Img. ID: 332906
The upper and lower margins are decorated with belts filled with foliate and floral ornaments in which birds are woven.
Illustrations between roundels nos. 6 and 7: Haman with a whip in his hand belongs to the scene of the triumph of Mordecai (Es. 6:11) that is represented on the other side of the roundel (invisible in the image). The figure inscribed in Hebrew:
והמן רץ לפני מרדכי ברחוב העיר וקרא לפניו ככה יעשה לאיש אשר המלך חפץ ביקרו
Below, Haman is shown as hanging on the gallows (Es. 7:10). The scene is inscribed in Hebrew:
המן תלוי על עץ גבה חמשים אמה על אשר בקש לשלח יד ביהודים ולהגרם ביום אחד
Column no. 8 includes Haman's sons section (Es. 9:6-10), which is exceptionally not framed in the roundel. The text is inscribed in 11 lines divided into two parts and in the space between them, the gallows on which ten sons of Haman are hanged (Es. 9:14) can be seen. From each of five rungs, two bodies are suspending.
The second membrane ends between roundel no. 7 and col. no. 8.
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Mordecai's triumph (Es. 6:11)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Haman hanged (Es. 7:10)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Haman's sons hanged (Es. 9:14)
O | Ornamentation: | Foliate and floral ornaments
B | Bird
F | Flower
O | Ornamentation: | Main text framed
|
The opening part is very dark and the decorations on it are damaged.
Some parts of the text are erased.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew
The scroll is formed of 3 sheets containing in total 9 columns of text (8 of them is written in roundels) with 28, 30, or 31 lines each, except for col. 8 which has 11 lines divided into two half-columns.
The number of columns of text per sheet: no. 1 - 4 columns, no. 2 - 3 columns, no. 3 - 2 columns.
The text is written in Hebrew square Ashkenazi script with tagin in dark brown and brown ink on parchment membranes.
The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged and bolded. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 8.
The letters of the name of God are marked with tagin bent to the right.
Several letters in the scroll are decorated with tiny swirls.
The ruling is almost invisible; only in a few places, its traces can be discerned.
The pricking on the membranes' edges can be seen; it is visible either on the side of the text and decorations or on the blank side of the parchments.
The membranes of the scroll are glued together.
None
The third membrane is different from the two first membranes in the scroll; it is more suede and yellower than them and its quality influenced the text and decorations.
The fragments of the scroll are reproduced in some publications, but no comprehensive discussion on it is available.