Mordecai is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described in Tanna Devei Eliyahu as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin and member of the Sanhedrin. Mordecai was also the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus. Mordecai's loyalty and bravery are highlighted in the story as he helps Esther foil the plot of Haman, the king's Vizier, to exterminate the Jewish people. His story is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates his victory. However, since the 1890s, some academics have suggested that Purim originated from a Babylonian or Persian myth or festival, noting the lack of overt religious elements in the story, with a hypothesis that “[The Book of] Esther [is] a historicized myth or ritual”.
The Triumph of Mordecai by Pieter Lastman, 1624
Esther before Ahasuerus by Franc Kavčič, 1815
Tomb of Esther and Mordechai
The tablet of Mordechai's ancestry in the tomb traditionally ascribed to him and Esther
The Book of Esther, also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll", is a book in the third section of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Scrolls in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.
A 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.
The introduction of Book of Esther, hand written, part of Cairo Gniza, digital collections of Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa
Scroll of Esther (Megillah)
The opening chapter of a hand-written scroll of the Book of Esther, with reader's Torah pointer
