All language subtitles for Forbidden History S06E10 Secret Life of Moses 1080p DSCP WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator: according to
The bible, moses is one of

The most important prophets
In history.

But what do we know about
The actual man himself?

Surprisingly very little.

There seem to be no factual
Accounts of moses

And little evidence

From archaeology or historical
Records to prove

The exodus story is true.

Whether moses
Is legend or fact,

He is a towering figure
In all abrahamic religions.

Narrator:
Academics, archaeologists,

And historians debate
Over when

Moses lived and if
He lived at all,

Whether the stories of
The ten commandments,

The burning bush, and even
The parting of the red sea

Actually happened.

Kirkpatrick: he performed
Great acts of magic,

Which he claimed were
Miracles...Or were they?

Boxall: is there a scientific
Explanation behind this story?

And the answer is, yes,
We can do it very simply.

Phillips: if my historical
Research is correct,

Then moses was the most
Important person

Who ever lived.

*

*

*

Narrator: moses is one of
The most important figures

In the old testament,

According to the bible,

But who is
This mysterious character?

Gough: moses was a prophet

According to christianity
And islam.

The jury is still out on

Whether he is a real,

Historical figure
Or mythological.

Mcmahon: I mean, he may have
Been a legendary figure.

He may have been factual,
But he's the most important

Prophet in the old testament.

You know, he writes the torah,
The laws of god.

He leads the israelites out
Of egypt,

Out of bondage
To the promised land.

And he is, among all
The prophets, the most revered,

The most important.

[ singing in foreign language ]

Young-somers: moses holds a very
Important role in the three big

Monotheistic faiths,

As the archetype leader
Certainly forms the majority

Of the narrative through
The five books of moses,

Which are obviously cortex for
Both jews and christians,

Whether that's in the old
Testament or in the hebrew

Bible and torah, and then
He's also considered a very

Important prophet
In islam, too, so,

I think, a core figure for
All the three abrahamic faiths.

Narrator: the traditional story
Is that moses was

The son of a hebrew slave
In ancient egypt.

At the time, the pharaoh
Feared his growing

Hebrew population

And ordered all of
Their newborn boys to be slain.

So to escape this fate,
Moses's mother

Hid her son in a basket
And set it free on

The river nile.

Moses is found by no less
A person than

Pharaoh's daughter,

Who brings him to the royal
Palace, where he's brought up.

Now, not only is that dramatic
In terms of the context,

But in terms of story-writing
And symbol, that's the most

Powerful you get,

Because it's
A transitional moment.

It's liminal, he's moving from
One world into the next world

Through the water -- he's being
Set up as a hero in the making.

Narrator:
As moses enters adulthood,

He embarks on a troubling path,

Torn between his egyptian
Upbringing and his hebrew roots.

Bianchi: moses, as this
Adopted egyptian,

Sees his people being
Mistreated, and moses sees

An egyptian overseer beat
A hebrew worker.

And moses waits for
An opportune time,

Goes up to the egyptian,
And murders him.

News of his murder

Is on everybody's lips,
And pharaoh starts

To look for him.

Narrator: moses escaped
To the desert and led

A simple life in exile
As a shepherd.

One day, while tending his
Flock, he encountered

A burning bush
And the voice of god,

Telling him to return to
Egypt, confront the pharaoh,

Free the hebrews, and take them
To the promised land.

To support moses's mission,

God summons ten plagues
To terrorize the pharaoh.

*

After agreeing to moses's terms,

The pharaoh changed his mind
And gave chase.

With the hebrews trapped
On the edge of the red sea,

Moses used his staff
To part the waves,

Allowing the desperate group
To escape.

The egyptian army followed,

But is engulfed
By the violent waters.

This allowed moses to lead
His people to mount sinai,

Where god gave him
The ten commandments

And then took his people
To the promised land.

Young-somers: moses is
A flawed individual

In the jewish tradition,

But also the greatest leader
That we've had.

And I think moses's

Flaws are --
Are, for me,

An important part of
The narrative,

Because it teaches us that

Even as flawed
People ourselves,

We can still make
A difference.

