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.
I am told, my tiger lily, they're wagering against me.
- Two golden deber against one. - Yes. I wagered five myself!
You'll lose if Moses keeps me waiting any longer.
I double the wager. I'll watch for Moses, you watch the dance!
While you wait to honour Moses, I will honour Sethi's jubilee...
with a gift.
Strange gift.
You said if the deliverer were a myth,
- to bring him in a bottle. - It is empty.
Yes. Because he is not a myth.
- You have found such a man? - Yes, Father.
In the midst of treachery and treason,
with the blood of your master builder on his hands.
Shall I summon him to Pharaoh's justice?
Summon him!
- Bring the Hebrew in. - Bring the Hebrew in.
Great Pharaoh,
I stand in the shadow of your justice.
Whose work is THIS?
I warned you of his treason.
- Treason? - 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.
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.
Come to me.
I do not care who you are or what you are,
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're 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!
He who ate my bread and called me Father...
would make rebellion against me.
What manner of death do you decree for him?
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 the traitor.
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 you will see?
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 towards 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.
No phantom will come between us 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 favour 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. 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'm here, girl, because I put no trust
in a desert god and his mud-pit prophet.
I prospered because I bowed low before the Egyptians.
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.
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. Robe of state.
His Hebrew mother brought it to the prison before she died.
I'd rather this for your armour.
You will have need of a sceptre.
Give me this binding pole.
Here is your king's sceptre
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.
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.
Into the blistering wilderness,
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.
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!
You needn't have painted your nails. There isn't a man from here to Horeb.
- What do you see, Sephora? - What are you looking at?
- A man. - What?
- Only one? - Is he handsome?
- Look at his sandals! - Egyptian!
- His robe is not Egyptian. - Who cares?
- He's eaten a whole bunch of dates! - Could it be dangerous?
- Are you sure he's alive? - I hope so!
Look. There's REAL trouble.
Amalekites.
- I'll talk to them. - Talk? Get stones!
- 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!
Nor can we!
- He's the Sheik of Midian! - Then let him breed sons!
Let them be first whose hands have drawn the water.
The stranger is wise... and strong.
Drive back your goats until the sheep are watered.
We should draw water for YOU and wash the dust from your feet.
Let me first remove his sandals!
Never did a lost sheep have so many shepherds.
- We have no towel. - My veil will serve.
Let me pour the water!
- Am I to be bathed or drowned? - I'll hold it!
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?
That's Sephora. She's the oldest.
Since you have already divided the stranger among you,
I will ask a welcome for him.
- 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 she 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 first-born.
We are the obedient of God.
My people look to him for deliverance.
But they are still in bondage.
Tomorrow we go to the high pastures beneath God's holy mountain.
My tent would be favoured 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?
Not among our people. You have wisdom. You need nothing more.
And there are seven to teach you the tasks of a shepherd.
- Sephora is the eldest. - You can learn best from her.
I will dwell in this land.
- Today he sleeps. - Who sleeps?
He who has no name.
Did 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 of Ishmael alone,
but of ALL men.
It is said he created all men in his image.
And 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.
Moses, it would be death to look upon his face.
How many of my people have died because he 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 sceptre 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.
But, for me, there is no peace of spirit
until I hear the word of God...
from God himself.
I wish every day was a shearing festival!
And all the men following you like sheep to be sheared!
- One would be enough! - If he were Moses!
Never before has our wool brought so rich a payment.
Moses has sold the whole shearing of all the tribes in one piece.
His words are truth. His trading is just.
Peace be with you, sheiks of Sinai.
Why are you dressed like that?
Aren't you dancing with us before the sheiks?
No, I am not going to dance before the sheiks. Here.
And I am 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!
Moses shall no longer be a stranger among us.
- Give him of our flocks. - And let him choose.
I shall give him choice of my seven daughters for wife.
The shadow of my wisdom has fled.
Can a man choose from among the stars of the sky?
Consider them as they dance. Cohab, strike a bow.
- A pleasant task. - Indeed!
A bride, a shawl. Choose one, not all.
One shawl, one wife. Your choice for life.
One is a great price.
- Which, Moses? - Which will it be?
Make your choice, Moses.
It is a garden of many flowers.
I wish you had my years and I had your choice.
In the tent of Jethro there is dignity, honour, 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. - May God guide your heart.
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.
Whose 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 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 honour 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.
Uh-huh.
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.
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, to a good land.
The same God who lives on the mountain?
It may be, my son.
Your mother is calling.
Here!
Moses! There is a man among the sheep!
You stay...
Keep sounding the alarm. Stay here till your mother comes.
In the cleft, behind the rock.
Your eyes are sharp as well as beautiful.
Tokar!
Setaft! Back!
Setaft, back!
Come down!
Down, Tokar!
Praise God I have found you!
Joshua?
We thought you dead.
In the copper mines, 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 said you were condemned but I knew you were chosen
to take the sword of God into your hand!
I am not the man.
I am a shepherd with flocks...
That light on the mountainside...
Do you see that strange fire?
- A bush that burns? - No.
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.
I am here.
Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.
For the place whereon 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 hath sent me on to 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 armoury and get swords!
It is not by the sword that he will deliver his people,
but by the staff of a shepherd.