[Esther Scroll housed in silver decorative filagree case, untitled].

The Book of Esther is part of Ketuvim (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 Italy,
commissioned by well-to-do Italian Jews.' (Encyclopaedia Judaica)