Goofs

(at around 2h 40 mins) When Ben-Hur's and Messala's chariots lock wheels, Messala's wheel shatters. In the shot of the overturning chariot, the wheel is intact.

(at around 40 mins) As the main actors all had blue eyes, Stephen Boyd (Messala) had to wear colored lenses to have dark eyes. But when he looks up to Judah and Tirzah on the terrace (just before the tiles fell), he does not wear them.

(at around 2h 35 mins) During the chariot race, when we see the third dolphin tipped to mark the laps, the following shot briefly shows the dolphins with the third still up.

(at around 1h 35 mins) At Sheik Ilderim's oasis, Ben-Hur's facial hair changes length between shots.

Two Romans are seen wearing watches.

Roman warship rowers were not slaves but a paid part of the ship's crew.

The final chariot race was supposed to been held in Jerusalem, but there was no such structure in that city. The only two chariot race courses ("Circus") in Israel (Judea) were both in the coastal city of Caesaria near present-day Tel-Aviv. This was a change from the original novel and the 1925 silent film, both of which placed the chariot race in Antioch (which is outside present-day Israel's borders) and which did have a famous circus.

(at around 1h 55 mins) When Judah returns home after four years in the galleys he is still wearing Esther's ring. No condemned slave would ever be allowed to wear jewelry of any sort. Nor would they have wanted to wear anything that could get caught, snagged, or otherwise hang them up in their life of physical toil.

(at around 2h 25 mins) Pontius Pilate wears a purple toga at the chariot race. Purple togas were the prerogative of the emperor and the consuls only.

In the film chariot drivers use 2 reins to control the horses but according to historical records they used 8.

As stated, the MGM lion is a frozen frame as the film opens - Leo doesn't roar. This was not done as suggested to convey calm or out of respect for the religious theme, but because William Wyler wanted to open the very first frame of the film with Miklós Rózsa's very dramatic score. For this to be fully effective, the roar had to go. This is very similar to what Fox did with The Robe (1953), another religious-themed epic opening immediately with the Alfred Newman score on the very first frame and skipping the standard Fox logo and fanfare track.

(at around 2h 15 mins) A character refers to the Roman Emperor as "The Divine Tiberius." Although Tiberius was never deified in life (it was a posthumous honour), he claimed descent from the Roman deities Jupiter and Venus, so he was "divine" in that sense. Tiberius' successor Caligula claimed in his madness to be all gods at once, and Caligula's successor Claudius I was the first of the office to be formally deified during his lifetime.

(at around 30 mins) In the market scene following the argument between Messala and Judah, a person is heard saying in the background 'kidhar jaata hai bhai, kidhar jaata hai' which is Hindi for 'where are you going brother, where?'. Hindi language originated much later in the 17-18th century. However, this cannot be considered a goof since the entire film is spoken in a language (English) which didn't exist in the 1st century either.

Jesus' ministry seems to last 5 years in this movie. Although this is traditionally seen as lasting only 3 years, the Bible gives no such specific chronology, Making it 5 years is a reasonable artistic decision.

One of the chariot heralds has been claimed to be wearing a wristwatch, but other viewers report that this is an oddly positioned shadow.

(at around 2h 35 mins) During the chariot race just before Ben-Hur's chariot jumps the wrecked chariot, stunt driver Joe Canutt can be seen dropping the reins and grabbing hold of the side of the his chariot (his father, stunt coordinator-2nd unit director Yakima Canutt, had instructed him to grip the underside of the chariot's railing. Joe ignored him, or forgot, and grasped the railing from the top, and was vaulted over the top of the chariot, which could have been fatal had his quick reflexes and strength not allowed him to haul himself back over the vehicle's yoke before he fell between the horses and chariot).

(at around 2h 30 mins) It is well documented that Messala's horses in the chariot race were dyed black (their natural color was brown). They appear solid black during the pre-race procedures. During the race, when the horses are running flat out, most of the dye wore off and in closeups, they appear to be brown.

(at around 3h 10 mins) Christ is always seen from the back, but when He is condemned to death He is facing Pilate and His face is obscured by a shadow added optically in post production when William Wyler determined that actor Claude Heater's face was too clearly seen, even at a distance.

(at around 3h 20 mins) When Esther and Tirzah and Miriam seek shelter, the storm is violent enough to cause earth to fall in front of the cave, and the sound of the wind is deafening. Yet trees visible in the background (from the mouth of the cave) do not so much as sway in the breeze.

