Sethi's jubilee.
No. Come with me now.
No, my love.
First I have
a call to make...
on the master builder.
No, no, no, no, no.
Not red
with the Sammur gown.
My eyes can best be used
elsewhere, Lord Baka.
Before you go,
let them look upon what
you thought unworthy.
You would let beauty
such as this go unseen.
You would let such a flower
go ungathered.
Dathan, you can see only mud,
so pick up her
muddy clothes and go.
Go, all of you!
Did you know, my dear,
that this golden web was spun
from the beards of shellfish?
Please let me go to my home.
You are at home.
Here, taste this...
the blood of Thracian grapes,
the wine of love.
No wine can change my love.
Then your love shall be my wine.
There's fire in
the chariot house!
The chariot house!
Guards! Guards!
Take water to the roof!
Dathan, take charge!
Guards, after him.
Pull it out of the shed!
Take it clear of the house!
No. No, your wings must not be
singed, my dove,
at least not by that fire.
Joshua!
Run, Lilia, run!
The way is clear.
The master builder
will not follow.
Neither will you,
stonecutter.
Bind him between the columns!
See that his arms
are tightly stretched!
You'll die on your feet,
stonecutter.
He'll cut him to pieces.
Now go after the girl.
Don't come back without her.
We'll find her.
You foolish, stupid man.
I would have kept her
only a short while.
She would have returned to you,
shall we say, more worthy.
Now to whom
shall I return Lilia?
You will not be there, Joshua.
You've seen me drive my chariot.
I can flick a fly
from my horse's ear
without breaking the rhythm
of his stride.
You've seen me use my whip.
You make no outcry,
Joshua,
but you will.
You will cry
for the mercy of death.
One day you will listen
to the cry of slaves.
This is not that day, Joshua.
You hold your tongue
almost as well
as I hold my temper.
It's a pity to kill so strong
a stonecutter.
Death will bring death, Baka.
Who are you?
One who asks what right you have
to kill a slave.
The right of a master
to kill you or any slave.
Then kill me, master butcher.
Moses!
Why have you done this?
Where is the girl Lilia?
Gone.
Why are you dressed as a slave?
Why does a prince of Egypt
kill the Pharaoh's
master builder
to save a Hebrew?
I am Hebrew.
God of Abraham,
years we have waited.
Pharaoh's soldiers
won't wait so long.
The Almighty has heard
our cries from bondage.
You are the Chosen One.
I know nothing
of your god.
He knows you, Moses.
He has brought you
to us.
You cannot turn
your back upon us.
You will deliver us.
The finger of God points the way
to you.
Where was his body found?
Buried in the sand,
Royal One.
This is Baka's knife.
But there was
no wound on the body.
Baka was a powerful man.
It would take strong hands
to break him.
The slave Joshua
is a stonecutter.
Go find me this Joshua.
Joshua's strength didn't kill
the master builder.
Now speaks the rat
that would be my ears.
Too many ears
tie a rat's tongue.
Go, all of you.
Well...
who killed him?
I am a poor man,
Generous One.
What I bring
is worth much.
I have paid you much,
and you have
brought me nothing.
Now I bring you the world...
true son of Pharaoh.
You offer me the world
when you cannot even bring me
the deliverer.
Who killed Baka?
The deliverer.
Would you play
at words with me?
No, Lord Prince.
And this murderer has now fled
to some distant land?
No, Lord Prince.
Name him.
One who made himself a prince
and judge over us.
And if he knew I were
here, he would kill me
as he killed the Egyptian.
I will hang you myself
if you tire me further.
There are those
who would pay much
for what my eyes have seen.
Do you haggle with me
like a seller of melons
in the marketplace?
No, I will not haggle,
Great Prince.
Here's your money.
But for talons
of fine gold,
I'll give you
the wealth of Egypt.
Give me my freedom, and I'll
give you the scepter.
Give me the water girl Lilia,
and I'll give you the princess
of your heart's desire.
Give me this house
of Baka,
and I'll give you
the throne.
Give me all that I ask...
or give me leave to go.
I will give you
more than leave to go.
I will send you
where you belong.
I belong in your service,
Glorious One.
Very well.
I will bargain with you.
If what you say
pleases me,
I will give you
your price, all of it.
If not, I will give you
the point of this blade
through your lying throat.
Agreed?
Agreed.
The deliverer...
is Moses.
Draw one more breath
to tell me why Moses
or any other Egyptian
would deliver the Hebrews.
Moses is not Egyptian.
He's Hebrew, the son of slaves.
I will pay your price.
Imagine poor Nefretiri
not knowing in which bed
she will sleep.
I'd be happy in either.
But where is Prince Moses?
No Moses, no jubilee.
I am told, my tiger lily,
they're wagering
against me,
two golden debens to one.
Yes. I wagered five myself.
You'll lose your debens if Moses
keeps me waiting any longer.
I double the wager.
I'll watch for Moses.
You watch the dance.
While you wait
to honor Moses,
I will honor Sethi's jubilee...
with a gift.
A strange gift.
You said if the deliverer
were a myth,
to bring him in a bottle.
The bottle is empty.
Yes. It is empty
because he is not a myth.
You have found
such a man?
Yes, my father.
I found him in the midst
of treachery and treason,
with the blood of your master
builder red upon his hands.
Shall I summon him
to Pharaoh's justice?
Summon him.
Bring the Hebrew in.
Bring the Hebrew in!
Why it's... Moses!
Great Pharaoh...
I stand in the shadow
of your justice.
Whose work is this?
I warned you
of his treason, my father.
- Treason?
- Moses a traitor?
Judge now if I spoke truly.
The evil star foretold him
as the destroyer of Egypt
and deliverer of slaves.
It is not possible.
A prince of Egypt?
He is not a prince of Egypt.
He is not the son
of your sister.
He is the son
of Hebrew slaves.
Hebrew slaves?
Incredible!
This can't be.
Speak...
my son.
I am the son
of Amram and Yochabel,
Hebrew slaves.
My brother, it was I
who deceived you,
not Moses.
He was only a child.
Leave me.
I shall not
see your face again.
Moses...
come to me.
I do not care who you are
or what you are or what they may
say about you,
but I want to hear
from your own lips
that you are not
a traitor,
that you would not
lead these people
in revolt against me.
Tell me, Moses.
I will believe you.
I am not this deliverer
you fear.
It would take
more than a man
to lead the slaves
from bondage.
It would take a god.
But if I could
free them, I would.
What has turned you
against me?
From the time my sister brought
you to the court,
I loved you, reared you,
set you before my own son...
because I saw in you
a worth and a greatness
above other men.
No son could have more love
for you than I.
Then why are you forcing me
to destroy you?
What evil has done this to you?
The evil that men should
turn their brothers
into beasts of burden,
to slave and suffer
in dumb anguish,
to be stripped of spirit
and hope and faith
only because they are
of another race,
another creed.
If there is a god,
he did not mean this
to be so.
What I have done,
I was compelled to do.
So be it.
What I do now,
I am compelled to do.
No.
No.
Rameses...
Egypt shall be yours.
Hear what I say, Rameses.
When I cross the River of Death,
you will be... Pharaoh in Egypt.
Harden yourself against
subordinates.
Put no faith in a brother.
Have no friend.
Trust no woman.
I protected the helpless.
I nourished the orphan.
Great One!
