Community Magazine March 2016

UNEARTHING THE MYSTERIES OF PURIM Each year, we read Megillat Esther – the story of Purim – recalling how the Jewish queen of Shushan intervened to foil Haman’s scheme, and saved the Jews in 127 provinces. But what may surprise many is that the megillah isn’t the only record of the heroes and villians of the Purim story. V arious ancient Greek and Semitic writings, tombs, and archaeological inscriptions all attest to information about Esther, Haman, and Achashverosh that, until recently, have remained relatively unknown. The new information gleaned from these sources sheds light on who the characters from the Purim story were and what they did. For example, recent discoveries have revealed just how Haman determined his “lots.” Also they provide additional historical background on Achashverosh, and give us insight into the politics behind the ancient tomb where Esther and Mordechai are believed to be buried. One investigator, award-winning documentarian Simcha Jacobovici, explained that Haman didn’t just want to murder the Jews of his 127 Persian provinces. He wanted to show that his god was superior to the Gd of Israel by rolling dice to determine the date upon which to act. Jacobovici, 63, was born in Canada and now lives in Israel. He has dedicated his life to dig deeper into Jewish history. The pur in Purim loosely translates to dice, and is commonly – but erroneously – described as “throwing lots,” Jacobovici asserts. “If he wanted to go out and get the Jews,” Jacobovici asks, “why didn’t he just go out and get ’em? Why’d he have to do it at a certain time, on a date next month, and give everyone a heads up? That’s when I realized he was trying to show that fate was stronger than the Gd of the Jews.” Haman used a dice game, the Royal Game of Ur. It is a board game from Mesopotamia (southern Iraq) which was discovered by archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in a grave in the city of Ur in the 1920s. As evidenced by the five ancient games thus far found, the dice used in the game are dissimilar to today’s six-sided dice; the dice in the Game of Ur are pyramid-shaped. “Exactly like the triangle cookies we still make on Purim, hamantashen . It’s not representing Haman’s hat, or his ears, as most people have believed,” Jacobovici insists. The British Museum displays a Royal Game of Ur board adorned with precious stones, dating to the time of Joseph, hailing from an Afghanistan princesses’ tomb. Also displayed in the British Museum is an Assyrian palace gate that contains the game etched into it by bored guards from the eighth-century BCE. Other boards, decorated with pictures of fighting beasts, have been excavated recently. The “pawns,” or pieces used in the game, were made of various animals’ knuckle bones. Until recently, the rules of play were a mystery. Dr. Irving Finkel, curator at the British Museum, decoded a second century BCE Babylonian cuneiform tablet which describes this race-to-the- finish-line game. According to the carving, the 20-square board contained 12 zodiac squares and was thought to foretell players’ good or bad fortune (this is where Haman comes in). Various renditions of the game have been found across the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean area, going back five thousand years. Archaeologists believe that the game was popular amongst traders, soldiers and missionaries. Today, the Royal Game of Ur can be bought online. “I not only touched the game, but I brought it home and played it with my kids. We didn’t just celebrate Purim, but we played Haman’s game – and beat him at his own game,” says Jacobovici. DAVE GORDON 36 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE