The name appears in various medieval mystery plays, in which Mahound is sometimes portrayed as a generic "pagan" god worshipped by villains such as Herod and the Pharaoh of the Exodus. One play depicts both Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas as worshipping Mahound,[7] while in another play Pharaoh encourages the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea with the words: Heave up your hearts ay to Mahound.[8]