But he who ate my bread
and called me father
would make rebellion
against me.
What manner of death
do you decree for him?
Death.
I cannot speak it.
Let it be as you will.
I will not live
if you must die!
The feet of a Hebrew slave
is not the right place
for the next queen of Egypt.
Take him away.
Do not look upon him.
He is a traitor to the Pharaoh.
Let the name of Moses
be stricken from
every book and tablet...
stricken from all pylons
and obelisks,
stricken from
every monument of Egypt.
Let the name of... Moses
be unheard and unspoken,
erased from
the memory of men...
for all time.
No, Moses.
It is I who will possess
all of her.
You think
when you are in my arms,
it will be his face
that you will see, not mine?
Yes.
Only his face.
I defeated you in life.
You shall not defeat me
by your death.
The dead are not scorched
in the desert of desire.
They do not suffer from
the thirst of passion
or stagger blindly
toward some mirage
of lost love.
But you, Hebrew, will suffer
all these things...
by living.
You will let him live.
I will not make him
a martyr for you to cherish.
No phantom will come between
you and me in the night.
Yes, my sweet,
I will let him live.
Dead, you alone
would possess him.
From where I send him
there is no returning,
and you will
never know
if he has found
forgetfulness
within another
woman's arms.
Now look upon each other
for the last time.
Now look for the first time,
Abiram,
upon the governor of Goshen.
Dathan, my brother,
you have the favor
of the Lord.
I prefer the gratitude
of the prince.
Nearer.
Yes, very lovely.
Not that purplish flower.
The purity of white
will cool the blush
of your cheek.
Leave us, all of you.
Yes, you, too, my brother.
Continue your playing,
but in the house.
Yes, that's better.
A flower behind a flower.
Dathan, if you fear God,
let me go.
I am here, girl,
because I put no trust
in a desert god and
his mud-pit prophet.
I prospered because I bowed
lower than my brothers
before the Egyptians,
and now the Egyptians
bow low before me.
Joshua wanted you...
Baka wanted you...
but you belong to me...
a gift from Rameses
to His Excellency.
I will bow before you, Dathan.
I will work my hands
raw for you,
but please, please, do not shame
me before my Lord.
Your lord is
the governor of Goshen.
What difference to my shame?
No difference to you,
my dove of Canaan,
but to a condemned slave
like Joshua,
it could make the difference
between death on the spikes
and life...
in the copper mines of Sinai.
What would you do
to influence
His Excellency's clemency?
Anything, Dathan.
Anything.
Joshua will always be
grateful to you...
my little mud flower.
His fate is better
than the one
that waits for Moses.
The slave who would be king.
Captain, the robe of state.
His Hebrew mother
brought it to the prison
before she died.
I'd rather
this be your armor.
You will have need
of a scepter.
You will have need
of a scepter.
Give me this binding pole.
Here is your king's scepter,
and here is your kingdom,
with the scorpion, the cobra,
and the lizard for subjects.
Free them, if you will.
Leave the Hebrews to me.
Give this prince of Israel
one day's ration
of bread and water.
One day's ration?
It will take many days
to cross this wilderness,
if he can cross at all.
I commend you
to your Hebrew god
who has no name.
If you die,
it will be by his hand,
not by mine.
Farewell, my one-time brother.
Hyah!
Into the blistering
wilderness of Shur,
the man
who walked with kings
now walks alone.
Torn from the pinnacle
of royal power,
stripped of all rank
and earthly wealth,
a forsaken man without
a country, without a hope,
his soul in turmoil
like the hot winds
and raging sands
that lash him with the fury
of a taskmaster's whip.
He is driven forward,
always forward,
by a god unknown,
toward a land unseen...
into the molten wilderness
of sin,
where granite
sentinels stand
as towers of living death
to bar his way.
Each night brings the black
embrace of loneliness.
In the mocking whisper
of the wind,
he hears the echoing
voices of the dark...
Moses!
Moses!
Moses!
Moses!
Moses!
Moses!
His tortured mind wondering
if they call the memory
of past triumphs
or wail foreboding
of disasters yet to come
or whether the desert's
hot breath
has melted his reason
into madness.
He cannot cool the burning kiss
of thirst upon his lips
nor shade the scorching
fury of the sun.
All about is desolation.
He can neither bless
nor curse
the power that moves him,
for he does not know
from where it comes.
Learning that it can be
more terrible
to live than to die,
he is driven onward
through the burning
crucible of desert,
where holy men and prophets
are cleansed and purged
for god's great purpose,
until at last,
at the end
of human strength,
beaten into the dust
from which he came,
the metal is ready
for the maker's hand.
And he found strength
from a fruit-laden
palm tree...
and life-giving water
flowing from
the well of Midian.
If only sheep were men.
Unmarried men.
Can you think
of nothing else?
I don't know.
I've never tried.
I wish sheep
could water themselves.
You needn't have
painted your nails, Lulua.
There isn't a man
from here to Horam.
What do you see, Sephora?
What are you looking at?
A man.
A what?
A man!
- A man!
- What kind of a man?!
Only one man?
Is he handsome?
Look at
his sandals.
Egyptian.
His robe is
not Egyptian.
Who cares?
He's a man.
Yes!
He's eaten a whole bunch
of dates.
He could be dangerous.
Are you sure he's alive?
Well, I hope so.
Do you think he's married?
Look! There's real trouble.
- Amalekites!
- Oh, Amalekites.
I'll talk to them.
Talk to them? Get stones!
They'll scatter the flock!
Desert thieves!
We drew this water.
Out of the way, girl!
This is the well
of Jethro, our father.
You have no right here.
Our goats don't know
your father.
Jethro's mark is on the well.
They can't read, either.
Nor can we!
He is the sheik of Midian.
Then let him breed sons
to guard it, not daughters.
Get your hands off her!
Drive them away!
Let them be first
whose hands
have drawn the water.
The stranger is wise...
The stranger is wise...
and strong.
Drive back your goats
until the sheep are watered.
All right, all right.
We should draw water for you
and wash the desert dust
from your feet.
Yes! Here's fresh water!
I have soapweed.
Let me first
remove his sandals.
Never did a lost sheep
have so many shepherds.
We have no towels.
My veil will serve.
Here. Let me pour the water.
Am I to be bathed or drowned?
I'll hold it for you.
Is it true
that Egyptian girls
paint their eyes?
Yes, but very few have eyes
as beautiful as yours.
And who...
who is the brave one
who stood against
the Amalekites?
Oh, that's Sephora.
She's the oldest.
Since you
have already divided
the stranger among you,
I will ask
a welcome for him
in our father's tent.
Our father is Jethro.
He's sheik of Midian.
Strength to you, stranger.
I am Moses, son of Amram
and Yochabel.
Health, prosperity, life to you,
Jethro of Midian.
Sephora has told me
of your kindness.
Let us break bread while my
daughter brings meat.
You have come far.
From Egypt.
Across the desert on foot?
He who has no name surely guided
your steps.
No name.
You Bedouins know
the god of Abraham?
Abraham is the father
of many nations.
We are the children
of Ishmael,
his firstborn.
We are the obedient of God.
My people look to him
for deliverance...
but they are
still in bondage.
Tomorrow we leave for
the high pastures
beneath God's holy mountain.
My tent would be favored
if you joined us.
I am a stranger
in a strange land.
I have no wealth,
no skill as a shepherd,
and it is death
to give sanctuary
to a runaway slave.
