"Set in ancient Egypt and loosely based on the story of Moses, “The Ten Commandments” is billed as Brazil’s first biblical soap opera. Swathed in Egyptian robes and sporting lapis lazuli jewelry and Cleopatra wigs, some of the characters are based on biblical or other historic figures, while others are invented. The soap is taking the country by storm. It’s helped propel the Rede Record television network, owned by the founder of Brazil’s main Pentecostal church, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, into a showdown with top broadcaster Globo, which for decades has had a lock on prime-time soaps, known as novelas." (Introduction)