This is supposed to be the biblical Esther
AKA: Hádássah or myrtle. Also Amestris of Persia
Born ca. 519 BCE
Esther, book of the Old Testament, one of those constituting the third
partthe Writingsof the Hebrew canon (see Bible). Esther was one of the
last books to be accepted as canonical by both Jews and Christians.
Scholarship indicates that it was composed in the 2nd century BCE.
The Book of Esther tells of the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from
destruction and of the institution of the feast of Purim. Esther, a
Jewish maiden raised by her older cousin Mordecai, is selected to be the
queen of King Ahasuerus ( Xerxes I). However, Haman, the king's ambitious
chief minister, resents Mordecai and persuades the king to authorize a
massacre of all the Jews in the kingdom. Mordecai urges Esther to
persuade Ahasuerus to revoke the decree. Esther exposes Haman's schemes,
whereupon Ahasuerus orders Haman hanged and appoints Mordecai as his
chief minister. The king then allows the Jews to destroy their enemies.
To celebrate their delivery, Mordecai and Queen Esther decree the annual
feast of Purim.