Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is crowned the winner and showered with prizes, claiming his first strike against Rome. Messala is left with a broken body and the loss of his wealth. After the race, Judah Ben-Hur receives a letter from Iras asking him to go to the Roman palace of Idernee. When he arrives, he sees that he has been tricked. Thord, a Saxon hired by Messala, comes to kill Judah. They duel, and Ben-Hur offers Thord 4000 sestertii to let him live. Thord returns to Messala claiming to have killed Judah, so collects money from them both. Supposedly dead, Judah Ben-Hur goes to
Ben-Hur (play) huge crowds, has had to be expressly strengthened and shored up". There have been other stage adaptations since the initial production in 1899, including a London production staged in 2009 at the O2 arena featuring a live chariot race. The book was also adapted for motion pictures in 1907, 1925, 1959, 2003, 2016, and as an American television miniseries in 2010. The 1959 film adaptation, starring Charlton Heston and featuring the famous chariot race, won a record eleven Academy Awards and was the top-grossing film of 1960. Notes Bibliography Ben-Hur (play) Ben-Hur was an 1899 theatrical adaption of the novel