Moses was born of the Levi tribe. The new Pharaoh, afraid of the ever-growing Israelite population, ordered every new-born Hebrew boy to be thrown into the Nile River, but let every girl live. Moses' mother Jochebed gave birth and kept him hidden for three months from Pharaoh's soldiers. When she could no longer keep him hidden, she fashioned a basket lined with tar and pitch, and placed him in the reeds along the riverbank, while his sister Miriam kept watch from a distance.