Sheet no. 3
The fifth roundel is decorated with animals (including deer), hunters, and various trees.
On the right, there are men and women seated at a long table set with food - possibly it depicts the first feast given by Esther (Es. 5:5-8). Below them, there are three musicians and below them, Esther reclines in a canopied bed while Haman is begging her for mercy (Es. 7:8). All three depictions are partly visible in the image.
On the left, in the upper part, there are two scenes joined together. The first of them is the triumph of Mordecai (Es. 6:11) which depicts Mordecai mounted on a horse, led by Haman. The second scene shows Haman's daughter who empties a chamber pot on her father's head (an extra-biblical story in Megillah 16a); she is in a building on the right. Below, there is an angel who reads the imperial chronicles to the king seated on the throne during his sleepless night (an extra-biblical story based on Es. 6:1-3).
M | Musician
M | Musical Instruments
A | Angel
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Esther's first banquet (Es. 5:5-8)
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's daughter empties a chamber pot on her father's head (Bab. Talmud, Megillah 16a)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Sleepless night of the king (Es. 6:1)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus listening to the Book of Records (Es. 6:1-3)
T | Tree
H | Hunt
D | Deer
O | Ornamentation: | Main text framed
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The manuscript is very well preserved.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew
The scroll is formed of 5 sheets, in total containing 13 text panels with 23 or 24 lines of different lengths, except for col. 11 which has 11 lines divided into two half-columns.
The number of columns of text per sheet: nos. 1-3 - 2 columns, no. 4 - 3 columns, no. 5 - 4 columns; 9 of them are framed in roundels.
The text is written in Hebrew square Ashkenazi script in brown ink on parchment membranes.
The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are slightly larger than an average letter in the scroll. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 11.
The letters of the name of God are marked with tagin bent to the right.
Col. 10 contains numerous elongated letters.
There are some corrections and erasures in the text.
The ruling is made with a hard point, but it is barely visible.
The pricking on the membranes' edges can be seen.
The membranes of the scroll are glued together.
None
It seems that this scroll and two other scrolls featuring the same style (see "Related objects) were executed by the same artist, although two of them are decorated with roundels, while the third one is decorated with octagons.
It seems that the final part of the manuscript was painted by another artist than the main part of the decorations.
A short description of the scroll and its images are available on https://data.jck.nl/page/aggregation/jhm-museum/M000440 (accessed on 9.08.2021).