The Ten Commandments (miniseries)

2006 American TV series or program

The Ten Commandments

Written by| Ron Hutchinson
Directed by| Robert Dornhelm
Starring|

* Dougray Scott
* Naveen Andrews
* Omar Sharif
* Linus Roache
* Paul Rhys

Theme music composer| Randy Edelman
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
Production
Producers|

* Bernard Dudek
* Robert Halmi Sr.
* Paul Lowin

Running time| 167 minutes
Production companies|

* Actuality Productions
* RHI Entertainment

Original release
Network| ABC
Release| April 10 (2006-04-10)[1] –
April 11, 2006 (2006-04-11)

The Ten Commandments is a 2006 miniseries that dramatizes the Biblical story of Moses. It aired on ABC.

The series was filmed in Egypt, Mount Sinai, and the Sinai Peninsula.

## Plot

[edit]

Moses's mother, Jochebed, saves her baby from the edict of the Pharaoh that all newborn male Hebrew children must die by placing him in a basket on the Nile River. He is found by Pharaoh's daughter Bithia and adopted into the royal house.

Some time later, Bithia gives birth to a son Menerith, and they are raised as brothers. Moses grows up knowing that he is not the blood brother of Menerith, but is shown his true heritage (something he knows nothing about) at about the age of 10: he is re-introduced to Jochebed, his father Amram, his brother Aaron, and his sister Miriam.

Years later, Prince Moses and Menerith inspect a building site. While Menerith leaves for a task, Moses continues his inspection only to witness an Egyptian overseer attempting to rape the wife of a Hebrew laborer. Moses manages to rescue the Hebrew couple by killing the Egyptian overseer and hiding the body. When the body is discovered, Pharaoh orders Moses' arrest, but he is able to escape with the aid of Menerith.

After traveling days through the desert, Moses arrives in Midian and saves the seven daughters of Jethro from tribesmen. In gratitude, their father gives Moses the choice of one of them to take for his wife. He refuses but is later convinced by Zipporah to marry her.

Moses, still wanting to know why God allows the Hebrews to be enslaved, climbs Mount Sinai (Mount Horeb) and is confronted by God in the form of a bush that burns but is not consumed. God tells Moses that "I am who I am", gives Moses his powers, and endows him with the knowledge to free the Hebrews.

Because Pharaoh Ramesses refuses to free the Hebrews, Egypt is struck with ten plagues. Only after the final one, during which Pharaoh's beloved son dies, are the Hebrews freed. However, Pharaoh's heart is hardened once more due to him being unable to accept his son's death, and decides to try to re-capture them.

The Hebrews are guided to the Red Sea by a cloud. When the Egyptians' chariots get near, God blocks their path and Moses parts the Red Sea, providing the Hebrews an escape route. When the Hebrews make it to the other side, Moses closes the separated waters, drowning the pursuing Egyptians — including Menerith. The Hebrews witness Moses weeping over Menerith, whom he later gives a proper burial.

Moses climbs the mountain to receive God's commandments in the form of two stone tablets, but when he descends, he finds that many of the Hebrews have built a golden calf and created an orgy. Moses destroys the tablets and the idol in a fit of rage and orders the deaths of the wicked revelers. After a brutal fight that leaves many dead, the survivors plead to receive God's commandments and Moses climbs up the mountain again. After Moses reads the commandments, the tablets are placed in an ark.

Sometime later, an elderly Moses lives his life as a hermit on a mountain slope and is seen looking at the promised land, which he is not allowed to enter due to an unspecified previous disobedience to God.

