Moses
<p><b>Moses</b> (<a title="Hebrew language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language">Hebrew</a>: מֹשֶׁה, <small><a title="Modern Hebrew" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew">Modern</a></small> <i>Moshe</i> <small><a title="Tiberian vocalization" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization">Tiberian</a></small> <i>Mōšéh</i> <small><a title="ISO 259-3" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_259-3">ISO 259-3</a></small> <i>Moše </i>; <a title="Syriac language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_language">Syriac</a>: ܡܘܫܐ <i>Moushe</i>; <a title="Arabic language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language">Arabic</a>: موسى <i>Mūsā </i>) was, according to the <a title="Hebrew Bible" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible">Hebrew Bible</a>, the <a title="Qur'an" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an">Qur'an</a>, and <a title="Baha'i" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baha%27i">Baha'i</a> scripture, a religious leader, lawgiver, and <a title="Prophet" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet">prophet</a>, to whom the <a title="Mosaic authorship" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_authorship">authorship</a> of the <a title="Torah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah">Torah</a> is traditionally attributed. Also called <i>Moshe Rabbenu</i> in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, <i><a title="Literal translation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_translation">Lit.</a></i> "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in <a title="Judaism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism">Judaism</a>;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-aaa_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-aaa-1">[1]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> he is also an important prophet in <a title="Christianity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity">Christianity</a> and <a title="Islam" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam">Islam</a>, as well as a number of <a title="Abrahamic religions" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions#Other_Abrahamic_religions">other faiths</a>.
The existence of Moses as well as the veracity of the <a title="Book of Exodus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Exodus">Exodus</a> story are disputed among <a title="Archaeology" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology">archaeologists</a> and <a title="Egyptologist" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptologist">Egyptologists</a>, with experts in the field of <a title="Biblical criticism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_criticism">biblical criticism</a> citing logical inconsistencies, new archaeological evidence, historical evidence, and related <a title="Myth of origins" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_origins">origin myths</a> in <a title="Canaan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan">Canaanite</a> culture.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> Other historians maintain that the biographical details and Egyptian background attributed to Moses imply the existence of an historical political and religious leader who was involved in the consolidation of the <a title="Tribes of Israel" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_of_Israel">Hebrew</a> tribes in <a title="Canaan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan">Canaan</a> towards the end of the <a title="Bronze Age" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age">Bronze Age</a>.
According to the <a title="Book of Exodus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Exodus">Book of Exodus</a>, Moses was born in a time when his people, the <a title="Children of Israel" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Israel">Children of Israel</a>, were increasing in numbers and the <a title="Pharaoh of the Exodus" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh_of_the_Exodus">Egyptian Pharaoh</a> was worried that they might help Egypt's enemies. Moses' Hebrew mother, <a title="Jochebed" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochebed">Jochebed</a>, hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed, and the child was adopted as a <a title="Child abandonment" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_abandonment">foundling</a> by the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster, Moses fled across the <a title="Red Sea" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea">Red Sea</a> to <a title="Midian" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midian">Midian</a>, where he encountered the <a title="Yahweh" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh">God of Israel</a> in the form of a "<a title="Burning bush" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_bush">burning bush</a>".
God sent Moses back to Egypt to request the release of the Israelites. After the <a title="Plagues of Egypt" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt">Ten Plagues</a>, Moses led <a title="The Exodus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus">the Exodus</a> of the Israelites out of Egypt and <a title="Crossing the Red Sea" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Red_Sea">across the Red Sea</a>, after which they based themselves at <a title="Biblical Mount Sinai" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Mount_Sinai">Mount Sinai</a>, where Moses received the <a title="Ten Commandments" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments">Ten Commandments</a>. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the <a title="Promised Land" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promised_Land">Promised Land</a>.
<a title="Rabbinical Judaism" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinical_Judaism">Rabbinical Judaism</a> calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 <a title="Common Era" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era">BCE</a>;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> <a title="Jerome" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome">Jerome</a> gives 1592, and <a title="Ussher" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ussher">Ussher</a> 1619 as birthyear.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup></p>