Haman
(magnificent), the chief minister or vizier of King Ahasuerus. (Esther 3:1) (B.C. 473.) After the failure of his attempt to cut off all the Jews in the Persian empire, he was hanged on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai. The Targum and Josephus interpret the inscription of him--the Agagite--as signifying that he was of Amalekitish descent. The Jews hiss whenever his name is mentioned on the day of Purim.