Slave?
Death?
Not among our people.
You have wisdom.
You need nothing more.
And there are seven here
to teach you
the tasks of a shepherd.
Sephora is the eldest.
You can learn best from her.
Oh.
I will dwell in this land.
Today he sleeps.
Who sleeps?
He who has no name.
Does your god live
on this mountain?
Sinai is his high place,
his temple.
If this god is God,
he would live on every mountain,
in every valley.
He would not be
only the god of Israel
or Ishmael alone,
but of all men.
It is said he created all men
in his image.
Then he would dwell
in every heart,
in every mind, in every soul.
I do not know
about such things,
but I do know that
the mountain rumbles
when God is there,
and the earth trembles,
and the cloud
is red with fire.
At such a time,
has any man ever gone to see him
face-to-face?
No man has ever set foot
on the forbidden
slopes of Sinai.
Why do you want
to see him, Moses?
To know that he is.
And if he is, to know why
he has not heard the cries
of slaves in bondage.
Moses,
it would be death
to look upon his face.
How many
of my people have died
because he has
turned away his face?
Can a man judge God?
No, Moses.
We cannot see
his whole purpose.
Even Ishmael
did not know
that God drove him
into the desert
to be the father
of a nation.
Is it not enough to know
that he has saved you
from the Pharaoh's anger?
How do you know that?
You walk like a prince,
and you fight like a warrior.
There is word in the caravans
of a great one
who was driven out of Egypt.
This is not
the scepter of a prince,
but the staff of a wanderer.
Then rest from wandering.
My father has many flocks
and no son to tend them.
There would be peace of spirit
for you, Moses,
in our tents beneath
the holy mountain.
You have strong faith
in this god, Sephora...
but for me, there is
no peace of spirit
until I hear
the word of God
from God himself.
Hurry. Hurry.
We haven't much time.
How do I look?
I wish every day
was a shearing festival.
I know, and all the men
following you
like sheep to be sheared.
One would be
enough for me.
If he were Moses.
Never before, my brothers,
has our wool brought
so rich a payment.
Because Moses has sold the whole
shearing of all the tribes
in one piece at one price
to Lugal here.
His words are truth.
His trading is just.
Peace be with you,
sheiks of Sinai.
Why are you
dressed like that?
Aren't you going to dance
with us before the sheiks?
No. I am not going to dance
before the sheiks.
Here. And I'm not going
to be displayed
like a caravan's wares
before Moses
or any other man.
Tonight I tend the sheep.
You needn't laugh.
Moses may not
choose you either.
Careful!
Moses shall no longer
be a stranger among us.
We should give him
of our flocks.
And let him choose.
I shall give him choice
of my seven
daughters for wife.
Seven to choose from.
Strong son!
The shadow
of my wisdom has fled.
Can a man choose from
among the stars of the sky?
Consider them
as they dance.
Cohath, strike your bow.
But one blossom
seems to be missing.
A pleasant task.
Indeed.
A bride, a shawl...
choose one, not all!
One shawl, one wife,
your choice for life.
Pearls of great price.
Which, Moses?
Yes, which will it be?
Make your choice, Moses.
It is a garden
of many flowers, Moses.
I wish you had my years
and I had your choice.
In the tent of Jethro,
there is dignity, honor,
freedom,
and beauty...
all that a man
could ask of life,
but my heart is still
a prisoner of the past.
I... I cannot choose now.
Strength to you,
sheiks of Sinai.
Strength to you,
sheiks of Sinai.
May God guide your heart.
Oh, Moses!
Tonight he is awake.
Which of my sisters
did you choose?
I made no choice, Sephora.
She was very beautiful,
wasn't she?
This woman of Egypt, who left
her scar upon your heart.
Her skin was white as curd,
her eyes green
as the cedars of Lebanon,
her lips, tamarisk honey.
Like the breast of a dove,
her arms were soft...
and the wine of desire
was in her veins.
Yes.
She was beautiful...
as a jewel.
A jewel has brilliant fire,
but it gives no warmth.
Our hands are not so soft,
but they can serve.
Our bodies not so white,
but they are strong.
Our lips are not perfumed,
but they speak the truth.
Love is not an art to us.
It's life to us.
We are not dressed
in gold and fine linen.
Strength and honor
are our clothing.
Our tents are not the columned
halls of Egypt,
but our children
play happily before them.
We can offer you little...
but we offer all we have.
I have not little, Sephora.
I have nothing.
Nothing from some...
is more
than gold from others.
You would fill the emptiness
of my heart?
I could never fill
all of it, Moses,
but I shall not be
jealous of a memory.
May the gods bless you,
as you go to join them
in the land of the dead.
The old windbag.
What an infernal fuss.
After all, dying is
only a part of living.
You won't die,
old crocodile.
You'll cheat death
the way you cheat me
at hounds and jackals.
I'm afraid he won't let me cheat
the way you do.
You'll be Pharaoh by sunset,
Rameses.
I hope you're content...
at last.
I am content to be your son.
You have restored Egypt
to her greatness.
I shall make her greatness
feared among nations.
No doubt, no doubt.
You can overcome
anything...
but your own arrogance.
Don't exhaust yourself,
Great One.
Dear Great One.
Why not, kitten?
You are the only thing
I regret leaving.
You have been my joy.
And you my only love.
Aha.
Now you're cheating.
There was another.
Yes.
I know.
I loved him, too.
With my last breath,
I'll break my own law
and speak the name of...
Moses.
Moses.
The royal falcon...
has flown into the sun.
Did the little boy die
in the desert, my father?
No. God brought Ishmael and his
mother Hagar into a good land.
The same god who lives on
the mountain?
It may be, my son.
Moses!
Moses!
Your mother's calling.
Here!
Moses, there is a man
among the sheep.
Moses, there is a man
among the sheep.
You stay...
You keep sounding
the alarm, Gershom,
but stay here till
your mother comes.
In the cleft.
Behind the rock.
Your eyes are sharp
as they are beautiful.
Turfa!
Khataf, back!
Khataf, back!
Back, Khataf.
Come down.
Moses.
Down, Turfa.
Praise God,
I have found you.
Joshua?
We thought you dead.
In the copper mines
of Geber,
the living are dead.
Sephora!
Bring water!
How did you find me?
A merchant buying copper
saw you in the tent of Jethro.
Here you, too, will find peace.
Peace?
How can you
find peace or want it
when Rameses builds cities
mortared with
the blood of our people?
You must lead them
out of Egypt!
God made a covenant
with Abraham
that he would
deliver the people.
Am I the hand of God?
Sephora, give him water.
Water. Bless you.
The desert sun has set fire
to his mind.
His name is Joshua.
I once killed
that he might live.
They told me
you were condemned,
but I knew
that you were chosen
to take the sword of God
into your hand.
I am not the man.
I am a shepherd
with flocks.
I am a shepherd
with flocks.
That light in
the mountainside...
do you see
that strange fire?
A bush that burns?
It is on fire, but the bush
does not burn.
Sephora, take him.
Serve him food in our tent.
I will turn aside
and see this great sight.
Moses.
Moses.
I am here.
Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet,
for the place where art thou
standest is holy ground.
I am the god of thy father,
the god of Abraham,
the god of Isaac,
and the god of Jacob.
Lord...
Lord, why do you
not hear the cries
of their children
in the bondage of Egypt?
