[Esther Scroll housed in wooden case, untitled].

Megillat Esther. Esther scroll housed in a beautiful wooden case.

Manuscript on vellum on seven conjoined sheets. Text arranged in 14 lines, in Hebrew Ashkenzai (Beit Yosef) Script.

The Book of Esther is part of the Ketuvim (The Writings), the third section of the Hebrew Bible. It tells the story of a Jewish girl named Esther who became queen of Persia and thwarted a plan by Haman to commit genocide against her people. Also called The Megillah, the book is the basis and an integral part of the Jewish celebration of Purim. Its full text is read aloud twice during the celebration, in the evening and again the following morning. Besides Song of Songs, it is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God.

'Since the Talmudic period it has been customary to write the Book of Esther on parchment in the form of a scroll, and the rules governing its production and writing are basically the same as those for a traditional Torah scroll. It is not known when and under what circumstances artistic embellishment of Esther scrolls began. The earliest extant illuminated examples emanate from 16th-century Italy,
commissioned by well-to-do Italian Jews' (Encyclopaedia Judaica).

Scroll on parchment, 7 conjoined sheets, housed in carved and painted olivewood case. Scroll height 10 cm, case height 35 cm.