We can still contribute,
And that

God can still be in
A relationship with us,

Even though we make mistakes.

Gough: by all accounts,
Moses was a virtuous man,

A man of his principles.

He was dedicated --
No matter how difficult

Or arduous the task
That he was given,

He did it, so he's become
This sort of

Inspirational figure who
Wanted to do things his way

No matter what the established
Norm was at that time.

Narrator: for such a central
Religious figure,

The lack of evidence around
Him is, well, outstanding.

There are no archaeological
Findings to support

The biblical story

And certainly no extra
Biblical references

In egyptian inscriptions.

The absence of proof is a huge
Problem for historians,

Archaeologists,
And academics.

There is strangely
No evidence that moses

Was a historical figure,
And I say strangely,

Because the egyptians
Were so good at keeping records,

And to not have a record there
Is interesting.

We even have records of people
Who -- whose records were

Effaced, like hatshepsut

When she was stricken
From records by her son

After he came to power.

We know that that happened,
But we have nothing on moses.

Like many, many great,
Epic tales,

There might be

Just a kernel of truth

Upon whom the character
Of moses is based,

And I'm not prepared

To dismiss him out of hand.

Although,
When you study traditions,

You understand that...

History has a chance of being

Morphed into something
Larger than life.

Gough: now those who believe
It is a authentic story

That the israelites
Were held captive in egypt

And left in the exodus
Point us to different locations

And different periods in time,

Which is why we don't find
The evidence we think we should.

Narrator: so where can we find
Evidence for the real moses?

And what controversial
Theories are

Given to explain
His supernatural powers?

*

Narrator: did the legendary
Biblical figure

Of moses really exist?

Archaeological evidence has
Yet to unearth any proof of

His life, or even that

Of his followers
In egypt or in the deserts of

The sinai peninsula.

Yet there are tantalizing
Clues in the story of

Something that may be more
Than mere folk tale.

For a start, there is
The name moses itself.

Bianchi: the name moses can
Etymologically be related

To the egyptian,

The ancient egyptian verb,
Meaning "To be born."

And so, in a sense, if you
Want to take an egyptian slant,

Moses has an egyptian name,
Because, quote,

"He was born out of the water."

Mcmahon: the old testament
Tells us that moses was

A fourth generation egyptian,
I mean, this is

Essentially a citizen
Of ancient egypt,

As were most of the jewish
People that he led out

Of bondage.

So if we'd met moses,
We'd have met essentially

An ancient egyptian
By appearance,

Possibly even by language,
By culture.

Narrator: although he led
The hebrews out of slavery,

Moses's egyptian link might

Be stronger
Than the bible reveals.

Interestingly, his story
Has a strange echo

Of the life of egyptian
Pharaoh akhenaten,

The first monotheist
Known to history.

Author and egyptologist
Ahmed osman has written

Several books outlining
His belief that moses was

Akhenaten.

Akhenaten reigned
From 1352 to 1338 bc

And proclaimed that there
Was only one true god,

Aten, the sun disc.

All others were false.

But when akhenaten died, the old
Religious system revived

And then obliterated

Akhenaten's memory
And that of his son and heir,

Tutankhamun.

Mcmahon: you could rightly call
Akhenaten the heretic pharaoh,

Because he rejects
The official religion,

The state religion
Of ancient egypt,

I mean, which was hugely
Important to people.

I mean,
They governed their lives

By what they thought
The gods wanted.

Akhenaten comes along.
He throws all that out.

He goes to war against thebes
And the temples of luxor

And memphis,

Against all the priests,
He sends in his soldiers

To smash up statues,
To hack faces off the temples.

I mean, this is
An extraordinary,

Short-lived period
In egyptian history.

Narrator: but can
This mysterious pharaoh really

Be the historical moses?

Was akhenaten's religion

The forerunner to
The abrahamic faiths?

It's possible that moses was
Inspired by akhenaten in --

In some ways and ran with it
And changed it,

Turned it on its head.

