Continuity: When the Sheik takes down the bets his man who had handed him the book is standing behind him with his hands down. When the camera angle changes his hands are folded. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Revealing: When Stephen Boyd is showing off the spikes on his chariot wheel you can see welding beads along the projecting hub.

Revealing: When Miriam, Esther and Tirzah find shelter from the storm in a cave, the storm is violent and the wind is howling, but the trees visible in the background are barely swaying. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Continuity: During the scene when Ben-Hur meets his servant, Simonides, he removes his turban, and his hair is flat and sweaty. The shot pans to his mother, and when it cuts back, his hair is dry and combed. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Revealing: During the naval battle, the same footage of a sinking galley is used several times, apparently to represent the sinking of several galleys. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Continuity: When the baskets are being loaded to be lowered into the Valley of the Lepers, someone loads two heads of lettuce onto a basket. Just as the basket is being lowered, someone else throws in three more heads. When the basket hits the bottom, there are only three heads of lettuce. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Factual error: Before the chariot race, Sheik Ilderim pins a Star of David on Ben Hur's belt. The Star of David did not become a Jewish symbol until the Middle Ages. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Revealing: When the slaves are walking through the desert on their route to Tyros, in several scenes it's obvious that a double is standing in for Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur. Submitted by wizard_of_gore

Revealing: When Judah & Messala hurl their spears into the wooden beam, the projectiles follow very straight paths all the way across the room to their targets, whereas due to gravity they'd really travel curved paths, practically parabolic, requiring a skilled thrower to aim above the target. What's revealed here is that the spears were rigged to slide on thin wires, to assure that they'd hit the target on cue.

Factual error: In the movie, Pontius Pilate is appointed to be governor of Judea around AD 32 (Judah is enslaved in AD 28, spends 3 years as a slave and then at least one year with Arrius before he meets Pilate, who is still not appointed). In reality, Pilate was the governor of Judea from AD 26-36. Submitted by Twotall

Continuity: At one time during the chariot race Judah and Messala are going side by side. Then Judah steers his horses against the inner wall and almost comes to a complete halt. However, an instant later he is abreast with Messala again. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Continuity: In the first scene of part 2 the Romans are relaxing in the bath. Then the arrival of Sheik Ilderim is announced, and when the camera switches to him the positions of many extras in the scene change, like one masseur in red (first kneeling, then squatting). Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Continuity: When Messala goes to the roof terrace after the tile incident to check the loose tiles and he drops one on the floor, there are broken pieces on the floor that haven't been there before. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Continuity: During his brief escape Judah threatens Messala who is standing behind his desk. The arrangement of things on the desk changes many times throughout the scene, most noticeably the three books on the right. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Continuity: After Judah knocks out the prison guards he grabs a spear and busts into Messala's room. Two other guards standing far down the hall start running after him. Seen from inside the room, the guards enter directly after Judah. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Continuity: After Tirzah makes the tiles fall from the roof there is a wide shot from above, showing Judah and Tirzah at a different part of the wall than where the tiles fell. Submitted by Nancy<>Felix

Factual error: In the scene where Messala is passing through Nazareth, he says they will be in Jerusalem by tomorrow night. Nazareth is approximately 90 miles from Jerusalem. It would take three days to cover that distance, not one.

Continuity: At the end of the chariot race, a heavily bloodsoaked Messala is taken to receive medical treatment. While something is done to his legs out of shot (amputation, presumably) an orderly in a clean white tunic leans his whole body weight on Messala to hold him down on the bed as he writhes in agony. When the orderly stands up, we see that his tunic is still spotlessly white.

Continuity: When Ben-Hur is about to be transferred from his cell to Tirus after the tile struck the governor, his hands are being tied by the centurions. When he strikes the incoming centurion, his hands are free.

Factual error: There is a Holstein cow in the manger scene near the beginning of the movie. Holsteins were created through cross-breeding in Germany in the 19th century, so its appearance at Jesus' birth is impossible. Submitted by wizard_of_gore