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Img. ID: 346162

© Jewish Museum in London (JML), Photographer: Unknown, -

Sheet no. 1

Text column no. 2: In the upper margin, a bust of a man with a mustache and a cap on his head (Haman?) is shown. In the lower margin, Queen Vashti is portrayed while she is strangled by two women standing on either side of her. During the execution, she keels with hands folded on the chest, and the crown lies on the floor, behind her. The Book of Esther does not mention the fate of Vashti after her refusal of the king's order and the source for this representation is unknown.

Text column no. 3: In the upper margin, a bust of a young woman (Esther?) is depicted. The frame in the lower margins contains the depiction of the walled city. In the central part of the wall, there is a gate at which a man (Mordecai) is seated (Es. 2:19 and/or 2:21).

Text column no. 4: In the upper margin, a bust of a bearded man with a flat cap on the head (Mordecai?) is depicted. In the frame in the lower margin, a wedding ceremony of Ahasuerus and Esther is represented. The scene is witnessed by a group of men standing on the left and a group of women standing on the right. The Book of Esther does not mention this episode and the source for this representation remains unknown. It can be influenced by European paintings in which the scene of the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Josef was similarly composed. This can also explain the dress of a man standing in the center that refers to the high priest's robes.

In the octagons separating the frames are depicted (from the right to the left): 1) a (palace?) garden with a fountain, 2) a cityscape with the sun shining over a city, 3) a ship on the sea, 4) a landscape with hills (on the second membrane).

Name/Title
JML Hand-Made Copy of Esther Scroll with Portrait Medallions | Unknown
Object Detail
cols. 2-4
Settings
Unknown
Date
18th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown (Unknown)
Origin
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 and paint on parchment + silver + silk (?)
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: ca. 210 x min. 1980 mm.
Length of the sheets in the scroll: 1) ca. 595 mm, 2) ca. 390 mm, 3) ca. 395 mm, 4) min. 600 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- text panels: 120x72 mm (the last two panels are wider and they are 85 mm wide);
- opening decoration with the first column: 145 mm (width);
- an average letter: 2 mm (height);
- letters in the initial word of the scroll: ca. 6 mm (height);
- letters ח in Es. 1:6 and ת in Es. 9:29: ca. 4 mm (height);
- letters in the benedictions: 2 mm (height).

A piece of fabric underneath the opening section: 200x90 mm.

The roller: ca. 395 mm (height).
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The text and decorations are preserved in good condition.

The beginning of the scroll is damaged and very dirty despite a protective fabric stitched to it; in general, the parchments are dirty.

Some sewings between the second and the third sheets are torn.

Some pieces of membranes are reinforced with tape and tape traces in several places are visible.

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 with the benedictions recited before and after the Megillah reading and the liturgical poem Asher Heni

Codicology

The scroll is formed of 4 sheets containing a total of 16 columns of text and two additional benediction panels at the beginning and the end of the scroll. Each column includes 24 lines of text, except for col. 14 with 11 lines divided into two half-columns.

Every sheet comprises 4 columns of text.

The text is written in the Hebrew square script with tagin in brown ink on the flesh side of parchment membranes that are rather thin. Both sides of the parchments are similar, but the blank side is smoother than the side of the text and decorations.

The scroll opens with an enlarged and bolded initial word.

The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged and bolded. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 14.

The ruling is made with a hard point.

The pricking can be seen after the last text panel.

The sheets in the scroll are stitched together.

The benedictions: The initial benedictions are written in the central panel of the opening decoration. They are copied in light brown ink, in the semi-cursive letters but they open with words ברוך written in the square letters.

The final blessing starts with a large word ברוך placed in the upper margin and is copied in the square script. In the panel below it, the Purim poem is copied in semi-cursive letters, while its initial word and letters opening the subsequent verses are square, enlarged (4-5 mm high), and bolded.

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
Colophon

None

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

Before the opening decoration and after the final panel, there are blank spaces that are 90 mm wide.

The ornamentation in the scroll was sketched in brown ink, the same in which the text was written and the outlines are filled with black or grey paint. Different hues of grey color used in the ornamentation imitate sculptures or reliefs.

Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The former number of the manuscript - N40 - above the opening decoration can be seen.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

No bibliography on the manuscript is available but engraved scrolls sharing similar pattern are discussed e.g. in:

Jiřina Šedinová, From the Mss. Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague. The Scrolls of Esther, "Judaica Bohemiae" 1979, nr 15/2, 80-83.

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, 234-237.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 282-283.

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, 1:176-188.

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
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
M002738