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Img. ID: 328189

© Dagmara Budzioch, Photographer: Budzioch, Dagmara, 3.2015

The 8th text panel is flanked by figures of Shethar (on the right) and Admatha (on the left), the princes of Persia and Media (Es. 1:14). Above the panel, there is a medallion with the head of a bearded man in a turban who is identified as Hegai, the guardian of the king's harem. The frame below the panel includes the scene of the hanging of Haman (Es. 7:10).

Name/Title
MAHJ Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray Sepia Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
col. 8
Settings
Unknown
Date
1740s
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Origin
Italy
| (?)
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
France | Paris | Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme Paris (MAHJ)
| inv. D.98.04.073.CL (former number Cl 12296e)
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
Ink on parchment
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: 275x1925 mm.
Lenght of the membranes in the scroll: 1) 675 mm, 2) 635 mm, 3) 615 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- text panel: 160x100 mm;
- illustrative panel: 35 x ca. 75 mm;
- an average letter: 3 mm (height).
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

In general, the scroll (the text and decorations) is preserved in good condition.

The membranes are slightly crumpled but their edges are straight with small losses.

Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew

Codicology

The scroll is formed of 3 membranes containing 12 text columns with 33 lines except for col. 10 with 27 lines (11 of them are divided into two parts).

The text is written in Ashkenazi square script resembling stam script, with tagim on the flesh side of parchment membranes.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 10.

In cols. 6 and 8, the Tetragrammaton is highlighted 4 times by tagim added to the selected letters that are longer than others and bent to the right.

The ruling and pricking are invisible but the lines of the text are straight.

The parchment membranes are relatively soft and a bit suede on their blank side.

Membranes in the scroll are stitched together.

Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon

None

Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks

Most likely the same ink was used for copying the text and making the ornamentation in the scroll.

The costumes of the figures between the text panels show common features with the costumes of Polish nobility in which numerous elements of Oriental, especially Turkish, garments were borrowed.

In the upper and lower margins of the membranes, pricking is visible. Possibly this is a remnant of the strip of fabric that was stitched underneath the membranes. 

Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

Formerly in the Strauss Collection (no. 80). It was donated by Rothschild.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

The scroll is described in:

Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue raisonné de la collection juive du Musée de Cluny, Paris 1981, 64-66, object 73.

A short description in French and several images of the scroll as "Rouleau d'Esther, Italie, 1743 vers" are available on https://www.mahj.org/fr/decouvrir-collections-betsalel/rouleau-d-esther-50122 (accessed on 31.07.2020).

Bibliography on other scrolls made by Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray or attributed to him:

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, 1:206-215.

Ernest Namenyi, "The Illumination of Hebrew Manuscripts after the Invention of Printing," in Cecil Roth (ed.), Jewish Art, an Illustrated History (London, 1961), col. 435.

Mendel Metzger, The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 1966, 48/2, esp. 409, 422-425.

Olga Sixtova, O svitku / Form of the Scroll [katalog k výstavě konané v Galerii Roberta Guttmanna Židovského muzea v Praze od 22. června do 26. července 2006], Prag 2006, 32-33.

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, 246-249.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 266-269.

A Fine Illustrated Esther Scroll, [ca. 1740], lot 105, Sotheby's New York Important Judaica, 20 December 2017 https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.105.html/2017/important-judaica-n09687 (accessed on 31.07.2020).

A Magnificent Esther Scroll Written and illustrated Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray, Schwelm, 1737, lot 187, Sotheby's New York Important Judaica Including Property from the Estate of Shlomo Moussaieff, 15 December 2016 https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/important-judaica-n09589/lot.187.html (accessed on 31.07.2020).

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Author of description
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
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Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
M001446