But we really don't know,

And I think the monotheistic
Thing is overplayed.

The similarities
Are overplayed.

Bianchi: the israelites
Are not monotheists

Until after
They leave israel

And form
A national covenant.

So here, you know,
You're putting the horse

In front of the wagon
Or behind the wagon,

Okay, he's not a monotheist
Until they get to

The promised land,

And they don't get
To the promised land

Until after moses is dead.

So trying to connect
Those dots just ignores

All of the evidence
As we know it.

Narrator: even if akhenaten
Is not the real moses,

Some experts believe
There is still a link.

By researching the bible
And writings

Of the ancient jewish
Historian josephus,

Author and historian graham
Phillips agrees that akhenaten

Is not moses,

But his brother, thutmosis.

Phillips: thutmosis was
A prince in the court.

Thutmosis was also
A leading general.

He was, in fact,
In charge of

All the king's chariot forces,
And thutmosis

Also acted for a while
As the grand vizier,

The prime minister,
The chief minister of egypt.

All of those things

We are told by josephus
And also

Partly in the bible,
Applied to moses -- moses,

We are told,

Was exiled from egypt,
And exactly the same thing

Happens to thutmosis.

He was exiled from egypt.

We know this, because
Archaeologists have discovered

A tomb prepared for him,

But it was never used.

And the only conclusion that
People have come to, because

They can find no records of him

Dying in office, is that
He was exiled.

Once again,

Moses and thutmosis are living
Almost identical lives

At exactly the same time.

Narrator: whether or not moses
Was, in fact, a well-documented

Egyptian leader,

His story goes on
To tell of fantastic miracles.

Could the story of the burning
Bush really have happened?

And could mind-altering
Substances have generated

Moses's visions?

Narrator:
The historical existence of

The biblical prophet moses
Might be debatable,

But as the traditional story
Goes, after he was exiled

In the desert wilderness
For decades,

A miraculous encounter
Changed his life.

The story goes
That on mount horeb,

Moses saw a burning bush,
Which was, in fact, god

Speaking to him, telling him,

Instructing him to take
The israelites out of egypt

To the promised land.

Mcmahon: the burning bush is --
Is what

Movie makers call
An inciting incident.

It's that plot point.

It's that moment
In the story of moses

When he's got to go
On his quest.

The burning bush is
What makes it all happen.

Narrator: this fantastic vision
Was traditionally seen as

A miracle,

But some believe there is
A radical alternative theory.

Doblin: I think moses
Could very well have been

Using psychedelics --
We don't know for sure,

But I think it's
Entirely possible.

Narrator:
Rick doblin is the founder

Of the association for
Psychedelic studies.

He believes moses
Could have used

Mind-altering drugs
To generate his visions.

Doblin: so the burning bush,
To me, represents a not uncommon

Experience that people have

Under the influence
Of psychedelics,

Where they look at nature, and
They realize that it's alive.

It's got energy in it.

And so the course of
Energy through

This plant could be
Interpreted as fire.

And so my interpretation of
That event was that it was more

That, uh, you know,

Moses saw the inner fire,
And that if we could see

The energy, we might
Interpret it as fire.

Narrator: in fact, nature might
Provide another explanation.

In the area where this is
Said to have occurred,

There grows acacia wood.

And if you burn acacia wood
Or an acacia tree burns

And you're close enough
To inhale the smoke,

You will hallucinate.

Narrator:
This is because acacia bark

Contains a substance
Called dmt,

Or dimethyltryptamine,
Which is

A powerful hallucinogenic.

Mcmahon: it's even suggested
That moses was a kind of

Shaman-type figure

Who may have known this
And set the bush alight in

Order to have that kind
Of experience,

That communing
With the spiritual

That only basically
A narcotic-driven high

Could've given him.

Narrator: but is this really
An outlandish theory?

Artificial methods to achieve
Spiritual enlightenment

Have been used by cultures

All across the world
For thousands of years.