## Cast

[edit]

* Dougray Scott as Moses
* Linus Roache as Aaron
* Naveen Andrews as Menerith
* Mía Maestro as Zipporah
* Paul Rhys as Ramses
* Richard O'Brien as Anander
* Silas Carson as Jered
* Padma Lakshmi as Princess Bithia
* Susan Lynch as Miriam
* Claire Bloom as Rani
* Omar Sharif as Jethro

## Reception

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Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter gave the mini-series generally positive review, praising the performances as well as "the stunning cinematography and eye-catching special effects" but also noted that it "fails to take full advantage of the source material".[2] David Bianculli of the New York Daily News reviewed it as "Thou shalt not watch",[3] while Matt Roush of TV Guide wrote the film "violates the primary commandment of epic filmmaking, Biblical or otherwise: Thou shalt not bore".[4] Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe called it "an empty inane remake"[5] and The Washington Post's Tom Shales calls it a "dreadful, doleful remake of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 classic The Ten Commandments".[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (April 8, 2006). "New Version of 'Ten Commandments' in Mini-Series on ABC". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
2. ^ Garron, Barry (2006). "The Ten Commandments". The Hollywood Reporter (online ed.).
3. ^ "'Ten' Inspires A Quick Exodus". Daily News. New York. April 10, 2006.
4. ^ The Ten Commandments: Season 1, Metacritic.com
5. ^ The Ten Commandments: Season 1, Metacritics.com
6. ^ Shales, Tom (April 10, 2006). "'The Ten Commandments': Exodus Comes to ABC". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* The Ten Commandments at IMDb
* Official site

* v
* t
* e

Ten Commandments

Tablets of Stone · Finger of God · Ritual Decalogue

Commandments|

* 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 take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
* Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
* Honour thy father and thy mother
* Thou shalt not kill
* Thou shalt not commit adultery
* Thou shalt not steal
* Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
* Thou shalt not covet

Topics|

* Moses
* Biblical Mount Sinai
* Mount Sinai
* Mount Horeb
* Ark of the Covenant
* lid
* Book of Exodus
* The Exodus

In art|

* Descent from Mount Sinai (Sistine Chapel, 1481-1482 painting)
* Moses (c. 1513–1515 sculpture)
* Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (c. 1645-1650 painting)
* Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659 painting)
* Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain (1876)
* Moses (1962 sculpture)
* Moses (1968 sculptures, 3/3)

Media|

* The Ten Commandments (1923 film)
* The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
* Les Dix Commandements (2000 musical)
* The Ten Commandments (2004 musical)
* The Ten Commandments (2006 miniseries)
* The Ten (2007 film)
* The Ten Commandments (2007 film)
* I Am (2010 film)
* The Ten Commandments (2016 film)

Related|

* Joshua
* In Catholic theology
* Tabot
* Alternatives
* 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah
* Great Commandment
* Golden Rule
* Ethics in the Bible

* v
* t
* e

Book of Exodus media

Art|

* The Crossing of the Red Sea (1482)
* Crossing of the Red Sea (1542)
* The Crossing of the Red Sea (1634)
* The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1634)
* The Manna (c. 1638)
* Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659)
* The Fifth Plague of Egypt (1800)
* Victory O Lord! (1871)
* Dance Around the Golden Calf (1910)

Film|

| Biblical|

* The Ten Commandments (1923)
* The Moon of Israel (1924)
* The Ten Commandments (1956)
* Moses und Aron (1973)
* Moses the Lawgiver (1974)
* Moses (1995)
* The Prince of Egypt (1998)
* The Exodus Decoded (2006)
* The Ten Commandments (2006)
* The Ten Commandments (2007)
* Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
* The Ten Commandments: The Movie (2016)
* Seder-Masochism (2018)

|

Modern settings|

* The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
* The Reaping (2007)
* Exodus (2007)

Musical|

* Les Dix Commandements (2000)
* The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2004)
* The Prince of Egypt (2015)

Opera|

* Mosè in Egitto (1818)
* Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la mer rouge (1827)
* Moses und Aron (1951)

Music|

* Israel in Egypt (1739)
* Creeping Death (1984)
* Exodus (2002)
* Plague Songs (2006)

Television|

* "Duke and the Great Pie War" (2005)
* "Moe and the Big Exit" (2007)
* Os Dez Mandamentos (2015 telenovela)

Literature|

* Exodus (10th century)
* Moon of Israel (1918)
* Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939)
* The Tables of the Law (1944)

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