The Scroll of Esther (Hebrew: Megilat Ester) is the eighth book in the canon of the Hebrew Bible in the section of Scripture, and the last of the so-called Five Scrolls (the others being Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, and the Ecclesiastes). The book recounts the story of Esther, wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (identified as Artaxerxes I), and her guardian, Mordecai (Mordechai), who thwarted the plans of the wicked Haman, seeking to murder all the Jews in the Persian state. After the conspiracy was exposed, Haman was hanged and Mordecai took his post as a reward. Scholars' opinions on the historical veracity of these events are divided.
In most Jewish communities, the Scroll of Esther is read aloud in synagogues during the festival of Purim (for more information see: Zofia Borzymińska, Estery Księga, in: Polski Słownik Judaistyczny, Warsaw 2003, vol. 1., pp. 402–403).
The Scroll of Esther from the collection of the Lublin Open Air Village Museum is a manuscript in Hebrew on parchment in the form of a scroll measuring approximately 396.5 cm in length and 14 cm in width, composed of six fragments (sheets) sewn together with thread. It is inscribed in black ink. The scroll is wound on a wooden roller ending in a baluster-shaped handle at the bottom and a thread at the top, on which the locking end was screwed.
The scroll is placed inside a wooden decorated cylinder-shaped case. The main part of the decoration consists of two slightly convex reliefs depicting buildings with domes. Above the images of the buildings are identical Hebrew inscriptions, painted in black paint: "Yerushalayim" (Jerusalem) and "Eretz Yisrael" (Land of Israel). Below the images of the buildings, placed on opposite sides, are two different Hebrew inscriptions painted in black paint: "Kever Rachel Imenu" (Tomb of Our Mother Rachel) and "Ha-Kotel ha-Ma'arawi" (literally Western Wall, i.e. the Wailing Wall). Surrounding the top and bottom edges of the cylinder are strips of ornament of embossed concentric circles, next to them are strips inlaid with dyed wood. Along the container runs a slit through which a scroll of parchment is inserted. One piece of parchment is missing at the beginning of the scroll – an element blocking the scroll from rolling inwards.
The item was purchased from a resident of Lublin in 1973.