Doblin: I think they're --
Psychedelics were seen

As powerful tools to

Help us get out of
Our, sort of,

Ego identification,
Our sense of self,

And that there has been
A reason for people to do

Various things in terms of

Drumming or fasting,
Vision quests,

And so I would imagine
That psychedelics could be

Something that was
Appreciated by moses

And people around
That time.

Picknett: that could have been
A completely pivotal moment

In several great religions,

And it might all have been
Due to burning bark.

Bianchi: so there's nothing
In the biblical account

To suggest
That he's eating or...

Inhaling or...
Uh...

Hallucinogens,

So I -- I take

Scripture literally.

He's watching a slot.

He sees something.

He goes over to investigate

And gets the conversation
With the almighty.

Narrator: aside from talking
To god in the burning bush,

There are still
Other miracles

Moses is said to have
Performed, such as parting

The red sea.

It is not surprising that such

An unbelievable tale
Raises debate among scholars.

The miraculous crossing
Of the red sea has to be

The most -- one of the most
Stunning, incredible events

In the old testament.

It's the fact that moses
Is able to lead

The jewish people,
The israelites,

Out of egypt through what
Seems like an impossible

Stretch of water.

And then, as the egyptians
Come chasing after them,

God closes the sea in on
Pharaoh and his hundreds of

Chariots, drowning them all.

Narrator: but could this really
Have happened in the red sea

We know today?

The very name of
The body of water

Moses crossed may have been
Mistakenly identified

For centuries.

I'm not entirely sure where
The mistranslation of "Red sea"

Comes from -- it's in hebrew,
Yam suph,

Which is reed sea.

It may have bean that someone
Wrote "Reed sea,"

And then it was missed out,

The e got dropped,
And actually, in hebrew,

That happens quite frequently

That manuscripts would have
Been repeatedly written down

By hand, and little errors
Will creep in.

I think red sea will be pretty
Hard to get rid of now.

It's pretty much embedded
In how we tell the story.

Narrator: regardless of whether
Moses crossed the red sea

Or the reed sea,

Can science proved he was
Capable of parting the waves?

Narrator: the bible tells us
That moses led his followers

To safety by parting
The waters of the red sea.

But could the fantastical
Event really have happened in

The red sea we know today or
Another nearby body of water?

Simon boxall
Is an oceanographer

From southampton university
In england.

He evaluates the modern
Scientific ideas

That explain this mysterious
Sea crossing.

*

Boxall: there are many theories
That go with this story.

One is that around

About the same time, we know
That there was a huge explosion,

Volcanic explosion,
Eruption, on santorini,

And that basically caused
A huge tsunami.

And one theory is that
It was a tsunami that

Came at just the right time
To allow them to cross.

Now the theory there is flawed,
It's flawed for two reasons.

One is, if you look at models
Of the tsunami that would have

Occurred, then the island chain,

Crete, to the south off
Santorini, would have protected

The egyptian coast,
And the biggest tsunami that

Would've got there would have
Been about a meter,

A meter and 1/2,

And when a tsunami hits,

The tide or the water can
Recede for a short while

And then come back in again.

That's great --
The problem with that is,

That it only happens
For about five minutes,

And you're not going
To get an entire army

Or population across that sort
Of causeway in that period.

A second theory
That's put down is that

The bible talks about
Strong winds from the east.

The idea that the wind
Literally blows the sea

And creates
A pileup somewhere,

Which means you then get
A sort of gap somewhere else,

Is flawed --
It's flawed

Because the effect
Isn't that great.

You're not going to suddenly
Clear a causeway

As a result of that setdown.

Narrator: back in his lab,
Simon demonstrates how

He believes the sea crossing
Really took place.

Boxall: I think the reason
That the seas parted

Was because of a seiche effect.

Now that sounds very technical,
But actually it's

Something that happens around
The world every single day,

And it's...

An event hitting the natural
Frequency of a basin.

That also sounds complex,
But we've done it as kids.

If we lay back in the bath

And rock backwards
And forwards at just

The right speed,

Then we suddenly take
The water with us,

And we can actually
Effectively empty half a ton

Of water onto the floor
Very efficiently.