I have surely seen the
affliction of my people
which are in Egypt,
and I have heard their cry
by reason of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows.
Therefore, I will send thee,
Moses, unto Pharaoh,
that thou mayest bring my people
out of Egypt.
Who am I, Lord,
that you should send me?
How can I lead this people
out of bondage?
What words can I speak
that they will heed?
I will teach thee
what thou wilt say.
When thou hast brought forth
the people,
They shall serve me
upon this mountain.
I will put my laws
into their hearts,
and in their minds
will I write them.
Now, therefore, go,
and I will be with thee.
But if I say
to your children
that the god of their fathers
has sent me,
they will ask,
"What is his name?"
And how shall I answer them?
I am that I am.
Thou shalt say,
"I am" has sent me unto you.
Is the holy mountain
forbidden to men?
Yes.
And I am afraid for him.
Then he is more than man,
for look.
Look at his face.
He has seen God.
Moses...
your hair,
your sandals.
I stood upon holy ground.
Can you tell us, Moses?
My eyes could not look upon him.
Did he speak?
He revealed his Word
to my mind,
and the Word was God.
Did he speak as a man?
He is not flesh, but spirit,
the light of Eternal Mind.
And I know that his light
is in every man.
Did he ask something of you?
That I go to Egypt.
You are God's messenger.
He has set the day
of deliverance.
I will get water and bread
that we may leave at once.
But Egypt holds death for you.
If it be his will.
Where he sends you,
I shall go.
Your god is my god.
I will lead men against
the armory at Migdol
and get swords for the people.
It is not by the sword that
he will deliver his people,
but by the staff
of a shepherd.
And the Lord
said unto Moses,
"Go. Return into Egypt."
And Moses took
his wife and his son,
and he returned
to the land of Egypt.
And Moses took the rod
of God in his hand.
Let the ambassador
from Priam,
king of Troy,
approach the Pharaoh.
Great Pharaoh,
the gift of Troy
is a fabulous fabric
from the Land
of the Five Rivers.
Our thanks to Priam.
It is fabulous, indeed.
It shimmers like the Nile.
What is it?
How is it made?
No one knows,
great Pharaoh.
It is spun on
the looms of the gods.
They call it silk.
The ambassador
from Jericho.
What kingdom
has sent you?
The Kingdom
of the Most High.
These must be ambassadors
from Midian.
Ah, Bedouins?
What gifts do you bring?
We bring you
the word of God.
What is this word?
Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel,
"Let my people go!"
The slaves are mine.
Their lives are mine.
All that they own is mine.
I do not know your god,
nor will I let Israel go.
Who are you to make
their lives bitter
in hard bondage?
Man shall be ruled by law,
not by the will of other men.
What a fool.
Who is this god,
that I should
let your people go?
Aaron...
...cast down my staff
before Pharaoh
that he may see
the power of God.
In this you
shall know
that the Lord is God.
Mother! Mommy!
He turned his staff
into a cobra!
Nothing of his will
harm you, my son.
The power of your god
is a cheap
magician's trick.
Jannes.
Mother, look!
Jannes, do you see?
Moses' serpent
swallows up the others.
You gave me this staff
to rule over scorpions
and serpents,
but God made it a rod
to rule over kings.
Hear His word, Rameses,
and obey.
Obey?
Moses, Moses.
Are there
no magicians in Egypt
that you come back to make
serpents out of sticks
or cause rabbits to appear?
I will give your staff
a greater wonder to perform.
Bear it before
your idle people
and bid them make
bricks without straw.
How can people make bricks
without straw?
Let his staff
provide them with it.
Or let them glean straw
in the fields for themselves.
But their tally of bricks
shall not diminish.
So let it be written.
So let it be done.
- Moses!
- Moses!
We are free!
Our deliverer!
Bless you, Moses!
All of us are free!
Moses, Moses,
lead us out of bondage!
Aaron!
Aaron, when do
we leave Egypt?
We do not leave Egypt.
But Moses
promised us!
- How can this be?
- Why? Why?
But you said we'd be free.
I have...
Let him speak.
I have brought
more evil upon you.
God forgive my weak use
of His strength.
Weak use?
Moses, what have
you done to us?
It is Pharaoh's order
that you be given no straw
to make your tally of bricks.
No straw? Impossible!
He doubles our burden!
How can we make bricks
without straw?
You will glean the stubble
of the fields by night.
And your women
and children, too.
Is this the deliverer?
You've brought the wrath
of Pharaoh upon us.
You put a sword in
their hands to kill us!
Stone him! Stone him!
Ready spears!
Stand aside.
Come.
Follow.
File, march!
Stand aside. Make way!
They're taking him.
There goes
your deliverer.
Now, go find your straw.
Remember, the tally
must be the same,
not one brick less.
I cursed you...
each time Rameses
took me in his arms.
I cursed you, not him,
because I love you.
The Moses who loved you
was another man.
No, he was not.
You believe
you've changed,
but you haven't.
You call yourself a prophet,
a man of God,
but I know better.
I don't believe
that only the thunder
of a mountain
stirs your heart
as you stir mine.
Nefretiri, I have stood
in the burning light
of God's own presence.
It was not he
who saved you just now.
I did that.
Oh, Moses, Moses.
Why, of all men,
did I fall in love
with a prince of fools?
But I believe
anything you tell me
when I'm in your arms.
Why must you deny
me and yourself?
Because I am
bound to a God
and to a people and
to a shepherd girl.
A shepherd girl.
What can she be to you?
Unless the desert sun
has dulled your senses.
Does she...
grate garlic on her skin?
Or is it soft...
as mine?
Are her lips chafed
and dry as the desert sand,
or are they moist and red
like a pomegranate?
Is it the fragrance
of myrrh
that scents her hair...
...or is it
the odor of sheep?
There is a beauty
beyond the senses, Nefretiri,
beauty like the quiet
of green valleys
and still waters,
beauty of the spirit
that you cannot understand.
Perhaps not.
But beauty of the spirit will
not free your people, Moses.
You will come to me,
or they will
never leave Egypt.
The fate of Israel
is not in your hands, Nefretiri.
Oh, isn't it?
Who else can soften
Pharaoh's heart...
or harden it?
Yes.
You may be the lovely dust
through which God
will work His purpose.
Fill every jar in
your house with water.
Tell the others
that for seven days,
there will be
none to drink.
But this well has
never run dry.
The river's high.
What does it mean?
Whose word is that?
One who knows.
So fill your jars
or go thirsty.
Miriam is always right.
Yes. I'm going back
for more jars.
No water for seven days!
Yes, Joshua,
she comes to the
well every day.
Wait, and you
will see her.
It is wise of Dathan
to send you
to the well, Lilia,
or he might find
his water poisoned.
They told me you were dead.
To all I loved,
Joshua, I am dead.
Dathan?
Yes. Dathan.
Of your own free will?
My own free will.
You are no man's slave.
The hour of deliverance
has come.
Not for me, Joshua.
Hail to thee,
great god of the Nile!
Hail to thee,
great god of the Nile!
Thy life-giving waters
are the blood of Egypt.
Hail to thee,
maker of barley,
breeder of cattle,
carrier of ships,
praised of all the gods!
Pharaoh of Egypt,
you have not yet
obeyed the Lord.
Let my people go.
The point
of a sword shall...
Let him rave on
that men
shall know him mad.
