The scroll opens with a large panel showing an enthroned king. Although his costume represents the 18th-century fashion of Western Europe, apparently the figure depicts King Ahasuerus. The king wears a long-knee suit with an order, short trousers, and thighs. He has a curly wig on his head and a crown on it and holds a scepter in his hand. Above him, a pinned curtain and a valance with fringes are shown. The image can allude to the opening verse of the Book of Esther saying that Ahasuerus was the king over 127 provinces (Es. 1:1).
The first column of text is flanked by panels topped with a stylized crown and filled with floral designs. The text opens with an enlarged and colored word ויהי written in the colorful frame. Additionally, a decorative letter ח in חור (Es. 1:6) is drawn.
The length of the membranes in the scroll: 1) 705 mm, 2) 710 mm, 3) 615 mm, 4) 515 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- opening decoration: 250x125 mm;
- columns of text are of different width, e.g. 140, 150, and 205 mm;
- an average letter: 4 mm;
- spaces between the lines: 3 mm.
O | Ornamentation: | Initial word, framed
O | Ornamentation: | Ornament
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | *Esther's Story Characters (depicted not in narrative scenes): | Ahasuerus enthroned
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus as the king over 127 provinces (Es. 1:1)
O | Ornamentation: | Letter
|
The manuscript is well preserved and only slight damages are visible in it.
The details painted in green are preserved in worse condition.
The membranes are slightly dirty.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew
The scroll consists of 4 membranes containing a total of 11 columns with 29 lines per each, except for the col. 9 which is written in 11 lines divided into two half-columns.
The first three membranes contain 3 columns of text, and the fourth membrane contains 2 columns.
The text is inscribed in Hebrew square Ashkenazi stam script with tagin, in dense black ink on the flesh side of parchment membranes that are very thick and stiff, rather bright and a bit suede.
The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged, bolded, and colored; the letter ח is additionally decorated with scrolled feet. In the same way, the letters of the Tetragrammaton are highlighted. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 9.
The text contains some seriously elongated letters.
There are numerous and large corrections in the scroll (e.g. in col. 10).
The ruling - horizontal and vertical lines - is made with a hardpoint ruled across the width of the membranes.
The pricking is visible on the opening edge of the scroll.
The membranes in the scroll are stitched together.
None
In two places - on the first and second membranes - corrections can be seen. In both cases, a small piece of parchment was cut out and the proper words were written on small pieces of parchment that are glued underneath the membranes.
The ink in the scroll is still a bit shiny.
A short description and images are available on https://data.jck.nl/page/aggregation/jhm-museum/M000417 (accessed on 15.07.2021).