Esther. Esther is described in the Book of Esther as a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus. In the narrative, Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, refuses to obey him, and Esther is chosen for her beauty. The king's chief advisor, Haman, is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian, Mordecai, and gets permission from the king to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed. Esther foils the plan, and wins permission from the king for the Jews to kill their enemies, and they do so. Her story is the traditional basis for Purim, which is celebrated on the date given in the story for when Haman's order was to go into effect, which is the same day that the Jews killed their enemies after the plan was reversed. According to most scholars, the name Esther is derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and/or the Persian word stara, star. The Book of Daniel provides accounts of Jews in exile being assigned names relating to Babylonian gods and Mordecai is understood to mean servant of Marduk, a Babylonian god. Esther may have been a different Hebrew interpretation from the Proto-Semitic root star/'morning/evening star', which descended with the /th/ into the Ugaritic Athtiratu and Arabian Athtar. The derivation must then have been secondary for the initial ayin to be confused with an aleph, and the second consonant descended as a /s/, rather than a /sh/ as in Hebrew and most commonly in Akkadian. Even in Talmudic times it was realized that the name Esther was of foreign origin. According to one opinion mentioned in the Talmud and Yalkut Shimoni as well as Targum Sheni the name Esther comes from אסתהר, the morning star Venus. Modern scholars starting with Assyriologist Peter Jensen added on to this by connecting Esther with Ishtar Babylonian goddess of the planet Venus, and this view came to be adopted by almost all commentators. A. S. Yahuda conjectured that the name Esther is derived from a reconstructed Median word astra meaning myrtle. This would match her Hebrew name as recorded in the Bible, Hadassah, also meaning myrtle. Main article: Book of Esther In the narrative, King Ahasuerus is drunk at a festival and orders his queen, Vashti, to appear before him and his guests to display her beauty. When she refuses to appear, he deposes her and seeks a new queen. Beautiful maidens gather together at the harem in the citadel of Susa under the authority of the eunuch Hegai. Esther was the cousin of Mordecai, a member of the Jewish community in the Exilic Period who claimed as an ancestor Kish, a Benjamite who had been taken from Jerusalem into captivity. She was the orphaned daughter of Mordecai's uncle, another Benjamite named Abihail. Upon the king's orders Esther was taken to palace where Hegai prepared her for meeting the king. Even as she advanced to the highest position of the harem, perfumed with myrrh and allocated certain foods and servants, she was under strict instructions from Mordecai, who met with her each day, to conceal her Jewish origins. The king falls in love with her and makes her Queen. Later, Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman the Agagite, who was recently made Ahasuerus' highest advisor, and Haman requests and is given permission to order all the Jews in Persia to be killed. When Esther learns of this, Mordecai tells her to reveal to the king that she is Jewish and to ask him to repeal the order. Esther hesitates, saying that she could be put to death if she goes to the king without being summoned and the king does not want to see her; Mordecai urges her to try. She goes to the king, and the king welcomes her, and says he will give her anything she wants. Instead of asking directly about the order, she invites the king and Haman to a banquet the next day. During the banquet, the king again asked Esther if there is anything she wants, and this time she asks the king to spare her life and that of all of the Jews. The king asks who was threatening them, and she names Haman. Haman throws himself at her feet; the king thinks that Haman is attacking her and orders him to be put to death, and gives all Haman's possessions to Esther. Esther tells the king about Mordecai's role in her life, and the king makes Mordecai his highest advisor. Esther then asks the king to revoke the order, and king allows Esther and Mordecai to do so, however they wish. They send out an order in the king's name that Jews can assemble and defend themselves, and can kill anyone who threatens them, and their families, and take their goods. On the thirteenth day of Adar, the same day that Haman had set for them to be killed, the Jews do so in one city, killing 500 people but not taking plunder, and they kill around 75,000 the next day again not taking plunder, and then they feast.