You could do that
From splashing,

And that's because we're
Hitting the critical frequency,

And we can see that in
A very simple experiment here.

We have a bottle of water,
And that bottle of water,

You can imagine
That is your red sea,

And actually, I can sort of
Create disturbances,

And I can create waves --
It splashes around a bit.

Yeah, storms happen.

But actually, if I hit
The right frequency,

If I can just find
The frequency in that bottle,

And I move it very gently,
Side to side, then effectively,

I'm like the child in
The bath, emptying the bath out.

And suddenly, you've gone
From a tide out here,

Which is maybe
Two or three feet,

To a tide in here,
Which could be 60 feet.

Now that doesn't happen
In the red sea,

But we know the fact that
The tide at the top of

The channel of the red sea,

The suez channel, go from
One or two feet outside,

Inside the channel,
At the top of the channel,

They go almost 15 feet.

That's a huge difference --
If you come from a culture that

Only sees tides on
The mediterranean along

The red sea coast of

A few -- one or two feet,

You're not prepared for
These huge tides,

Which are over ten times
As big.

And that big
Four-meter tide

Was more than sufficient
To wipe out an army.

Narrator: while nature
May have allowed the hebrews

To cross the sea,

Simon thinks moses
May possibly have

Had an important role to play.

Boxall: what moses might have
Done, if he's observant

And canny, was observe

That the tides existed,
The tides were high,

That actually he had a narrow
Window, but enough of a window,

To lead his people to safety

And to actually
Not only do that,

But then inundate
The pursuing army with

An incoming tide.

And so...

Was moses a magician?

No, but like many magicians,

He was clever
And applied science.

Narrator: yet some speculate
That moses actually

Was a conjurer with
Supernatural powers.

Witch, priestess, and magician,
Carrie kirkpatrick,

Believes moses's
Egyptian upbringing

May have given him
A grounding in magic.

Kirkpatrick: it's very likely
That moses was

A magician in egyptian
Noble circles.

It was not a big deal
To learn about magic.

It was part of the culture.

It would be part of
The everyday education.

So it's very likely that all
Of these miracles that we see

That have been attributed to god

Were actually spells
Cast by moses himself,

Using the training that
He had been given in egypt.

Narrator: the suspicion that
Moses may have possessed magical

Or supernatural abilities was
Amplified with the discovery of

The sixth and seventh books of
Moses, a collection of hidden

Texts allegedly written
By the man himself.

Mcmahon: the sixth and seventh
Books of moses are

Particularly mysterious,
Because they try and explain

Through magic

How the miracles in the story
Of exodus happened.

These books appear about 200
Years ago in germany, and then

Immigrants take them
To the united states, where,

For whatever reason,
They're adopted quite

Enthusiastically by the
African-american communities,

Religious communities,
And in the caribbean.

And many of the spells, a lot
Of the magic in those books,

Are used, actually in practical
Cures back in those days

To treat people.

Kirkpatrick: we can't really
Know for sure

That moses wrote the sixth

And the seventh books,
However,

You can see in the book of
Exodus that the use of magic

Was expressly forbidden.

So you wouldn't say that if it

Wasn't a problem
Or regarded as a problem.

It's a bit like prohibition.

They wouldn't have brought it
In if alcohol wasn't a problem.

Narrator: aside from
The miracles of moses,

Are there
More concrete things

That history can prove,

Such as the true location of
Mount sinai?

And could archaeological
Evidence show that the spot

Venerated by pilgrims
For centuries

Isn't the legendary site
After all?

Narrator:
Who was the real moses?

Is there
A historical figure behind

The religious legend and tales
Of fantastic miracles?

While it is hard
To unearth

Concrete evidence
For his exploits and deeds,

Can we pinpoint the locations
He's associated with?

One of the most famous
Must be mount sinai.

Mcmahon: mount sinai has this
Huge significance, obviously,

For jews, christians,

Muslims, because that's where
Moses gets the ten commandments.

