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Finding Moses

Every image on the course page, with its source, license, and the reason it was chosen. The artwork is public-domain and freely-licensed material from Wikimedia Commons: paintings of Moses and the Exodus, photographs of Egypt and Sinai, and the monuments behind the story. Creative Commons photographs are noted below.

Image Work & Attribution License Where it appears Why it’s included
The Finding of Moses finding-of-moses.jpg The Finding of Moses Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1904 Source ↗ Public domain Hero background Alma-Tadema’s discovery of the infant Moses on the Nile: the scene that gives the course its name.
Egyptian landscape on the Nile nile.jpg Egyptian landscape on the Nile Photo: Antonio Beato c. 1870 to 1888 Source ↗ CC0 Hero ornament A 19th-century photograph of the Nile: the river and land where the story of Moses begins.
The Decalogue tablets, Vienna City Synagogue tablets.jpg The Decalogue tablets, Vienna City Synagogue Photo: Dnalor 01 Photographed 2017 Source ↗ CC BY-SA 3.0 AT Hero ornament The two tablets of the law that Moses brings down from the mountain.
Statue of Ramesses II (Museo Egizio, Turin) pharaoh.jpg Statue of Ramesses II (Museo Egizio, Turin) Unknown (Egyptian sculptors) c. 1279 to 1213 BCE Source ↗ CC0 Hero ornament Ramesses II, often cast as the pharaoh of the Exodus: the power Moses is said to have defied.
Moses and the Burning Bush (Museo de Guadalajara) moses-burning-bush.jpg Moses and the Burning Bush (Museo de Guadalajara) Photo: Tiberioclaudio99 Photographed for Wikimedia Commons Source ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0 Origin section figure The call at the burning bush, where the reluctant Moses is sent to free his people.
Relief at the Temple of Kom Ombo, Egypt hieroglyphs.jpg Relief at the Temple of Kom Ombo, Egypt Photo: Fanny Schertzer Temple Ptolemaic era (photographed 2014) Source ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0 At-a-Glance backdrop Carved Egyptian relief: the monumental world of writing and empire behind the Exodus.
Moses (San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome) michelangelo-moses.jpg Moses (San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome) Michelangelo (Photo: Rabax63) Sculpture c. 1513-1515 (photographed 2014) Source ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0 Question I medallion (History or Legend?) Michelangelo’s towering Moses: the legend, against which the history is measured.
A Sefer Torah (Chester Beatty Library) torah-scroll.jpg A Sefer Torah (Chester Beatty Library) Unknown 18th century Source ↗ Public domain Question II medallion (The Sources Behind the Torah) A Torah scroll, the five books traditionally, but not actually, credited to Moses.
The Crossing of the Red Sea red-sea.jpg The Crossing of the Red Sea Bronzino c. 1542 Source ↗ Public domain Question III medallion (The Exodus and the Evidence) Bronzino’s parted sea: the miracle at the center of the Exodus question.
Moses with the Tablets of the Law moses-law.jpg Moses with the Tablets of the Law Rembrandt van Rijn 1659 Source ↗ Public domain Question IV medallion (The Law and the Ten Commandments) Rembrandt’s Moses raising the tablets: the law that made him the lawgiver.
The Transfer of the Ark of the Covenant tabernacle.jpg The Transfer of the Ark of the Covenant Unknown (Umbrian school) 16th century Source ↗ Public domain Question V medallion (Was Israel’s Religion Legalistic?) The Ark carried in procession: the worship of ancient Israel, beyond the caricature of cold legalism.
Sinai desert canyon sinai-desert.jpg Sinai desert canyon Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg Photographed 2007 Source ↗ CC BY 4.0 Instructor backdrop The Sinai wilderness, the empty land the Exodus is said to have crossed.
The Temple of Amun at Karnak egypt.jpg The Temple of Amun at Karnak Photo: Antonio Beato c. 19th century Source ↗ CC0 Stats backdrop The columns of Karnak: the grandeur of the Egypt the Israelites are said to have left.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt exodus.jpg The Israelites Leaving Egypt David Roberts 1829 Source ↗ Public domain Highlights backdrop David Roberts’ vast procession out of Egypt: the Exodus as the tradition imagined it.
The Fifth Plague of Egypt plagues.jpg The Fifth Plague of Egypt J. M. W. Turner 1800 Source ↗ Public domain Highlights image card Turner’s storm over Egypt: the plagues that set the Exodus in motion.
The Adoration of the Golden Calf golden-calf.jpg The Adoration of the Golden Calf Nicolas Poussin c. 1634 Source ↗ Public domain Highlights image card Poussin’s golden calf: the people’s rebellion while Moses is on the mountain.
Moses Coming Down from Mount Sinai moses-dore.jpg Moses Coming Down from Mount Sinai Gustave Doré 1866 Source ↗ Public domain “Prepare to Rethink” backdrop Doré’s Moses descending with the law: the image the course sets out to examine.
The Seated Scribe (Louvre) egyptian-scribe.jpg The Seated Scribe (Louvre) Unknown (Egyptian sculptors); Photo: Shonagon Statue c. 2500 BCE Source ↗ CC0 Bonuses backdrop The Louvre’s Seated Scribe: the ancient world of writing behind the question of who wrote the Torah.
Sunrise from the summit of Mount Sinai mount-sinai.jpg Sunrise from the summit of Mount Sinai Photo: Sara Nabih Photographed 2016 Source ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0 FAQ backdrop Dawn on Mount Sinai, the mountain where Moses is said to have met God.

Public-domain works are reproduced freely. CC BY / CC BY-SA images are credited to their photographers as required; follow each Source link for the full license text.