Prophet Moses, Hand Painted Russian Icon. Moses was a biblical prophet, religious leader and founder of Judaism. He led the Great Exodus, the flight of the Jews from Egypt, making him the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most influential figures in Jewish history. Moses is credited with authoring the Pentateuch, the first major part of the Bible. According to the biblical book of Exodus, he was born during the time when the Jews were in Egypt. They were subjected to mass extermination and persecution - Pharaoh ordered the killing of all newborn boys of Jewish origin to reduce the population of the foreign people. To save him, Moses' mother hid him in a basket and released him on the waters of the Nile. The basket was found by Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted the boy. The child is subsequently raised by a nurse who is actually his real mother. Moses becomes the prince of Egypt, but his intolerance towards the cruelties of the Egyptians towards his people make him do a reckless act - he kills a sadistic Egyptian. The murderer is sent to the desert, where he marries the daughter of a wise sheikh and becomes a shepherd. God, in the form of an unburnt blackberry, invites the exile to free his people from Egyptian slavery. Moses returns to Egypt where he pleads with Pharaoh to let the Jews go. After several disasters, the ruler bowed out and the foreigners left the country. They pass through the Red Sea, parted by the power of God, begged by their leader. In the desert, on Mount Sinai, Moses received the Ten Commandments of God, with which a covenant was concluded between the Jews and God.