Staff of Kings

ARTIFACT
Staff of Kings
Origin
Culture	Hebrew
Discovery
Location	Nepal
Date	1939
Discoverer	Indiana Jones

The Staff of Kings (also known as the Staff of Moses) was the staff Moses used to demonstrate God's power in the Biblical account of Exodus.

History

Moses held the Staff when parting the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to escape from Egypt. Later, Moses amazed his people by causing water to flow from a stone by striking the stone with this same rod. These deeds were said to have been acts of God working through Moses.

At some point, the Staff was stored in a special temple in Nepal, while clues to its location were hidden in Istanbul. In the early twentieth century, Charles Kingston led a search for the Staff, and eventually found its resting place in Nepal, and stayed in the neighboring village to prevent its misuse by outsiders.

During a ceremony to open the Ark of the Covenant René Emile Belloq held a first-century replica of the ram's-head staff Moses was believed to have been carried during the Jewish Exodus from Egypt.

Indiana Jones discovered the staff in 1939, where it was hidden away in a Nepal sanctuary. However, it was then stolen by Magnus Völler, eventually leading to a battle on board the Odin to retrieve it. After a struggle Jones retrieved the staff and escaped from the Odin. Shortly after, after they reached land, the staff turned into a serpent and slithered away. Jones made no attempt to reacquire it, remarking that it could take care of itself.

Behind the scenes

Property master Doug Harlocker with the Staff of Moses and its crate.

A replica of the Staff of Moses was made for the filming of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull based on the prop from David Lean's 1956 movie The Ten Commandments. In the Iconic Props feature of the original DVD/Blu-ray home release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, property master Doug Harlocker showcases the Staff of Moses and its crate, numbered 4054504, intended for use in the Hangar 51 scenes. However, the staff goes unseen in the final cut of the film, with the film's story solely focusing on another crate (with an easter egg cameo for another).

The Staff of Kings would later appear as the titular MacGuffin of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, which had been pitched to LucasArts around 2004, predating the fourth movie by four years. It's unclear whether or not the usage of the Staff between the two was a deliberate connection, but Indiana Jones creator George Lucas had provided the game developers with a version of the screenplay for a potential tie-in by 2006. David Koepp's Crystal Skull script itself would not be complete until a year later.

Continuity

In the Wii version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, the battle on the Odin led to a motorcycle chase between Magnus Völler and Indiana Jones on the seafloor, as Völler had used the staff to part the waters as Moses had done centuries earlier. Jones reacquired the staff (Magnus dying in the process) and escaped to a nearby island, where the staff, apparently acting of its own will, closed the waters, destroying Völler's zeppelin and its Nazi crew.

The Staff turns into a snake and escapes.

In the Nintendo DS version of the game, Jones defeated Völler on board the Odin, escaped, then used the staff to destroy the ship by splitting it in half.

In the PSP version of the game, Jones escaped with the staff, parted the sea and escaped back to land. Völler tries to use the Odin to fire on Jones. Once Jones is back on dry land, the seas closed, destroying the Odin with Völler aboard.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx (Mentioned only)
• Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
• Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings novel (Cancelled)

Sources

• Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
• Iconic Props

See also

• Staff of Aaron