Img. ID: 332854
Between the 2nd and 3rd columns of the text, illustration no. 5 is placed. It is labeled in Hebrew ויודע הדבר למרדכי ("And the thing was known to Mordecai", Es. 2:22). It depicts the moment when Mordecai overhears the plot of the king's chamberlains against him. Mordecai is shown on the right, listening in, while two chamberlains - one with a spear in his hand - are shown in the center and on the left. In the background, there is a staircase and a Lamassu (human-headed winged bull) statue.
The scroll is preserved intact.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew
The scroll is formed of 3 paper sheets containing 12 columns of the text with 42 lines, except for col. 10 with 11 lines divided into two parts.
The text of the Book of Esther with the vocalization is printed in the Ashkenazi stam script with tagin, in black ink. It reflects the text copied by an expert scribe and it shows scribal practices of typical Ashkenazi megillot, e.g. enlarged and diminished letters in Haman's sons section, enlarged letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29).
A short biography and Geismar's immigration card are available https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/bearing-witness/esther-scroll.asp (accessed on 24.10.2020).
Other exemplars of the megillah sharing the same illustrations are stored in the Jewish Museum in Prague (inv. nos. 095.541, 084.999, and 178.216 - ID no. 36312), in the MAHJ in Paris (Inv. 2009.17.015 and Inv. 2000.16.169), in the JTS Library in New York (S282 and S474), and other institutional and private collections.
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