Sheik Ilderim

Sheik Ilderim was a secondary protagonist from the Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur and subsequent movies.

1959 Film
Sheik Ilderim met Judah Ben-Hur while traveling to Jerusalem to race his horses in the circus of Jerusalem. Ildermin was impressed that Ben-Hur knew that the man driving Ildermin's white horses would not be able to hold the curve and invited him into his tent for dinner.

Ilderim was a loud, good natured, boisterous individual. He was very particular about his horses and did not suffer fools lightly. Ilderim had a large number of wives, claiming that he could understand the rule of one God, but not of having a single wife, stating it was not generous to limit himself that way.

Ilderim tried to convince Hur to drive his horses in the upcoming race, however Hur was more concerned about his family and initially declined the offer. After being led to believe that his mother and sister were dead, Hur returned to Ilderim and accepted his offer to drive the horses, knowing it would be his only chance to get back at Messala.

Prior to the race Ilderim approached Messala and the other Romans, and convinced them to wager large amounts of money on the race.

In the race that followed Ben-Hur was able to drive Ilderim's team to victory. Not only was this a major embarrassment for the Romans, but the Roman soldiers were placed in serious financial difficulty because of the bets they had made with Ilderim.

Novel
In the novel the race took place in Antioch, not Jerusalem and it was there where Ben-Hur and Ilderim met.

Some time after the race and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus Christ Sheik Ilderim engaged the Parathions in battle and lost his life as a result. It fell to Ilderim's son to retrieve the lands and property his father had lost, which he was successfully able to do by 64 AD. Honoring his father's wishes, he gave Hur an orchard near Antioch. Hur donated the proceeds from the sale of the orchard to the nascent Christian movement in Rome.