I have seen the film, Exodus: Gods and Kings (EGK), in its standard and 3D versions and there are still a few mysteries that can be solved only when those who worked on the film provide the missing pieces. That is not to say I can’t guess at some possible solutions. I can…and will.
The following all seem significant enough to be explained somewhere in the film—but aren’t:
- The symbol denoting the room where Nun and the other scholars meet
- The cuboid stones piled up by the messenger of the Lord, Malek
- The charms on the cord removed from off the baby Moses and given to him upon his exile from Egypt
In this entry, I’ll take a closer look at the room symbol.
In EGK, Nun (Ben Kingsley) hands Moses a scrap of papyrus with a symbol written on it—it designates the location where Nun can be found. The symbol is the Phoenician letter known, in its Hebrew variant, as “mem.” Because most Hebrew letters also represent numbers, this could simply represent a building or room number. In fact, the mem is also seen painted on the door of the scholars’ room. However, the film does not clarify whether the room is Nun’s personal residence or one used exclusively as a meeting room. The number itself, though, may be more than arbitrary and may have something to do with the numerological system known as “gematria.”
Gematria
Gematria assigns numerical values to a word or a phrase in the belief that other words or phrases with the same numerical values relate to each other or to the number itself. The first attested use of gematria is found in an inscription of Assyrian king Sargon II, who ruled Assyria from 727 to 705 BCE. However, though it may have been in use by Jews at that time, evidence of Jewish use of gematria does not appear in Jewish literature until the second century CE. It is not known if gematria was in use as early as 1300 BCE (the period presented in EGK) or, even if it was, whether it was practiced by the Israelites.
The symbol shown on the papyrus and the room is the paleo-Hebrew (AKA proto-Canaanite) version of the letter mem. The name of the letter mem possibly signifies water itself. Its most ancient forms bear a resemblance to waves of water, and it is the first letter of the Hebrew word meaning water, mayim. As such, mem sometimes represents the sea of Torah, the ocean of Talmud, knowledge, wisdom, etc. Using this understanding, the mem in EGK could represent a room where men meet to retell, study and interpret Israelite legends and lore.
Mem as an Initial Letter
Mem is also the first letter in Moses’ Hebrew name (Moshe), in the Hebrew word for messiah, (mashiach), and in the word for place (makom--one of God’s names—representing divine omniscience). Additionally, mem represents the two aspects of God’s rule, malchut (kingship) and memshalah (dominion, as in Psalm 145:13). It is also the first letter in the word mikvah (the ritual purification bath).
The Number 40
Mem represents different things in the various forms of gematria, though in the most common usage, it represents the number 40.
In Jewish thought, the number 40 has also been associated with the following:
- The number of days and nights of the flood waters upon the earth
- Moses’ age when he left Egypt for Midian
- Days Moses was upon Mount Sinai prior to receiving the first set of tablets
- Days Moses prayed for G-d to forgive the people after the Golden Calf incident and his return with the second set of tablets.
- Years of wandering in the wilderness
- Days from conception to the initial formation of the fetus
- Weeks of gestation to birth
- Years of age before a man develops insight
- Measures of water contained in the mikvah
As well, in a scroll of Torah, the mem is sometimes written in oversized fashion in the word Mishlei (Proverbs 1:1). According to some, this is due to the fact King Solomon is said to have fasted 40 days and 40 nights before writing the biblical book of Proverbs, in order to emulate Moses and to prepare himself for revelation from the Lord.
And So…?
It seems clear that in Exodus: Gods and Kings, the letter mem is not merely a room number, but may have been chosen for its additional significance—but exactly what that might be is, at the present, known only to the filmmakers…