Obey the Lord,
or He will raise His hand
against the waters of the river.
I have come
to bless the waters.
You have come
to curse them.
We will learn
if a god of shepherds
is stronger than
the gods of Pharaoh.
Water of life,
give drink to the desert
and make green
the meadow.
Aaron.
Stretch out my staff
against the waters.
- Look!
- Look!
There, where he struck
the river, it bleeds!
The water turns to blood!
Blood flows from the god!
See how it spreads.
It is blood!
That you may know
the power of the Lord,
for seven days,
Egypt will thirst.
Seven days
without water.
Fill every jug and jar!
Pestilence
will be everywhere!
Were it seven
times seven days,
no magician's trick
will set your people free.
Sacred water,
make pure the flood
from which you came.
And God smote the land
with all manner of plagues,
but still Pharaoh's heart
was hardened.
Great One, you hear
the cry of Egypt.
They would cry louder
if they had to
make the bricks.
Send them away.
The people have been
plagued by thirst,
they've been
plagued by frogs,
by lice, by flies,
by sickness, by boils.
They can endure no more.
Go back to
your homes!
Why do you bring
this worker of evil before me?
The people desert the temples.
They turn from the gods.
What gods?
You prophets and priests
made the gods
that you may prey
upon the fears of men.
When the Nile ran red,
I, too, was afraid,
until word came
of a mountain
beyond the cataracts
which spewed red mud
and poisoned the water.
Was it the staff I gave you
that caused all this?
Was it the wonder of your god
that fish should die
and frogs
should leave the waters?
Was it a miracle
that flies and lice
should bloat
upon their carrion
and spread disease
in both man and beast?
These things were ordered
by themselves,
and not by any god.
Now go.
That you may know these things
are done of God...
...you shall see hail
fall from a clear sky
and burn as fire
upon the ground,
you shall see darkness
cover Egypt
when the sun
climbs high to noon,
and you shall know
that God is God
and bow down to His will.
Nothing of this earth
can make me bow
to you, Moses.
Behold, the hail comes.
When darkness has covered
Egypt for three days,
your ministers
will send for me.
In the three days
of darkness,
you have whined like
frightened children
in the night.
Moses said the sun
would shine in three days,
and it is true.
O Great One,
let his people go,
or all of Egypt
will be barren
from the cataracts
to the sea.
Will my father
free the slaves?
Can taxes be collected
from dead cattle
and blighted harvests?
Does fear rule Egypt...
...or do I?
We fear no army
of the earth,
but can we fight
plagues with swords?
There is no shame in this.
Even the strongest
tree bends.
It is not Pharaoh
who yields to the slave,
but his counselors.
I have summoned Moses
at your request.
People will bless you,
Great One.
No other choice.
Does the world bow
to an empty throne?
Empty?
Does a Pharaoh harden
his heart against his son?
If you let
the Hebrews go,
who will build
his cities?
You told Moses
to make bricks without straw.
Now he tells you
to make cities
without bricks.
Who is the slave,
and who is the Pharaoh?
Do you hear
laughter, Rameses?
Yes.
The laughter of kings.
In Babylon,
in Canaan,
in Troy...
as Egypt surrenders
to the god of slaves.
Bring the Hebrew in.
Go into the garden.
It's not good
for a son of Pharaoh
to see his
father humbled
by a son of slaves.
My son,
stand beside me.
Have the days of darkness
made you see
the light, Rameses?
Will you now
free my people?
Great One, bid the scribe
read the order.
Give me the writing.
Sublime Pharaoh,
you cannot resist
the power of his god.
I know not his god.
Neither will I
let his people go.
Egypt will die.
How long will you refuse
to humble yourself
before God?
If you bring
another plague upon us,
it is not your god, but I
who will turn the Nile red
with blood.
As your father's father
turned the streets
of Goshen red
with the blood
of our male children.
If there is one more
plague on Egypt,
it is by your word
that God will bring it.
And there shall be
so great a cry
throughout the land
that you will surely
let the people go.
Come to me no more, Moses,
for on the day
you see my face again,
you will surely die.
So let it be written.
I will give this spawn
of slaves and his god
an answer the world
will not forget.
Commander of the Host,
call in the chariots
from Tanis.
There shall be
one more plague,
only it will come upon
the slaves of Goshen.
The firstborn
of each house shall die,
beginning with
the son of Moses.
You're the shepherd girl
that Moses married.
The queen of Egypt
is beautiful,
as he told me.
My husband is not here.
Is this Moses' son?
Yes, this is our son.
What do you want of us?
You need have
no fear of me.
I feared only
his memory of you.
You have been able
to erase it.
He has forgotten
both of us.
You lost him
when he went
to seek his God.
I lost him when
he found his God.
At least he left you
a son to cherish.
I am here
to save his son.
From what?
From Pharaoh's decree
that the firstborn
of Israel must die.
Die?
God of Abraham...
...don't let him do this.
Not to the children.
A caravan for Midian
is waiting
for you and your son.
My chariot
will bring you to it.
I'm surprised
you noticed me.
You didn't at the palace
this morning, you know.
Why?
Were you afraid
to look at me?
What do you want,
Nefretiri?
You, Moses.
Everything about us
is coming to an end.
You will destroy Egypt
or Egypt will destroy you.
I belong to you, Moses.
She's gone with your
son to Midian.
Why would she leave?
She knew you would try to save
the other children
before your own son.
Save the other children?
From what?
Rameses is massing
the Libyan axmen,
the chariots, the
Sardinian swordsmen.
Why? Tell me why!
To destroy the
firstborn of Israel.
Oh, God!
My God!
Out of His own mouth
comes thy judgment.
But I have saved
your son, Moses.
It is not my son
who will die.
It is... it is the
firstborn of Egypt.
It is your son,
Nefretiri.
No. You would not dare strike
Pharaoh's son!
In the hardness of his heart,
Pharaoh has mocked God
and brings death
to his own son.
But he is my son, Moses.
You would not harm my son.
By myself, I am nothing.
It is the power of God
which uses me to
work His will.
You would not
let Him do this to me.
I saved your son.
I cannot save yours.
Your god listens
to you, Moses.
About midnight,
the Destroyer will come
into the midst of Egypt,
and all the
firstborn shall die,
from the firstborn
of Pharaoh
to the firstborn
of his servants.
When you were
prince of Egypt,
you held me
in your arms.
When you were
a condemned slave,
I threw myself
at your feet
before the court
of Pharaoh,
because I loved you, Moses.
It is the Lord
who executes
judgment, Nefretiri.
Go back to your son.
Your love for me is stronger
than the power of any god.
You will not kill my son.
Turn from Thy
fierce wrath, O Lord!
Death cometh to me
To set me free
Death cometh to me
No, Lilia. Death will
not come to you.
Joshua.
Joshua, you risk
your life in coming here.
You are firstborn.
So are you.
I bring lamb's blood
to mark the doorposts
and lintel...
...that the Angel of Death
may pass you by.
Joshua, it is enough
that you have
come to me.
I am outcast
among our people.
Don't save me
from death, Joshua.
Save me from life.
Tomorrow will bring a new world
for us, Lilia.
There will be no new world
and no blood on this door.
Dathan, it will save her life.
Moses has God's promise.
Moses has words.
Pharaoh has spears.
Remember, Joshua, of her
own free will, she's mine.
And under His wings
shalt thou trust...
