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© Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky (SUB), Photographer: Unknown, -, Negative/Photo. No. M002090.
Name/Title
SUB Chinoiserie Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
sheet 6 (text panels 11 and 12)
Date
18th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown (Unknown)
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Category
Material/Technique
Ink and paints 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: 280x3720 mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
In general, the manuscript is preserved in good condition. Some parts of the decoration are erased or faded. The frames of the panels originally could be painted gold but now the color is invisible. The text is very well preserved.
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
Description

Text panels nos. 11 and 12 (sheet 6) surrounded by the hand-painted decoration.

Upper margin:

25. In the center, the king is standing; on the right, two men are standing before him and on the left, three musicians are walking - an unidentified scene.

26. A long gallows with 10 bodies - Haman's sons hanged (Es. 9:14).

27. The scene of a battle - is difficult to determine which particular verse is represented here but it can be an additional day of fights (Es. 9:15-16). 

Lower margin:

24. Purim celebration, although is cannot be decided if the scene depicts the first Purim feast (Es. 9:17-23) or celebrations from the times of the manuscript's maker. We can recognize here: a woman with a pitcher, a man with a tray full of glasses, a couple in the checquered pattern costumes, a man playing with a dog, a man standing on his head, and people feasting at the table. On the far left, there is a mysterious figure of a man with a baby in his arms who appears to be running away.

Custom
Contents
Codicology

The scroll is formed of 7 sheets containing 28 columns of the text with 17 lines except for col. 23 with 11 lines divided into two parts. 

Each membrane contains 2 text panels with 4 columns of the text.

The text is inscribed in the Hebrew square Italian script, in black ink, on the flesh side of parchment membranes that is brighter than the blank side that is more yellow.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is highlighted by its form (it is formed of two elements joined with a roof) and size (it is larger than an average letter in the scroll). The letter ת is enlarged and bolded (Es. 9:29). Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 23. 

The ruling is slightly visible, in some places only.

The membranes in the scroll are stitched.

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
Signature
Colophon

None

Scribal Notes
Watermark
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks

A similar megillah stored in the Library of Congress, the African and Middle Eastern Division in Washington (no. 038.00.00) is described: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/an-illuminated-megillah-judaic-treasures (accessed on 24.09.2020).

History/Provenance
The blank side of the opening part of the scroll, there is a German inscription saying about the previous owner of the manuscript - the Russian prince Vasily Sergeyevich Trubetskoy (d. 1841). The manuscript was given to the Library in 1906.
Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

Hans-Walter Stork, Falk Wiesemann, Codex hebraicus 345, [in:] Irina Wandrey ed., Manuscript Cultures, vol. 6, 249-252.

Images of the scroll are available on https://resolver.sub.uni-hamburg.de/kitodo/PPN895256576 (accessed on 24.09.2020).

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Researcher
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
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