<P> The Book of Esther , also known in Hebrew as `` the Scroll '' ( Megillah ) , is a book in the third section ( Ketuvim , `` Writings '' ) of the Jewish Tanakh ( the Hebrew Bible ) and in the Christian Old Testament . It is one of the five Scrolls ( Megillot ) in the Hebrew Bible . It relates the story of a Hebrew woman in Persia , born as Hadassah but known as Esther , who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people . The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim , during which it is read aloud twice : once in the evening and again the following morning . The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not explicitly mention God . </P>
where do the events in the story take place geographically
Persia