And under His wings
shalt thou trust...
Though we stand in
the shadow of death,
the Lord is our God.
The Lord is One.
The Lord is our God.
The Lord is One.
His truth shall be
thy shield and buckler...
Shield us through
this night of terror,
O King of the Universe.
Why is everyone afraid?
Why is this night different
from all others?
Because this night
the Lord our God
will deliver us
from the bondage of Egypt.
Thou shalt not be afraid
for the terror by night...
Stand all!
Pharaoh's soldiers.
Or worse.
Look for the arrow
that flyeth by day...
Bithiah.
In fear of your god,
they have set me free.
May a stranger enter?
There are no strangers
among those
who seek God's mercy.
My bearers?
All who thirst for freedom
may come with us.
The darkness of death
will pass over us tonight,
and tomorrow the
light of freedom
will shine upon us
as we go forth
from Egypt.
I shall go
with you, Moses.
A princess of Egypt?
The House of Pharaoh.
She follows
the gods of Egypt.
An idol worshiper!
This woman
drew me from the Nile
and set my feet upon
the path of knowledge.
Mered, bring a chair
to our table
for the daughter
of Pharaoh.
There is a great light that
shines from your face, Moses.
Perhaps someday I shall
come to understand it.
He is God's messenger, Princess.
Stay back.
Don't come out.
Help me!
If it is not forbidden
to look upon
the breath of pestilence,
then see, for it is here.
Do not look, Eleazar.
Close the door, Joshua,
and let death pass.
Nor for the pestilence
that walketh in darkness...
Will it pass, Moses?
Will it pass?
That is God's promise,
Elisheba.
Blessed art Thou,
O Lord, our God,
who bringeth forth bread
from the earth.
Oh, no! It's coming
through the door!
Close up the cracks!
Keep it out!
Save yourselves!
Run! Run!
There shall no
evil befall you,
nor any plagues
come near you.
A thousand shall fall
at thy side...
Why do we eat unleavened bread
and bitter herbs, my uncle?
The herbs...
Faster! Faster!
Take the other road!
No! No, turn back!
The herbs remind us
of the bitterness
of our captivity, Eleazar.
But it shall not
come nigh thee...
This is the bread of haste,
that you will
remember this night
from generation to generation
forever.
Hold the baby high!
Keep him above it!
They are my people.
All are God's people.
Death is all around us!
But it passes those
who have believed the Lord.
Always remember, Eleazar,
he passed over your house.
Are the captains of Egypt afraid
of a night mist?
The death cry is everywhere.
Some devil's curse!
Look!
I've known battle
for years, Pharaoh,
but I've not known fear
till tonight.
Aide.
Have the captains
join their men.
At the coming of dawn,
we will strike.
No firstborn Hebrew
shall live.
Let the Hebrews go,
Great One,
or we are all dead men.
He was your son?
My firstborn.
There is no magic cure,
no spell to use.
He is the firstborn
of Pharaoh.
We have no skill
before this... pestilence.
My father.
My son.
Your own curse is on him.
Where did you hear this?
From Moses.
I would not let his people go
because your serpent's tongue
hardened my heart.
You only thought
to keep Moses here.
You cared nothing
for my throne...
or my son.
I asked Moses for his life.
The shadow of death
is on his face.
No.
He will not die.
Captain.
Take my fastest chariot.
Bring Moses to me.
I will bring him,
Mighty Pharaoh.
He is my only son.
You have conquered, Moses.
The foot of a slave is
on the neck of Egypt.
You were saved from the Nile
to be a curse upon me.
Your shadow fell between me
and my father,
between me and my fame...
between me and my queen.
Your shadow now fills all things
with death.
Go out from among us,
you and your people.
I set you free.
It is not by your word
nor by my hand
that we are free, Pharaoh.
The power of God has freed us.
Enough of your words.
Take your people, your cattle,
your god, and your pestilence.
Take what spoils from Egypt you
will, but go!
O, Lord God...
with a strong hand,
Thou dost bring us
out of bitter bondage.
Tomorrow we go forth
a free nation,
where every man shall
reap what he has sown
and bow no knee
except in prayer.
We will go with our young
and with our old,
with our sons
and with our daughters.
With our flocks and with our
herds will we go,
for I know
that the Lord is great
and that our Lord
is above all gods.
He's dead.
Sokar...
Great Lord
of the Lower World,
I who have denied
the gods of Egypt...
bow before you now.
Show that you have power
above the god of Moses.
Restore the life
he has taken from my son.
Guide back his soul
across the Lake of Death
into the place
of living men,
and I will raise
a temple to you
mightier
than the pyramids.
Hear me,
Dread Lord of Darkness.
Arise, O Israel!
Behold the dawn
of freedom!
And it came to pass...
after the stifling
night of terror
came a day such as
the world had never seen.
From east and west,
from north and south,
they came with
all they had,
driving their flocks
and their herds
and their camels
before them.
By tens, by hundreds,
by thousands,
unending streams of man
and beast and burden
and even very much cattle
poured into
the Avenue of Sphinxes.
Beneath the stone feet
of the four colossal
images of Rameses,
which their own
sweat and blood and sinew
had hewn from solid rock,
a nation arose,
and freedom
was born into the world.
Grandfather, have you got
Rebecca?
No, I haven't got Rebecca.
Here's the kneading trough.
Sling it on your shoulders.
This is a blessed day.
Where's Rebecca?
Here is Rebecca.
Ben Caleb.
Yes?
Can we take
the cattle?
Moving to the gates,
horn and hoof.
Rachel, help me
with this brick yoke.
Benjamin, don't forget
the oil for the lamps.
You're carrying
your own load now.
Where are we going, Naomi?
To some land flowing
with milk and honey.
I never tasted honey.
Anybody know the way?
It's away from the whip.
Freedom won't wet your throats
in the desert.
Fill your water skins.
This is the governor's house.
You cannot enter.
Out! Out, all of you!
Why do soldiers come here?
I put no blood on my door.
Then stone bleeds.
Your stonecutter did this to me.
All your gold
cannot wipe that mark
from your door, Dathan,
or from my heart.
Just for that,
you'll walk all the way to...
Where are we going?
Do you know
where we're going?
To hell, I hope!
Like Dathan,
they did not know
where they were going,
and they cared no more
than the flocks
and herds they drove.
Now they used the brick yokes
to carry a very different
burden.
And there went forth
among them
planters of vineyards
and sowers of seeds,
each hoping to sit under
his own vine and fig tree.
Out of this glorious chaos,
it is Joshua who
brings order and purpose.
Set the standard
of each tribe
before all the people.
Levites in the center.
Judah to the right.
Ephraim to the left. Go!
Hallelujah!
Look where you're going!
Watch out, you ribbon carrier!
Keep your big feet
out of my geese!
His son Joseph
Many colors was his coat
Born...
Aaron and the elders carry
a shrouded body, Grandfather.
They bear the bones of Joseph
to rest in his own land.
Into water he was thrown...
Nubians, Grandfather.
Here come treasure wagons!
The spoils of Egypt.
All who shared the toil
will share this gold.
Here, boy...
for the blind one.
It's a little golden calf,
grandfather...
With horns.
An idol...
for idol worshipers.
Grandpa, fire bearers.
Plant your fires at night
beside the tribal standards,
where all may come
to light their torches.
They'll be burning, Joshua!
