In goo `Abu Said al-Jannabi, who had been sent to Bahrein by Haman, had secured a large part of this province and had won the city of Katif (Ketif) which contained many Jews and Persians.
The Megillah or Roll of Esther is read both at home and in the synagogue, and wherever, during the reading, the name of Haman is mentioned, it is accompanied with tramping the feet.
It became customary to burn an effigy of Haman at the conclusion of the feast, and this was regarded as in some ways an attack on Christianity and was therefore forbidden by the Theodosian code, XVI.
The earliest mention, however, of this burning of Haman in effigy cannot be traced back earlier than the Talmud in the 5th century.
Execration of Haman, as the typical persecutor of the Jews, took various forms. In Germany wooden mallets were used in the synagogue to beat the benches when Haman's name was read out from the scroll of Esther, and during the festivities these mallets were sometimes used on the heads of the bystanders.