Length of the sheets in the scroll: 1) 485 mm, 2) ca. 400 mm, 3) ca. 390 mm, 4) ca. 430 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- the print: 160 x ca. 485 mm;
- text panel: 670x90 mm (inner dimensions);
- spaces between the text panels: 31 mm;
- frames with illustration(s): 35x69 mm (inside the frame);
- frames with illustration(s) in the opening decoration: 62x28 mm, 47x32 mm, or 47x34 mm;
- benedictions panel: 62x34 mm;
- vases separating the illustrations: ca. 25x38 mm;
- an average letter (including benedictions): 2 mm;
- letters in the words ברוך, in the initial word of the scroll, and in col. 14: 5 mm.
The roller: ca. 355 mm (height).
Main text framed
Ahasuerus and Esther, enthroned
Seven princes of Persia and Media (Es. 1:14)
Seven maidens given to Esther (Es. 2:9)
Bigthan and Teresh hanged (Es. 2:23)
Haman and his ten sons hanged (Es. 9:25)
Haman hanged (Es. 7:10)
Haman's sons hanged (Es. 9:14)
Mordecai receiving clothes from Hatach (Es. 4:4)
Mordecai's triumph (Es. 6:11)
Mordecai and Esther writing the Purim letter (Es. 9:29)
Ahasuerus' banquet (Es. 1:3-8) |
In general, the manuscript is well preserved, although there are yellow stains on the third sheet.
Opening decoration: The scroll opens with a panel containing several narrative scenes from the Esther story. In the central part of its upper register, there is the royal couple seated on the throne with a canopy that is placed on a pedestal. The king and the queen are accompanied by courtiers; on the right stand the princes of Media and Persia (Es. 1:14), and Esther's maidservants stand on the left (Es. 2:9). Below, there are three rectangular frames: the central panel contains the benedictions recited before the Megillah reading, while the panel on the right shows the chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, hanging on two gallows (Es. 2:23). The one on the left depicts Haman and his sons hanging on three gallows (Es. 7:10 and Es. 9:14 or Es. 9:25). The lowest register also contains three episodes (from right to left): Mordecai receiving the clothes from Hatakh (Es. 4:4), Haman leading Mordecai through the streets of Susa (Es. 6:11), and Esther and Mordecai writing letters instructing the Jews to observe Purim (Es. 9:29).
Column 1: In the upper margin, landscape no. 1 is printed and in the lower margin, the feast of Ahasuerus is represented (Es. 1:3-8). Six men are seated at a round laid table. On either side of the table, servants are visible.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew preceded with benedictions recited before the Megillah reading
The scroll is formed of 4 sheets containing a total of 16 columns of the text with 24 lines, except for col. 14 with 11 lines divided into two half-columns. Additionally, initial benedictions are written within the opening decoration.
Every sheet contains 4 columns of text.
The text is written in the Hebrew square script, in brown and black ink on the flesh side of parchment membranes that are of medium thickness but rather stiff. The blank side of the sheets is more suede and darker (rather grey).
The initial word of the Megillah is enlarged and bolded.The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is highlighted by its form - it is composed of two parts joined with a roof and it is decorated with scrolled feet. The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is enlarged and bolded. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 14.
There are some corrections and erasures in the text.
The ruling is well visible on the blank side of the sheets.
The pricking is invisible.
The sheets in the scroll are stitched together.
The benedictions: the formulas are copied in the square script. Each of them starts with an enlarged and bolded word ברוך; in the first benediction, it is separated from the rest of the text. The letters א and ל are written as a ligature.
None
There are two variants of the scrolls decorated with this pattern that in the Index are marked "I" and "II". In some exemplars, just below the decorative herms, the pedestals with angel's heads and bases were added, therefore, the text panels are higher; this type is marked with "II". Whereas, the rest of the manuscripts containing no pedestals with angel's heads and bases are marked with "I". The latter are more numerous.
The earliest scroll sharing a similar engraved pattern is dated to 1701; this is the megillah BCM 25 from the Braginsky Collection in Zurich (see http://braginskycollection.com/esther-scrolls/; accessed on 22.04.2020).
Similar narrative scenes are included in the scrolls with "portrait medallions" (see in the Index); some of them are their mirror image.
No bibliography on the scroll is available. The scrolls sharing the same or similar pattern are discussed for example in:
Jiřina Šedinová, From the Mss. Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague. The Scrolls of Esther, "Judaica Bohemiae" 1979, nr 15/2, 79-80.
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.
Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue raisonné de la collection juive du Musée de Cluny, Paris 1981, 63-64, object 72.
Falk Wiesemann, Codex hebraicus 159, [in:] Irina Wandrey ed., Manuscript Cultures, vol. 6, 257-259.
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, 1:163-176, 2:41-49.