19th-century Esther Scroll from Gaza’s former Jewish community up for auction

A historic 19th-century Esther Scroll from Gaza’s former Jewish community will reportedly be presented at Winner’s Auction House in Jerusalem.

The rare Jewish artifact has the abbreviation “K.K. Gaza” (Kehilat Kodesh Gaza or Holy Community of Gaza) and originally belonged to Jewish residents in Gaza who relocated to Alexandria, Egypt, in the 19th century, when the city was home to a flourishing and sizable Jewish community. The historic scroll measures around 340 cm in length and 14 cm in height and features 20 columns inscribed on four sheets of leather.

The Esther Scroll, read by Jews worldwide during the holiday of Purim, honors the Jewish Queen Esther, who along with Mordecai her uncle, saved the Jewish community in ancient Persia.

The scroll is considered to be in good condition for its age and fully suitable for ritual reading after it underwent some repairs years ago. It will reportedly be auctioned on March 30 with a starting bid of $1,500. Experts have estimated that the scroll is worth between $10,000 and $15,000.

The Gaza Strip, located along the Eastern Mediterranean coast, has a significant ancient Jewish history.

In 1481, Rabbi Meshullam of Volterra, a Jewish banker from Italy, described Gaza as a "good and fat land," noting the presence of a small but successful Jewish community, which produced wine.

“Aza is called Gaza by the Ishmaelites, and it is a good and fat land, and its fruits are very fine. And there is good bread and wine, although the wines are only made by the Jews. Its perimeter is 4 miles long and it has no walls...it is surrounded by blue on the shore of the sea. And has about 60 Jewish homeowners...” the rabbi wrote following his visit.

Jews lived in Gaza from the 2nd century B.C.E. until the Arab riots in 1929, during the British Palestine Mandate.

Under the UN Partition Plan in 1947, Gaza was earmarked for a future Arab state.

However, during Israel’s War of Independence (1948-1949), Egypt seized Gaza, holding it until it was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. Following that war, Israel decided to re-establish modern Jewish communities in Gaza.

Then, in 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its military troops from the Strip and evacuated all the Jewish residents from their homes. In 2007, Hamas violently took over Gaza and expelled its political rival, the Fatah party, which runs the Palestinian Authority.