Summary

Shortly after Moses' birth,

Rameses I had ordered the
slaying of all firstborn male
Hebrews to prevent the
prophecy of the Deliverer
from coming true. Moses'
mother (called "Yoshebel"
in the film) had set him
adrift on the Nile to escape, with his sister Miriam watching from a hidden
spot. Bithiah discovers the Ark while playing with other young women in the
banks of the Nile. She orders them to leave, then shows her servant Memnet
the baby. Memnet warned Bithiah that the swaddling cloth was Levite, so the
baby was placed there to escape Bithiah's father's edict. But Bithiah declared
that this baby would be her son, and remembered when the pyramids were
dust, and named "Moses" because she had drawn him from the Nile (the
Hebrew name "Moshe" derived from the Hebrew word "Mashu", meaning "to
draw"). Despite Memnet's protests about serving a son of Hebrew slaves,
Bithiah ordered her to serve him and to swear to secrecy on pain of death. But
Memnet hides the cloth under her clothes.

Meanwhile, Moses and

Nefretiri are deeply in love;
she is the "throne
princess", who must marry
the next Pharaoh.
Rameses wants her for
himself, not because of any
liking for her but for the
throne, but Nefretiri hates
him.

When Moses assumes control of the project, he rescued an old grease-

woman from being left to be crushed; unknown to him it was his birthmother
Yoshebel. Moses tells the Egyptian Master Builder Baka, "blood makes poor
mortar" and asks "are you
a master builder or a
master butcher?" And he
frees Joshua the
stonecutter who had struck
an Egyptian, punishable by
death, to try to save
Yoshebel whom Joshua
didn't know. Moses was
impressed with Joshua's
bravery and words, and
institutes numerous
reforms concerning the
treatment of the slave workers such as one day in seven to rest and even
going so far as to raid temple granaries for necessary food supplies. Moses
questions Joshua about his God, and Joshua declares his strong faith but
says that God's name is unknown.

Rameses uses these changes as proof that Moses is planning an insurrection

by currying the slaves' favor, and points out that the slaves are calling Moses
the "Deliverer" of prophecy. However, when Seti confronts Moses, Moses
argues he is simply making his workers more productive by making them
stronger and happier. He proves his point with such impressive progress on
the project that Seti becomes convinced that Rameses falsely accused his
foster brother. Seti promises that Moses will get credit for the new city.
Rameses, meanwhile, has been charged by his father with the task of finding
out if there really is a Hebrew fitting the description of the Deliverer, and is
having no luck.

As Nefretiri is joyously
preparing for marriage,
Memnet informs her that
Prince Moses is not a
prince at all, but the son of
Hebrew slaves. Nefretiri is
furious at the accusation,
whereupon Memnet produces the Levite cloth and tells Nefretiri to wrap their
firstborn in it. Memnet also tells her that a little girl had led her to Yochebel to
breastfeed Moses, which she realized must be the real mother. Nefretiri kills
Memnet by pushing her over the balcony.

Moses learns of this, so asks Bithiah, who dissembles and reminds him of
how he never doubted her when he held his hand as he took his first step.
When Moses leaves, promising that no matter what he found, he would
always love her. She rushes in a chariot to Yoshebel. Bithiah pleads with her
not to reveal anything, since she has put the throne of Egypt within his grasp,
and also declares how much she loved and cared for him, and promised to
free them and make sure they were well cared for. But Moses had followed
from a distance, and Yoshebel could not look him in the eyes and deny that
she was his mother. And her robe matched the pattern of the much more
faded Levite cloth Memnet kept. Then Yoshebel's adult children introduce
themselves to Moses as, "I am your brother, Aaron," and "I am Miriam, your
sister." Bithiah sadly departs.

Declaring he is not
ashamed ("Egyptian or
Hebrew, I'm still Moses"),
but curious, he spends time
working among the slaves
to learn of their hardship,
only to be rescued from the
mudpits by Nefretiri. Moses
then saves Joshua, a
Hebrew stonecutter, from
being whipped death at the
hands of Baka; he kills
Baka who was about to whip Joshua to death. Dathan, the devious and
ambitious Hebrew overseer who's been charged by Rameses to help him find
the Deliverer, watches from hiding. Moses confesses to Joshua that he
himself is Hebrew; Joshua excitedly proclaims Moses the Deliverer, and
although Moses denies it, Dathan has all the proof he needs. Revealing what
he knows to Rameses, Dathan bargains for Baka's house, a post as Governor
of Goshen and the ownership of Joshua's betrothed Lilia.
The 10 Commandments

“I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have

any strange gods before Me.”
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.”
“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
“Honor thy father and mother.”
“Thou shalt not kill.”
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
“Thou shalt not steal.”
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.”
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s
goods.”