Egypt

Description of Figure/Doll

Moses was created by Raija-Liisa Vuorio, who is the founder and director of the Children’s Cathedral in Tampere, Finland. The Children’s Cathedral focuses on teaching Biblical stories via live story telling and the use of character figures. The original idea for this figure comes from Doris Egli in Switzerland.

He is wearing certain colors for different reasons. Violet symbolizes royalty; it represents the education Moses received in the king’s court. Color grey in his clothes represents the times Moses spent as a shepherd and the dangers he faced while living in the desert.

The figure of Moses is standing in front of the Promised Land with the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. He is watching it; knowing he will die before his people enter the Promised Land.

Link to higher resolution images at ClipPix

Location: Middle East

Capital: Cairo

Main language: Arabic

Currency: Egyptian pound

Figure/Doll

Construction: clay, cloth, fur

Height in Centimeters: 30

Height in Inches: 12

Moses and the Ten Commandments: Rules That Make Us Better People

Reading Level: 4.79

My name is Moses. I was born in Egypt over 3000 year ago. My parents were Hebrew. The Hebrew people were slaves to the Egyptian people. We worked very hard building pyramids and big houses for the Egyptians.

When I was born, the number of Hebrew slaves was increasing. The Egyptians started to worry that too many slaves might overpower the Egyptians. Therefore the Pharaoh (King) ordered that all newborn boys of slaves be killed.

My parents did not want to kill me, so they put me in a floating basket. They sent me down the river and hoped that someone would find me. Luckily, one of the Egyptian women heard me cry. She took me from the water and saved me.

That’s how I grew up with the Egyptians. I lived in a royal palace with my adopted mother. I went to school and had very nice clothes. However, I knew I was a Hebrew slave.

When I grew older, I wanted to help the Hebrew slaves. I watched as they were beaten and starved. Finally, I went to the Pharaoh and said “Let my people go.” He said “No. We need all the slaves to do our work.” I went back to him several times, and his answer was always “No!” Finally, after God cast hunger and death on the Egyptians, the Pharaoh said we could leave.

Quickly, I helped organize the Hebrew slaves for departure. It was quite a sight to see so many people, carts, and animals leaving. God led us by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Pharaoh then changed his mind about letting us leave. He chased after us with his large army. When we reached the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud moved to the back of us. We were trapped between the Egyptian army and the sea. Then God spoke to me and said I should stretch my hands over the sea. When I did that, the waters divided. We hurried across the dry land to the other coast. When all of us had crossed safely, the water rushed went back to its place. The Pharaoh and his army were still following us. But they were caught in the sea and drowned.

For the next 40 years, all of us lived in a desert. It wasn’t easy – we slept in tents. It was hot and dry. We worked hard and trusted in God to provide for us.

During this time, I walked up on a mountain. While I was resting, a bush started talking to me. Not only was it talking, it also seemed to be burning! At first I was scared. Then I realized it was God speaking to me! He said that people needed a set of rules. He called them commandments. There were ten of them and He wrote them on stone tablets. The rules make us better people. This is basically what the commandments say:
• Put God first
• Worship only one God
• Don’t use bad words
• Remember to take time to worship
• Respect your mom and dad
• Keep your promises
• Never hurt anyone
• Don’t steal things from others
• Always tell the truth
• Don’t wish for other people’s stuff