History Headscratchers / ThePrinceOfEgypt

** The man wasn't killed. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zXHfmSGTqY&index=19&t=2m40s You can see him in the sequence as Moses crosses the desert with Tzipporah to Egypt]]. There's even a closeup of his face transposed with a close up of Moses' face near the end of it. That said, he could have still been severely punished.

* Why did the wall of fire disappear before the Hebrews were safely across the Red Sea? Just so the soldiers could be lured in and then drowned?

** You answered your own question: because they need food too. The Egyptians aren't going to want to devote a bunch of their own citizens into raising livestock for all those slaves. Since the Hebrews had lived in Egypt for some time before becoming enslaved, it's likely they already had their own farms around. That's why Pharaoh's order that the Egyptians would no longer provide straw for brickmaking made the Hebrews so angry, because it meant now they'd have to pull from their own straw farms.

* Why did the Hebrew slaves have their own livestock? I get having to make and grow their own food, but why would they be allowed to have animals, especially if they would probably be using them as sacrifices to their god?

** Most foreigners in ancient Egypt lived in the Delta (the exception being the rare Nubian coming from south), and the Bible states the Hebrews lived there three times: ''Genesis'' states the Hebrews that came to Egypt settled in the Land of Goshen (or Gesem, depending on the translation), with the 20th Nome (province) of Egypt in the Eastern Delta being known as Gesem during the 26th Dinasty (around the time Exodus was written); ''Exodus'' states again that the Hebrews still lived in Goshem; and ''Exodus'' again states that the Exodus started at the city of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi-Ramesses Ramesses]], the ''capital'' under Ramesses II, that the Hebrews had just built, placed at the northern border of Goshen. So yes, all the Hebrews lived in that one city and the region around it, only it was in the middle of the Delta and not at its mouth. Scores of them were probably moved around as needed (hence why at the start some were in Memphis, Seti's capital), but the vast majority stayed in Goshem, and when Moses came they were ''all'' there because they had just finished building the city, were building statues ''and'' were repairing the damage from the Seventh Plague.

** You're getting it mixed up. The tenth plague was the first-born because Ramses specifically targeted the Jews' first-born. Ramses and Moses' father's genocide was to kill all the male infants who had recently been born, so presumably Aaron was older than that genocide began.

** Empathy, to feel a PARENT'S pain the Egyptian's got what the Jews got and if you think about it the Egyptian's with young children then would have been the same age as the children killed before. Harsh {{laser guided karma}} via {{sins of our fathers}}.

* Why do so few of the Jews have their heads covered? And why does Tzipporah dress...like that?

*** That was only important because both Jacob and Esau were both alive. Had the eldest (it's been a while since I read the Bible I think Jacob and Esau had different mothers as well and the younger brother came from the First Wife really screwing this whole situation) been dead all of the rights and inheritances would have passed to the second son. It's not like there was some obligation to sacrifice the the inheritance if the eldest kid was dead.

** It may also just be their way of portraying her as a shy girl, kind of like the way Violet always had her hair draped over her face in ''TheIncredibles'' until she got more confident and learned to stick up for herself.

** [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1 That part isn't in the Bible]], unless you're referencing the Talmud.

** According to the Jewish texts, the murder of Hebrew infant boys went into effect after Aaron was born, when Pharaoh's astrologers predicted that a child would be born among the Hebrews and would grow up to rescue them from bondage.

** Oh I watched the extras on the DVD once upon a time but I don't recall if I saw the part where they explained that, but it makes alot of sense. Thanks.

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his distance, the two toppled over the scaffold and it is through Ra's mercy Moses caught his footing in time. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

** And considering the Hebrews (as the people are from the ''12'' Tribes, which includes Judah), most of the rules don't get put into place until ''after'' the Exodus.

** Empathy, to feel a PARENTS pain the Egyptian's got what the Jews got and if you think about it the Egyptian's with young children then would have been the same age as the children killed before. Harsh {{laser guided karma}} via {{sins of our fathers}}.