Eleazar, hang this
on the wagon.
Now the cradle.
Here, Miriam.
Here, Miriam.
Joshua!
Joshua!
Joshua!
I have wagons for
the midwives and physicians.
Where shall they be placed?
cubits, one...
Where's your whip, Dathan?
I'll pay you back
every lash you gave me, Dathan!
Two for one!
Now is this a day for us
to have hard feelings?
I felt your whip!
Yes, every day!
Lilia is no slave, Dathan.
You can carry your own carcass.
Let her ride.
So now, my brother,
we have new taskmasters.
We serve no masters now.
Yes, but not for long.
Here, old woman.
That's it.
Joshua!
Make way for the governor!
You know who I am.
I know who you were,
Lord Governor.
I go to serve the Pharaoh.
Tell Rameses I'm coming back
to my house.
That rabble may follow Moses
into the desert today,
but when their eyes are seared
red by the sun,
when their cracked lips
bleed with thirst,
when their stomachs
cramp with hunger,
they will curse the name
of Moses and his god,
then I, Dathan, will lead them
back to Pharaoh
and the brick pits.
There are so many.
So many.
How shall I find Thy road
through
the wilderness, Lord?
How shall I find water
in the desert
for this multitude?
Moses, the people
are assembled.
Then let us go forth
to the mountain of God,
that he may write his
commandments in our minds
and upon our hearts forever.
We march, praising
His mighty name.
What is the word, Joshua?
The word is given.
Let the trumpets sound!
Hear, O Israel!
Remember this day
when the strong hand
of the Lord
leads you
out of bondage.
The Lord is our God!
The Lord is One!
The Lord is our God!
The Lord is One!
Push! Push!
Yes, you pull!
Joshua!
Years in bondage,
and today he won't move!
Well, a stray lamb!
The Lord is One
Praise to God
Thank Thee, O Lord.
My litter can carry him.
I am poured out
like water,
my strength dried up
into the dust of death.
We shall plant your fig tree
in the new land.
Children shall eat of its fruit.
Do you hear that?
Do you hear that?
You have a strong new son.
And he brought
forth the people
with joy and gladness.
He bore them out of Egypt
as an eagle bears its young
upon its wings.
But again, Pharaoh's
heart was hardened.
But again, Pharaoh's
heart was hardened.
How many more days and nights
will you pray?
Does he hear you?
Dread Lord of Darkness,
are you not greater
than the god of Moses?
I have raised
my voice to you,
yet life has not come
to the body of my son.
Hear me!
He cannot hear you.
He's nothing but
a piece of stone
with the head of a bird.
He will hear me.
I am Egypt.
Egypt?
You are nothing.
You let Moses kill my son.
No god can bring him back.
What have you done to Moses?
How did he die?
Did he cry for mercy
when you tortured him?
Bring me to his body.
I want to see it, Rameses.
I want to see it.
This is my son.
He would have been Pharaoh.
He would have ruled the world.
Who mourns him now?
Not even you.
All you can
think of is Moses.
You will not see his body.
I drove him out of Egypt.
I cannot fight the power
of his god.
His god?
The priests say
that Pharaoh is a god,
but you are not a god.
You are even less than a man.
Listen to me, Rameses.
You thought I was evil
when I went to Moses,
and you were right.
Shall I tell you
what happened, Rameses?
He spurned me like a strumpet
in the street.
I, Nefretiri, Queen of Egypt.
All that you wanted from me
he would not even take.
Do you hear laughter, Pharaoh?
Not the laughter of kings,
but the laughter
of slaves on the desert.
Laughter?
Laughter?
My son, I shall build your tomb
upon their crushed bodies.
If any escape me,
their seed shall be scattered
and accursed forever.
My armor. The war crown.
Laughter.
I will turn the laughter
of these slaves
into wails of torment.
They shall remember
the name of Moses,
only that he died
under my chariot wheels.
Kill him with your own hands.
Let the trumpets sound.
Alert the watchtowers.
Assemble all the chariots
at the city gate.
I obey.
Nura and Thebes
will draw my chariot.
I will bring you back
your temple treasure.
Bring it back to me...
stained with his blood.
I will...
to mingle with your own.
Whoa.
Pharaoh!
Nura! Thebes!
Guards, salute!
Hail, Pharaoh!
Hail, Pharaoh!
Remember your firstborn.
Death to the slaves!
Death to the slaves!
Death to their god!
Death to their god!
Hail, Pharaoh!
Forward!
Do you hear thunder...
over the sea?
No. It comes from the desert.
That's the thunder of horses.
Look!
Pharaoh's chariots!
We're trapped against the sea!
Caleb, warn the north tents.
Joshua.
That's Joshua's horn.
All men to the pass!
Get carts, wagons!
Form a barrier!
What's the alarm, Joshua?
Pharaoh's chariots.
Block the pass with carts.
Women and children, to the sea.
Bring shovels, pounders,
mattocks!
Hear me! Hear me!
Can mattocks
stop arrows?
Will your little carts
stop Pharaoh's chariots?
You women, do you want
to see your men killed?
Moses!
What is it, Joshua?
What is it?
Pharaoh's chariots!
I've ordered men
to block the pass.
How can we fight chariots?
Nothing can stop them.
Order the men
to move back, Joshua.
Move back?
Where, into the sea?
Into the hand of God.
Deliverer?
Yes, he has
delivered you to death!
Run! Run!
Look!
Look!
Blame Moses for this!
Deliver him to peril!
Stone him!
Yes! Stone him!
The god of Moses
is a poor general
to leave him no retreat.
times you have seen
the miracles of the Lord,
and still you have no faith.
He's a false prophet
who delivers you to death!
Stone him!
Stone him!
Listen to Moses!
He speaks God's will!
Forward!
They will stop for me.
A charging chariot
knows no rank.
Was it because there
were no graves in Egypt
that you took us away to die
in the wilderness?
Fear not!
Stand still
and see the salvation
of the Lord.
A pillar of fire!
It is the breath of God!
Through it!
No, Great One.
You cannot breach
the fire of God.
Gather your families
and your flocks.
We must go with all speed.
Go where, to drown
in the sea?
How long will the fire hold
Pharaoh back?
After this day,
you shall see
his chariots no more.
No! You'll be
dead under them!
The Lord of Hosts
will do battle for us.
Behold His mighty hand.
It's a miracle!
It's a miracle!
The wind
opens the sea!
God opens the sea with the blast
of his nostrils.
Lead them through the midst
of the waters.
His will be done.
He opens the waters
before them,
and he bars our way
with fire.
Let us go from this place.
Men cannot fight
against a god.
Better to die
in battle with a god
than live in shame.
Praise God
and down into it!
God has delivered us
from the sword of Pharaoh.
Jacob cherished
his son Joseph
Many colors
was his coat...
Etam, help us!
Never mind the wheel.
Pull!
Pull for your lives!
Is your life worth so much?
Jacob cherished his son Joseph
Many colors was his coat
God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
Ever bless us with Thy hand...
Get tow lines
on the midwife's cart!
Abandon it!
Save the bread if you can.
Ben Caleb, order
all wagons to turn clear.
Moses, stand on the rock
where the people can see
you and have hope...
Above us!
Help that wagon!
The fire dies.
Sound the pursuit.
And, halt!
This is work for a butcher,
not a Pharaoh.
Destroy them all,
but bring Moses to me alive.