(at around 17 mins) When Judah and Messala hurl their spears at the beam, both spears travel to their mark on guide wires. This is obvious because there is no arc in the trajectory of the spears.

At around 3:27:38, when Jesus is carrying his cross up the stairs and Judah's mother and sister are watching, someone screams 'Lepers' and everyone scrambles up the stairs. Someone drops a folded piece of paper onto the stairs.

At around (3:42:21) during the start of the chariot race a closeup of Messala's face shows his natural blue eye color. He is not wearing the brown contact lenses.

(at around 2h 20 mins) Sheik Ilderim pins a Star of David onto Ben-Hur's belt before the race, obviously to goad the Romans. The Star of David didn't become a symbol of Judaism until the Middle Ages, in Eastern Europe. The first reference occurs in the 12th Century.

(at around 26 mins) When Judah and Messala argue in the courtyard of Judah's home, road noise and honking car horns can be heard in the background. For some reason, it was not removed from the soundtrack in post-production.

The mezuzah shown at the entrance to Ben-Hur's home is mounted diagonally. That practice was not adopted until the middle ages, by Ashkenazi Jews, as a compromise between the rules offered by 2 medieval Rabbis.

The opening narration by Balthasar refers to the taxation decree made "in the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar." Augustus was emperor of Rome from 27 BC to his death in 14 AD. This would have placed the decree in 20 BC. The film has the event coinciding with the birth of Christ as does the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel further states that "Quirinius was governor of Syria." Historical records indicate that the Census of Quirinius took place in 6 AD.

Modern books with covers can be seen, at a time when only scrolls and folders with single pages were used.

(at around 2h 15 mins) When Messala and the sheik are betting on the race, we hear them both saying 1,000 talents, but their lips are not saying 1,000.

(at around 24 mins) When the audience first sees Ben-Hur and Messala together and they both throw a spear at the wall, the sound of Ben-Hur's voice does not match up with his lips.

(at around 58 mins) As Judah and other prisoners are being marched away, a guard whips Judah and tells him to get back to his place, but the lips aren't saying that.

As Pontius Pilate comes out to watch the chariot race and takes his seat, a Roman officer behind him calls out orders to to his men, but no sound is heard from the officer.

Early in the scene when Messala enters Jerusalem, a high-altitude shot of the street shows a blanket used to shade a rooftop on the left. A very large studio prop tag on the front of the blanket is clearly visible.

A stunt double for Judah during the race can be noticed by his wavy hair.

(at around 58 mins) The shadow of the camera can be seen on Christ's back as Ben-Hur is leaving Nazareth to go to the galleys (widescreen version).

(at around 2h 35 mins) During the chariot race, just after Judah's chariot jumps over the previously-crashed chariot, a camera and its metal supporting frame can clearly be seen under a brown, cloth cover.

(at around 53 mins) As Judah Ben-Hur is being taken in chains along with other prisoners by the Romans from Jerusalem to the galleys at Tyre, they pass through a desert. However, there is no desert between Jerusalem and Tyre.

When Roman soldiers pass by the house of Joseph, a neighbors asks Joseph where his son(Jesus) is. Joseph replies by saying that he is walking in the hills. From the scenery of the next shot showing Jesus walking, it is clear (from the previous scenes) that he is walking only about 100 feet away from his home.

In the film's prologue, Balthasar the narrator, telling the story of Jesus's birth, begins the story with the Roman census "in the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar." In fact Augustus had been emperor of Rome for at least 20 years at the time.

Just before the chariot race, Judah strangely removes his helmet, even though a helmet would provide much-needed protection in this violent contest, and all the other drivers were wearing one.

Sheikh Ilderim and Judah pronounce the name of the Sheikh's chariot horse "REEGH-el," as though it were from the Latin, with a hard "g." The four horses, as the Sheikh, are "named for the stars," and all those names -- Aldebaran, Altair, Antares and Rigel -- are Arabic names for these particularly bright stars that are still in use. An Arab would pronounce that last name as "Rijl" (REE-djl), not "REEGH-el," and Judah would likely have known that.

(at around 8 mins) When passing through Nazareth, Messala says they will arrive in Jerusalem the next night. The straightest line from Nazareth to Jerusalem is about 143 km, 89 miles. Roman legions only traveled about 20-30 miles, 32-48 km, a day. So, it would take about 3 days.

During his arrest, Judah pleads with Messala to leave his mother and sister alone, saying "... in the name of God let them go." This would have no meaning to Messala, who as a Roman would believe in many gods, and as a Hebrew, Judah would never use his god's name in vain, nor would he be allowed to speak it out loud at all.