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Img. ID: 346531

© Dagmara Budzioch, Photographer: Budzioch, Dagmara, 11.2015

Sheet no. 1

Text columns nos. 3 and 4 are surrounded by hand-painted decorations composed of griffins, birds as well as vases and baskets with flowers. Above panels, there are busts of Admatha and Tarshish (the princes listed in Es. 1:14). They are flanked by figures of the heroes of the Purim story: Mordecai, Queen Esther, Haman (from the right to the left; the latter is on the second sheet). On the lower margins, the two illustrations (nos. 3 and 4) chronicling the narrative of the Book of Esther are placed:

Frame 3: On the left, a gallows with two bodies suspending from it are shown - they are the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, hanged on the gallows (Es. 2:23). On the right, there is a high building. The representation is captioned ויתלו שניהם על העץ - "these two [Bightan and Teresh] were hanged".

Frame 4 includes a depiction of servants bowing to Haman (on the left), and Mordecai who sits at the gate and does not bow to him (on the right; both alluding to Es. 3:2). The representation is captioned מרדכי לא יכרע - "Mordecai bowed not".

Name/Title
JMNY Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray Sepia Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
cols. 3 and 4
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
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: 275 x ca. 2175 mm.
Lenght of the membranes in the scroll: 1) ca. 735 mm, 2) 665 mm, 3) 775 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- text panel: 116x176 mm (inside);
- upper margin: 38 mm (height);
- lower margin: 45 mm (height);
- standing figures: ca. 95 mm (height);
- baskets with flowers: 55 mm (height);
- an average letter: 2 mm (height);
- spaces between the lines: 2 mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

In general, the manuscript is preserved in good condition; some slight damages can be noticed in the decorations.

The sewing of the first and second sheets is damaged.

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 sheets, containing in total 12 columns of the text of 32 lines each.

Every membrane contains 4 columns of text.

The text is written in Hebrew square script with tagin (they are barely visible) in dark brown ink on the flesh side of the parchment membranes that are thin and relatively stiff. The membranes are bright and matte but their blank side is slightly yellow and glossy.

The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged and bolded.

All words המלך appearing at the head of the columns contain a large letter ה with 3 tagin and a letter ל decorated with a tendril. 

The letters of God's name are highlighted by tagin that are bent to the right.

All names of Haman's sons are of equal width; they include numerous elongated letters.

The ruling - horizontal and vertical lines - is made with a hard point and is well visible.

The pricking is invisible.

The 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
The scroll is not signed but its ornamentation executed solely in sepia ink resembles the style of the megillot Esther made by the artist-scribe Aryeh Leib son of Daniel of Goray (Pol. Goraj), Poland.
Colophon

None

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

The decoration is executed in two shades - brighter and darker - of brown ink. It seems the darker shade was used for corrections of the original pattern that could be faded.

Every word המלך appearing at the head of the column is decorated. It starts with the enlarged letter ה with three tagin and to the letter ל a stroke is added.

Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

No bibliography on the scroll is available.

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 | 2021
Author of description
Dagmara Budzioch | 2021
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
M003011