Level spears!
Forward!
Here, take him.
Grandfather, look!
The horses are coming!
The chariots!
Aah! Run! Run!
Run for your lives!
Better to serve the Egyptians
than to die here.
Who shall withstand
the power of God?
Thou didst blow with Thy winds,
and the sea covered them.
Who is like unto Thee,
O Lord?
From everlasting to everlasting,
Thou art God.
The Lord is our God!
The Lord is One!
Before you strike,
show me his blood
on your sword.
You couldn't even kill him.
His god...
is God.
And Moses led Israel
from the Red Sea
And Moses led Israel
from the Red Sea
into the wilderness
of Sinai,
and they camped before
the holy mountain.
And when the people saw
that Moses delayed
to come down
out of the mountain,
they gathered
themselves together.
Ask Aaron.
Could anyone live
on that fiery summit
for days
and nights?
Yes, by the will
of God!
Who knows
the will of God?
Do you? Do I?
Or you, Sephora,
his grieving wife?
She came back among us
to find her husband,
but he's dead.
Even she cannot hope
that he lives.
Moses went up into
the forbidden ground
to receive God's law.
Yes, but he's not
returned.
We share your pain.
We sympathize.
But will sympathy
lead us
to this land flowing
with milk and honey?
Now we have
no leader!
Don't be fooled!
Moses will return!
Would a god who has
shown you such wonders
let Moses die before his work
is done?
His work is done.
His mother.
So beautiful is
the hope of a mother,
but there are other
mothers among you!
What will become
of your children?
Yes!
We must have faith.
Faith in what... you, Aaron?
Can you lead us to this land
of promise?
Do you know where it is?
- Tell us.
- Where is it?
Across the wilderness.
And who is to lead us?
You, Dathan.
Where could I bring you
except to Egypt?
Where there is death?
No, where there's food!
Pharaoh would kill us all.
Not if a god of Egypt
went before us!
You could
make one for us, Aaron.
Aaron knows the art
of the temple.
I will not!
He will not.
He would rather
see our flesh
rot in the wilderness.
You will make a god for us.
A god of gold.
A golden calf!
Korah shall be
the high priest.
Bring baskets,
buckets, shawls,
anything you have.
Break off your earrings,
your bracelets, your necklaces!
We will make of them
a golden calf!
The golden spoils
we took from Egypt!
There!
Spoils from Egypt.
From the burning bush,
O Lord,
you charged me
to bring the people
to this holy mountain
to behold your glory
and receive your law.
What have I left undone?
I am...
I am...
I am the Lord Thy God.
Thou shalt have
no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image.
And they overlaid the image
with pure gold,
and Aaron fashioned it
and smoothed it
with the hammer,
ready to be graven
by cunning art
and man's device.
And he fastened it
with nails,
that it should not move.
And he
that smote the anvil
did beat the molten gold
into thin plates,
for they had gathered
their treasure
into the midst
of the furnace
and did blow the fire
upon it to melt it.
And they adorned themselves
in rich apparel
and costly array,
with veils of blue
and purple and scarlet
and fine-twined linen
wrought in Egypt.
And the women tread grapes
from Midian
into new wine.
Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord
thy god in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy.
Honor thy father
and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Hallel!
Hallel!
Hallel!
And the people
sinned a great sin,
for they had
made them a god of gold.
And they bore him upon
their shoulders and rejoiced,
saying, "This be
our god, O Israel."
Are you mourners of Moses
afraid to face
the new god of gold?
They were as children
who had lost their faith.
They were
perverse and crooked
and rebellious against God.
They did eat
the bread of wickedness
and drank
the wine of violence,
and they did evil
in the eyes of the Lord.
And the people cried,
"The graven image
hath brought us joy."
And they worshipped
the golden calf
and sacrificed unto it.
Here is your sacrifice!
Make way for Dathan!
Make way for Dathan!
Make way!
Make way for
the sacrifice!
Make way!
Out of the way!
Place the sacrifice
upon the altar!
Have you no shame?
Thou shalt not
commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear
false witness
against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet
anything
that is thy neighbor's.
Written with
the finger of God.
Go, get thee down,
for thy people have
corrupted themselves.
And the people rose up to play
and did eat and drink.
They were
as the children of fools
and cast off
their clothes.
The wicked were like
a troubled sea
whose waters cast up
mire and dirt.
They sank
from evil to evil
and were viler
than the earth.
And there was rioting
and drunkenness,
for they had become
servants of sin.
And there was manifest
all manner of ungodliness
and works of the flesh,
even adultery
and lasciviousness,
uncleanness,
idolatry and rioting,
vanity and wrath.
And they were filled
with iniquity
and vile affections.
And Aaron knew that he had
brought them to shame.
Abiram, Korah,
bind the sacrifice
with cords,
even unto the horns
of the altar!
The light of God shines
from you, Moses.
Do not kneel to me, Joshua.
These tablets of stone...
The writing of God.
His Ten Commandments.
There is a noise
of war in the camp.
It is not the noise of war.
It is the noise
of song and revelry.
Moses!
Look!
Joshua!
Woe unto thee, O Israel!
You have sinned a great sin
in the sight of God.
You are not worthy
to receive
these Ten Commandments!
Aaron!
Moses!
We're gathered
against you, Moses.
You take too much
upon yourself.
We will not live
by your commandments.
We're free!
There is no freedom
without the law.
Whose law, Moses? Yours?
Did you carve
those tablets
to become
a prince over us?
Who is
on the Lord's side?
Let him come to me.
I am!
I am!
Lead us, Moses!
We are lost!
Dathan!
Follow Dathan!
- Moses!
- Moses!
Moses!
Aaron, you have cursed us.
Dathan and the people
made me do it.
Joshua!
Joshua!
Dathan brought us joy!
He showed you no land flowing
with milk and honey.
I show you a god of gold!
Come with me!
Follow me!
Blasphemers!
Idolaters!
For this, you shall
drink bitter waters.
God has set
before you this day
his laws
of life and good
and death and evil.
Those who will not
live by the law...
shall die by the law!
And the Lord's anger
was kindled against Israel.
And the Lord's anger
was kindled against Israel.
And to prove
whether they would keep
his commandments or no,
he made them wander
in the wilderness years,
until all the generation
that had done evil
in the sight of the Lord
was consumed.
But Moses' eye was not dim,
nor his natural force abated.
And he went up
from the plains of Moab
unto the mountain of Nebo.
And the Lord showed him
all the land
that was beyond
the River Jordan.
The Lord was
angry with me
because I disobeyed him
by the waters of strife.
And he said unto me,
"Behold the new land
with thine eyes,
for thou shalt not cross
over this River Jordan."
Then I shall stay.
I am called by the Lord,
Sephora.
I go alone.
Look, Moses.
The people have come
to the River Jordan.
In the ark, they carry
the law you brought them.
You taught them not
to live by bread alone.
You are God's torch
that lights the way
to freedom.
I love you.
Joshua.
Joshua, I charge you
and strengthen you,
for you shall go over
Jordan to lead the people.
As for me and my house,
we shall serve the Lord.
Mered, give me the books.
Eleazar,
set these five books
in the Ark of the Covenant
by the tablets
of the Ten Commandments,
which the Lord
restored unto us.
Go,
proclaim liberty
throughout all the lands,
unto all
the inhabitants thereof!
Special help by SergeiK