Well, it looks like I was wrong when I predicted that the Tablets of Law would not make an appearance in the film, Exodus: Gods and Kings. (From now on, I’ll refer to it simply as EGK.) I now have it on good authority that the tablets will appear in that film. Though it is true that I need to wait less than two months to see exactly what they look like, I had wondered if there existed any clues as to how they might appear. I now think I have such a clue, and will venture a guess as to what the tablets might look like.
My clue appears in this recently released image from the film:
Compare this part of the wall decoration in EGK:
http://rosenblumcoins.com/files/img/38b/24779.jpg
This and similar images of a date palm are found on coins minted during the so-called Bar Kochba (or Kokhba) revolt that took place from 132 to 135 CE (or AD, if you prefer). That was another time in history when the Jewish people were under the thumb of an oppressor -- but in this case, some decided to stage a revolt that actually led to several battles and some success...for a while.
The problem is that this revolution took place more than 1,000 years after the exodus from Egypt (at least at the date set by the filmmakers). Now, one could propose the theory that the date palm icon actually originated among the Hebrew revolutionaries in Egypt and was resurrected by their descendants, generations later. I actually dreamed up that one, though I haven't read of anyone else who tried to make that argument.
You may have noticed the difference in the number of palm fronds: seven on the coin and nine on the wall. That is interesting because, though there were variations on the theme of the design of this coin, each time a palm tree appears on a Jewish coin from this period (and it doesn’t always) there are seven fronds, which you can see here: http://www.amuseum.org/book/page19.html
It’s not certain that the seven-fronded palm symbolizes anything in particular. Perhaps it relates back to the Temple in Jerusalem, which was known for having a large, golden, seven-branched menorah (a candelabrum). So, why does Nun’s wall engraving have nine fronds? Perhaps merely to distinguish it from the palm image on the coins…
At the time in which the plot of the film is set, the Temple hadn't yet been mentioned, so other than a reminder of the seven days of the Jewish week, there seems to have been no symbolic reason for seven fronds on the palm on the wall... specifically-- assuming that the guess about the menorah is correct.
Now, take a look at this Egyptian wall painting:
You can see that the date palm has decorated ancient Egyptian walls since at least around the time of the reign of Ramses II (the pharaoh of the exodus depicted in EGK), 1279 to 1213 BCE. So, there is certainly justification for the date palm as wall art in Egypt.
But the letters used on the wall engraving in EGK spell out the name “Shimon” as they do on the coin. It is likely a reference to Shimon (Simon) Bar Kochbah. I haven't yet been able to figure out why the filmmakers would want to replicate the name of Shimon onto the wall, especially since the style of the letters is questionnable, to say the least.
Though the style of the letters that are found on the Bar Kochbah coin are, indeed, ancient, it is too recent for period depicted in EGK—about 1,300 years too recent! The script on the Bar Kochba coins was an attempt to mimic one of the earliest scripts used by the Hebrews. That script was an offshoot of early Phoenician, and early Phoenician writing may itself be a few hundred years later than the time of Ramses II.
Writing in a similar style can be found on a small limestone tablet from the tenth century BCE known as the Gezer Calendar:
It is not clear if the Hebrews had any script of their own at the time of the exodus from Egypt, but if they did, it was likely something like the script now known as Proto-Sinaitic, though examples of this found so far may still be a bit too recent.
Perhaps the filmmakers rejected the use of Proto-Sinaitic script because its use by the Hebrews is purely conjecture. On the other hand, the paleo-Hebrew script of the Bar Kochba revolt coins was, without question, used by Jews who linked themselves to the slaves in Egypt so many years before.
And so, if rationale for the use of the wall decoration is consistent with other images in EGK, then it would seem that the look of the tablets would be similar to other tablets in use during the time of the reign of Ramses II, and the writing on them would be similar to the style used in early Hebrew writing from a somewhat later period. Ultimately, what that would mean is a set of tablets that bears a very strong resemblance to those seen in the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments.
Much like the tablets in this painting (circa 1990) by Giora Eshkol:
http://eshkol.com/paintingEN18a.html
I also presume that the image of the tablets in EGK will prove me either right wrong, but there is also the possibility that the faces of the tablets will not be clearly shown. If so, then I can claim to be correct and no one could prove me wrong!