A “megillah” is a scroll; the Megillah is the scroll containing the text of the biblical Book of Esther, which is read publicly each year on the holiday of Purim. 

This scroll opens with a richly colored initial panel embellished with floral motifs, drawing on similar imagery found in Islamic book arts of the period. The parcel-gilt case, adorned with delicate floral engravings, is typical of megillah cases crafted in Baghdad. The scroll however, is one of only a small number of 19th-century decorated Esther scrolls from this once important center of Jewish life.