** Most foreigners in ancient Egypt lived in the Delta (the exception being the rare Nubian coming from south), and the Bible states the Hebrews lived there three times: ''Genesis'' states the Hebrews that came to Egypt settled in the Land of Goshen (or Gesem, depending on the translation), with the 20th Nome (province) of Egypt in the Eastern Delta being known as Gesem during the 26th Dinasty (around the time Exodus was written); ''Exodus'' states again that the Hebrews still lived in Goshem; and ''Exodus'' again states that the Exodus started at the city of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi-Ramesses Ramesses]], the ''capital'' under Ramesses II, that the Hebrews had just built, placed at the northern border of Goshen. So yes, all the Hebrews lived in that one city and the region around it, only it was in the middle of the Delta and not at its mouth.

** That is an excellent point, and while it all seems to come together absurdly quickly, it is not explicitly mentioned how much time passed between Rameses giving Moses the news and the actual Exodus. I would imagine it was a few days, if not a fortnight. Given the other timeskips (Moses' time in Midian and the plagues,) likely the emotional implications outweighed the need for temporal extrapolation to the staff.

* There will probably be a really stupidly simple answer to this, but were ALL the Hebrew slaves in Egypt living in just that one little village? Or were they all across Egypt, as the line, "All through the land of Egypt" (The Plagues) seems to imply? Because if they were scattered along the Nile, and thus Egypt, then it would take days at least for any message of the Hebrews' freedom to get from one side of the country to the other. I'm assuming all the Hebrew slaves were in just the one city (I'm assuming something like Memphis, because of the pyramids), or that any other Hebrews outside Memphis knew what was happening when the plagues came along.

** The issue wasn't that Moses didn't believe Ramses could clear his name, but that Moses didn't ''care''. Soon or later it would happen again, and Moses would feel the need to defend the slaves he knows he's actually descended from. He couldn't stand being there and doing nothing to aid them, so he opted to run away rather than feel ashamed for daily looking the other way.

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his distance, the two toppled over the scaffold and it is through Ra's mercy Moses caught his footing in time. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his distance and the two toppled over the scaffold and it is through Ra's mercy Moses caught his footing in time. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

** Think about it. Dude spends most of his life living in splendor as an Egyptian prince, having to lift objects no heavier than a wine glass and being pampered and spoiled, no one ever subjecting him to verbal or physical abuse. A decade later, after a random PetTheDog moment that likely never happened again, this former prince turned shepherd has the ''audacity'' to come back and tell them that he's heard their god from a cave, and their god is telling him to lead them to freedom? From their perspective, [[DudeNotFunny Moses was pulling an unbelievably cruel joke on them.]] It wasn't until Miriam saved him from a potential NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, and they saw proof that he really meant what he said, that they followed him. As for the saving the old man? That was ''years'' ago, and Moses immediately ran away after that incident, so they likely forgot all about it. And if they remembered? Well, as they say, one good act doesn't erase a lifetime of wickedness. As far as they were concerned, Moses randomly playing a hero all those years ago to save one man isn't going to help them ease off their resentment that one of their own once lived the life of their oppressors.

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his distance and the two toppled over the scaffold, though it is through Ra's mercy Moses caught his footing in time. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his footing and the two toppled over the scaffold, though it is through Ra's mercy Moses caught his footing in time. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his footing and the two toppled over the scaffold. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Not even a lie, it was ''exactly'' what happened. Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

* OK, so I know that Moses was in the middle of a panic attack and wasn't thinking clearly after he killed the overseer, but Ramses was spot on. Moses ''was'' innocent. If anyone questioned why Moses randomly killed the Egyptian overseer, all Ramses would have to do is say something like, "Father, Moses gave that man clear instructions to cease his actions, and he refuse to obey a royal order. When Moses attempted to restrain him, he misjudged his footing and the two toppled over the scaffold. The death was a horrific accident, and would surely have been avoided had that man simply listened and done what he was told." Surely Seti would've believed that, no?

** Actually, I'm going to have to retract that. I found [[http://filmsound.org/studiosound/postpro.html this]], which explains that while it produced a nice sound, it crossed too many lines theologically and they didn't want that. Sorry. Next time I'll do the research before posting.