EstherEsther (; Hebrew: אֶסְתֵּר, romanized: ʾEstēr), originally Hadassah (; Hebrew: הֲדַסָּה, romanized: Hăḏassā), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and marries her. His grand vizier Haman is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian Mordecai because of his refusal to bow before him.
AhasuerusAhasuerus ( ; Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Modern:ʾĂḥašverōš, Tiberian:ʾĂḥašwērōš, commonlyAchashverosh; Koine Greek: Ἀσουήρος, romanized: Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; Latin: Assuerus in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers of Ancient Persia and to a Babylonian official (or Median king) first appearing in the Tanakh in the Book of Esther and later in the Book of Tobit.
HamanHaman (Hebrew: הָמָן Hāmān; also known as Haman the Agagite) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I (died 465 BCE) but traditionally equated with Artaxerxes I or Artaxerxes II. His epithet, Agagite, indicates that Haman was a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites.
Jewish holidaysCandles are lit on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath ("Shabbat") and on Jewish holidays.Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim (Hebrew: יָמִים טוֹבִים, romanized: yāmīm ṭōvīm, lit. 'Good Days', or singularHebrew: יוֹם טוֹבYom Tov, in transliteratedHebrew [English: ]), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.
Book of EstherBook of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old TestamentA 13th–14th-century scroll of the Book of Esther from Fez, Morocco, held at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. Traditionally, a scroll of Esther is given only one roller, fixed to its lefthand side, rather than the two used for a Torah scroll.
Achaemenid EmpireThe Achaemenid Empire (, ; Old Persian: , Xšāça, lit. 'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom') was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. At peak, its territorial extent was roughly 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles), making it the largest empire of its time.
CleromancyCleromancy is a form of divination, involving sortition (casting of ), in which an outcome is determined by means that normally would be considered random, such as the rolling of dice (astragalomancy), but that are sometimes believed to reveal the will of a deity. In classical civilizationIn ancient Rome, fortunes were told through the casting of lots or sortes.
Hebrew languageHebrew is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival.
JewsEthnoreligious groupEthnic group
List of monarchs of IranThe monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 8th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian monarch is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty (c. 727–550 BC) or Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty (550–330 BC). The last Iranian monarch was Mohammad Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979), who was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution.
GenocideGenocide is the partial or total destruction of a human group, committed intentionally. The popular view conceives of genocide as the large-scale killing of individuals, but in scholarly and legal fields, genocide occurs when the group itself is targeted. Acts of genocide include killing as well as non-lethal acts such as preventing reproduction among the group, the forcible transfer of children to another group, and cultural genocide.
VizierHistorically, a vizier (; Arabic: وزير, romanized: wazīr; Persian: وزیر, romanized: vazīr), also transliterated as wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the countries of "greater Persia". The Abbasid caliphs gave the title wazir to a minister formerly called katib (secretary), who was at first merely a helper but afterwards became the representative and successor of the dapir (official scribe or secretary) of the Sasanian kings.
PurimRelated word or term.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.