According to the biblical ‘Book of Esther,’ Esther was a Hebrew woman from Persia who became the queen of Persian king Ahasuerus, generally identified as Xerxes I, the fifth king of kings of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The book suggests that Esther, born to Abihail, was orphaned as a child and was thereafter adopted and raised by her cousin, Mordecai. When Vashti, the first wife of Ahasuerus, defied the king’s wish to appear at his banquet and display her beauty, she was banished. Following this, Ahasuerus wanted a new wife and selected Esther, smitten by her beauty when she and other beautiful virgins were presented before him. Esther became the queen of Persia. However, till that time, she had not disclosed her Jewish background to the king. When Haman, the royal vizier of the king, planned and convinced the king to issue an edict of extermination to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, Esther and Mordecai foiled the plan. Esther revealed to the king that she was a Jew and thus succeeded in persuading the king in not only overturning the edict but also in allowing the Jews to kill their enemies. This incident of saving the Jews from Haman is commemorated and celebrated annually as a Jewish holiday called Purim.