That's where he meets god,
And god gives him

The laws that are gonna
Govern his people,

The believers.
Moses comes down,

Of course, finds the israelites
Worshipping a golden calf,

Smashes them angrily,
Has to go

Back up the mountain
And get them all over again.

But it's for that reason that
This mountain is so sacred.

Narrator:
For hundreds of years,

It has been accepted
That jebel-musa

In the sinai peninsula of
Egypt is the legendary

Mount sinai.

But is this correct?

Phillips: interestingly,
The bible doesn't tell us

Directly where
Mount sinai is.

It is just somewhere
In the sinai wilderness,

Which is a huge expanse
East of the red sea.

The emperor constantine
Decided it was a place

Now called jebel-musa,

Meaning the mount of moses,
Which is in eastern egypt

Within the sinai wilderness.

And he came up with that idea,
Because his mother had had

A dream that that's where
It was, and a monastery was

Founded there,
But there's no historical

Or archaeological evidence
To support it.

Narrator:
Since the mid-19th century,

Debate has raged between

Scholars on where
This holy site actually is,

With over ten possible
Locations given.

After excavations by

The english archaeologist
Sir flinders petrie

In the 1900s,

Serabit el-khadim

Has emerged as
A likely candidate.

Serabit el-khadim is
The 600-pound gorilla in

The story of moses that no one
Is really talking about.

I've been there.

It's an incredible place,
Excavated by petrie, who found

Lots of temples of hathor,

The bull god that moses
Is known to have banned,

But also,
Writing in semitic language,

Which you'd still see
On the temple walls,

Proto-semitic,

A language that is associated
With the people of israel.

Narrator: excavations
At serabit el-khadim

Also revealed possible
Animal sacrifices

And ritual washing,

Religious practices
Not commonly associated with

Egyptian worship
But hebrew ceremonies.

In addition,
There is evidence for

The mining of materials
Important to the jewish people.

Gough: there's evidence of
Jewish worship

At a place
Where there shouldn't be.

There's evidence of
The creation of

The jewish alphabet here.

And thirdly, there's evidence
Of artisans, of mining of

Turquoise and copper,

The kinds of people
Who could have constructed

The ten commandments
And tablets.

And if that's not enough,

There's also tablets shaped
Like the image we're told

The ten commandments
Were written in.

All the scholars argue that
Moses would have stopped there

On his path of the exodus
To the promised land,

But what very few want
To acknowledge is that

This could very well have been
The true mount sinai.

*

Narrator: but author
And historian graham phillips

Has another radical idea.

He believes the historical
Mount sinai is

Actually found 150 miles away
In jordan,

Near the ancient city
Of petra.

Phillips: when I got there,
I found so many things

That tied up with
The description of mount sinai

In the bible
That I was literally,

I don't know, flabbergasted,
Knocked off my feet,

To how many similarities
There where between this place

And the biblical description

That seem to have
Been completely overlooked

By previous historians.

Gough: the theory that
Graham phillips has put forward,

That mount sinai is actually
In petra, is very viable,

And that's because the whole
Valley around petra is within

The right distance of where the
Exodus started from in egypt.

His brother, aaron,
Is buried there,

And on top of the mountain

That graham suggests
Is mount sinai,

There's actually architecture,
There's temples,

There's pillars, just like
Are stated in the bible.

Mcmahon: clues there include
The fact that the valley

In which petra is based
Is called the wadi musa,

The valley of moses, and there
Is a rock, the ain musa,

The rock of moses,
Where the water is said

To have spouted out,
And it would

Make a lot more
Sense for petra to be

The location as a major trade
And commercial hub back in

Those days than somewhere,

Some dusty hole, at the bottom
Of the sinai peninsula.

Narrator:
Yet moses's most important

Legacy is giving
The ten commandments

To the jewish people.

While the inscribed tablets
Most likely

Have not survived
To modern times,

Could their origins
Be less miraculous

Than the famous story
Tells us?

Narrator:
For thousands of years,

The biblical figure of moses has

Been associated
With amazing miracles,

With some alleging he might
Actually have possessed

Magical powers.

Whether miracle or magic,

He had one
Indispensable possession --

His staff.

