User:Bwk86/The Staff of Moses

The Staff of Moses, was a staff used by Moses which was by his side throughout important milestones in the Biblical story The Exodus. Moses was raised by the daughter of the pharaoh, led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea using his staff. Amongst these milestone events or 'miracles of the exodus' the bible describes that the staff was used to part the red sea, produce water from a rock, invoke a plague on the Egyptipans, and the staff could even transform itself into a snake.

A summarised excerpt from the biblical text:

'Moses is still scared and so God provides him with a rod with which to perform miracles. When Moses complains of his lack of eloquence, God sends Aaron to speak for Moses. So Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and utter the famous words: “Let my people go” (Ex. 5: 1) God sends plagues on the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. At the same time God hardens Pharaohs heart. There are plagues of frogs, lice, flies, death of livestock, boils, and hail, locusts and darkness. All the plagues wreak havoc on the Egyptians but don’t affect the Jews. Pharaoh only gets more stubborn. Finally, the Passover occurs. God vows to kill the firstborn of every family in Egypt. If the children of Israel would put the blood of a male lamb without blemish on their doorposts, God would pass over them and not kill their firstborn. All of the households in Egypt suffer the loss of one.'

Where is it now?

Till this day rumour has it that the staff's real location is said to be kept secret to stop ,treasures hunters, and onlookers flocking to the area. There are many speculations about what has happened to Moses's staff.

Some argue that;

The Midrash (a homiletic method of biblical exegesis) states that the staff was passed down from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until the First Temple was destroyed. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land.

However, according to the identifying document at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Mose's staff is on display today at the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey. Futhermore, the Topkapi Palace holds holy relics such as the Prophet Muhammad's footprint, Prophet Muhammad bow and sword and even his tooth can be seen at the museum. Topkapı Palace was officaiy made a museum in 1924, and the holy relics were placed on public view on 31 August 1962. It is said that Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) brought the holy relics to Topkapi Palace after conqueroing Egypt in 1517. These holy relics where used every year for ceremonial purposes on the fifteenth day of the month of Ramazan several of the items were kissed by the Sultan, his vezirs and dignitaries. This was believed to bring about the victory of good and the defeat of evil, during the reign of Sultan Selim.

References