Cartouche 9 (upper margin): On the right, Ahasuerus sits on the throne with a canopy and extends his scepter to the crowned Esther who kneels before him and touches the tip of it. Two men stand behind the throne and Esther is accompanied by two maid-servants (Es. 5:2-3). On the left, the first banquet given by Esther is depicted. Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman sit at a round, laid table set in palace gardens. A man serving the dishes is just approaching the table (Es. 5:5).
Cartouche 10 (lower margin): On the right, Haman wearing a turban stands and talks to two women; probably one of them is Zeresh, Haman's wife, at the moment when she is suggesting him to build the gallows for Mordecai (Es. 5:14). In the central part of the cartouche stands the gallows prepared by Haman for Mordecai (Es. 5:14). On the left, Ahasuerus reclines on a bed and two men stand before him; one of them reads from an open book to the king (Es. 6:1).
The length of the membranes: 1) ca. 525 mm, 2) ca. 595 mm, 3) ca. 550 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- the print: ca. 165 mm (height);
- inner dimensions of the typical text panel: ca. 100 x 78 mm.
- an average letter: less than 2 mm (height)
- letters in col. 16: over 3 mm (height);
- letters forming the Tetragrammaton inscribed in the cartouche at the end of the scroll: ca. 10 mm and
- letters in the word שויתי: ca. 8 mm high.
The scroll: ca. 300 mm (height).
Pull bar: ca. 215 mm (height).
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Esther touching the scepter (Es. 5:2)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Esther's first banquet (Es. 5:5-8)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Haman talks to his wife, Zeresh, and friends (Es. 5:14)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Gallows built for Mordecai (Es. 5:14)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus listening to the Book of Records (Es. 6:1-3)
O | Ornamentation: | Foliate and floral ornaments | Floral motif
O | Ornamentation: | Endless knot
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The scroll consists of 3 membranes with 19 columns (9 double text panels and a single text panel) with 22 lines per column, except for col. 16 with 11 lines, divided into two parts, written in a large script. The membranes contain respectively 6, 8, and 5 text columns.
The text is written on the flesh side of the parchment membranes in a small, square Italian script, in brown-black ink.
The ruling is made by a stylus and consists of 22 horizontal lines that are ruled across the width of the entire sheet. The vertical lines were made as well; inside the text panel, they are 1+2+1.
Pricking is not visible.
The name "Gaster I" was introduced by Mendel Metzger in his article entitled "The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth" (see "Bibliography"). The type was named after Moses Gaster (1856–1939), the rabbi, scholar, and manuscript collector, who owned a scroll adorned with this pattern (at present this is the scroll Gaster Hebrew MS 710 stored in the John Rylands Library in Manchester). At least 25 manuscripts representing this type are still extant and are preserved in private and institutional collections. For their descriptions see "Related objects".
The MAHJ stores another scroll representing the same pattern no. inv. 2017.18.004 (not included in the Index).
The pattern features a number of decorative elements common with the scrolls of Klagsbald type.
The scroll possibly contains the date of its production - see "Scribal Notes".
On the blank (hair) side of the first sheet, there is an inscription that is possibly composed of the letters ש, ל, ם in a cursive script.
Selected images are described twice; within a particular section containing the text column and upper and lower margins and once again as a separate image.
A brief description of the manuscript in French: Rouleau d'Esther, Italie, 1666 available on https://www.mahj.org/fr/decouvrir-collections-betsalel/rouleau-d-esther-63901 (accessed on 04.05.2020).
Selected bibliography concerning other scrolls decorated with the same border:
Mendel Metzger, The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 1966, 48/2, 381–432.
Cornelia Bodea, Treasures of Jewish Art. The 1673 Illuminated Scroll of Esther Offered to a Romanian Hierarch, Iaşi–Oxford–Palm Beach–Portland 2002.
A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, eds. Evelyn M. Cohen, Emile Schrijver, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Amsterdam 2009, 240-241.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 262-263.
Dagmara Budzioch, The Decorated Esther Scrolls from the Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and the Tradition of Megillot Esther Decoration in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries – An Outline [Polish: Dekorowane zwoje Estery z Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w Warszawie na tle tradycji dekorowania megilot Ester w XVII i XVIII wieku. Zarys problematyki], Warsaw 2019, 1:99-119, 2:64-69.
Dagmara Budzioch, "An Illustrated Scroll of Esther from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute as an Example of the Gaster I Megilloth," Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 2013, no. 3 (247), 533–547.