Phillips: again and again,

Moses is associated with
A miraculous staff.

When he first encounters god
At the burning bush,

He has this staff with him,
And god says that he would imbue

This staff with
Miraculous powers.

Kirkpatrick: a magician always
Has a wand or a staff.

It's like a conduit

For focusing his will
And controlling the energies

And making things happen,

Effecting change -- it's
A kind of directional tool.

Even today, druids,
Magicians, will use

A wand or a staff
In their practice.

Narrator: intriguingly,
Graham phillips believes

He knows where this mythical
Relic is kept today.

His theory relies on moses's
Link to snakes.

It's said that moses's staff
Was once turned into a serpent,

And an intriguing snake-themed
Monument has been discovered

At petra.

Phillips: in the mid-1800s,

A cave
Near the snake monument was

Excavated by a couple of
English archaeologists

And they found a tomb there.

There was no body any longer
In it, but it didn't have a few

Items remaining,

The most important of which
Was a staff with egyptian

Hieroglyphics on it,
An egyptian staff

At the city of petra

In southern jordan.

What was it doing there?

Clearly, somebody from egypt
Had been buried

In this tomb
Below the snake monument.

Now, if my theory is
All right,

Then the snake monument

Is erected in memory of moses,
And this tomb could be

The tomb of
An historical moses.

Narrator: so could
This discovery really be

Moses's legendary staff?

For such a possibly important
Artifact for

Three of the world's
Main religions,

Its home today is in
A quiet corner of england.

The staff of moses,
Today, is here

At the birmingham museum
In central england.

Upon the staff there are
Hieroglyphics telling us

That the staff had belonged
To someone called thutmosis,

Who held a high position at

The egyptian court
Around about 1350 bc.

Now the historical moses,

According to my research, was

A man called thutmosis, who held
Just such a position at exactly

The time that moses
Is said to have been

High in the egyptian court.

As such, the staff of
Thutmosis could be one

And the same as the staff
Of the biblical moses.

Narrator: it may be debatable
Whether the staff in

The birmingham museum
Is really that of

The biblical moses,

But the egyptian
Influence over

This religious figure
Was strong.

Controversially,
The ten commandments are alleged

To be plagiarized from
An earlier egyptian tradition.

Bianchi: the ten commandments
Are prohibitions that

The faithful, the moral,
The ethical

Should not indulge in.

Don't covet your neighbor's
Wife, don't commit adultery,

Don't murder
An individual, etcetera.

And the interesting
Thing about

The ten commandments is
They resonate

With the so-called
Negative confession

Chapter 125 of the book
Of the dead

Of the ancient egyptians.

Pinknett: this was a formula,
Lines, if you like,

That they had to learn
To say in the afterlife

When they were
In the halls of justice,

And their souls were being
Weighed in the balance,

And they stood there,
And they said,

"I have not committed adultery.

"I have not borne
False witness.

I have not killed."

And it was supposed to
Get you off

All the punishments
Of the afterlife.

Gough: did moses draw upon
An earlier edict

And say they were written
By the finger of god?

Narrator:
Without concrete evidence,

The historical
And biblical moses

Will probably remain
Elusive forever.

But these tantalizing clues
Might just give us

A glimpse of the real man.

Young-somers: in my view,
Moses may have been

A real figure who lived,

But I don't know, and I like
The not knowing, and for me,

Actually, the importance
Isn't whether

Or not moses literally lived.

Gough: moses appears
To have been an archetype,

But if he was
An historical person,

I know of no better historical
Inspiration than that of

The heretic king
Who introduced monotheism,

Akhenaten.

Even when the egyptians
Lose a battle,

They portray themselves
As the victors.

So it's very, very hard for me
To believe that a story

That paints the egyptians

In such a horrible light
Could have

Possibly had
An egyptian origin.

Young-somers: I think
It's inevitable that,

As such an important figure,

He's going to create
Interest and intrigue,

And we're going to want to try
To understand as much as we can,

Because there is so much
That's interesting

And so much
That's mysterious.

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