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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
227
as a Semitic tribe, au assumiitinn that is coutirmed by their physical a|)iiearaiii-e. The iKimadie Zalans, who live apart from tlii' slate elmreh, also consider theiiiselves Israelites (Flad. "Die Abyssiiiischeii Judeii," Basel, IHtli); also the monograph of Jletz in "Moiiatsschrift," 1871), xxviii. ; and Epstein, "Eldad haDaiii." I'resburg, 1891). The llourishiiij; condition of Xorlh Africa brouL'lit about by Hoinan civilization did not last beyond the fourth century. The Vandal hordes coni|Uered the province of Africa, and allhouirh as Medieval Arians they weri' well disjiosed toward the Jews, still Ihr latter sullered Period, When the Byzantines beirreatly. came masters of this reirion the little conu'rej^ation of Borion, which claimed to tracts its oriirin l)ack to Kinj; Solomon, wasforced byJustinian toaccejit bajitism ((iriil/, "Gesch. der.Iudcn," v. ;!(i). Butlhe Byzantine d(jminion soon irave way to the S;ir;icen and the Jews were ]iennitled to proi.'ress in peace. L'n der the intluenccof the vivifyini; Arabic culturi' the Jews awoke to a new life. The holy city of K.vinw a., from which so many learned Jews have derived their names, is situated in Tunis (Ilin Ilaukal, "Orient. Geogr. pp. lit, 20; (pioted by Hitter, l.r.. ]>. U13), and is not identical with the ancient (yrene, as Kapoport, the bioifraphcr of the North African scholars, asserts Bikkure ha-'Ittim, ed. 1820, p. 08; ed. sni, p. II!). The city of Kairwan, says the Spaniard Abraham ibn Daud, was the most strongly fortified place in the whole Ma'arab (" West "), as tlu; Jews, followiiij; thee.ampl(;of the Arabic " Maj;lircb." called all North Africa, except I-'.irypt. Xatronai ben Habibai, who was a candidate for the cxilarchate in liabylon. was obliired to jro into exile in this reirion in 77:i (K. Lazarus, inBri'dl's" Jahrbuchcr. " x. l7(>). Others, however, hold that, in the last instance, under the term ".Ma'arab," Palestine must be understood. The couununity of Kairwan was under the jurisdiction of a leader, who bore the title of nwA (head). The other conjiri'^'alions of the ^la.irhreb were ))roli ably organized in the sjinie manner. In Kairwan Jewish learninir llourished irreally. The "sajres of Kairwan are menlion<'d in the " I'ardcs" of Bjislii to iheiM the rabbinical decisionsof the Gconini Zemah (concernini; the adventures of liw traveler lOldad lial)aidi, Sherira (reirardini; the succession of the Amoraim and the Geonim), and Ilai The were addnssed. In the tenth century Maghreb, the natunilist and i>hilosopher I.saae
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Israeli lived in Kairwan. Like Smulia (Jaon. he was of Kgvplian biilli, beinj; a native of the jilains of Kayum. not far from the Libyan desert, where the .lews lived in the undisturbed pur suit of their reliirious practises. Saadia beiutrtonsidereil a descendant of the house of David, the K.iryplian Jews must, therefore, have belonged to the noble faniiliesof Israel. From the eiirhth to the tenth century the Maghreb was. after Babylonia, the most important country for the .lews. The great rabbinical school upon which the (ii'i>nim Jacob ben Nissiui. Ilu-hifl. ami I lananeel conferreii great glory was also sllualcd in Kairwan. I lananeel (conuneiilary on K. X. 1-1) is authority for tin- slaleinint that, inanswir to the prayer of Moses, the locusts were tianished from Egypt, and that thencidorward the land reniaineil free from that plague. Ilananeil show s also some
knowli'dge of Greek, a surprising fact, inasmuch as the .rabic tongue aral Arabic culture were all prev alenl in those regions, .braham Zaculo. who livid in Tunis iluring Ilii' sixleenlli ccninry, w rites in tln' "Yuhasin (p. 212, ed. Liaidon), as does also the chronicler JiLseph ben Ziiddik Arevnlo (c|iinte<l by '
Africa
Xeubauer. "!Mcdia>val Jewish Chronicles,"!.
92.
Ox-
ford, 1887), that the rabbinical administration had its seat in Kairwan. The next important town of
.Morocco was Fez. from which the Karaite JIo.scs Alfasi anil the Tahnudist Isiuic Alfasi dirived their names. The Kanute Closes Dari derived his name from another ^loroccan city. In the .Middle Ages an extensive intercourse existed between Spain and the northern coast of Africa lying directly opposite; the
conuuerce was maintained mainly by Jews.
Leo
.fricanus ("Africiu I)escri|itio." Zinich. l.j.)!)), himself of Jewish birth, reports that in North Africa the Jews were the only masons, locksmiths, goldsmiths, metal- founders, potters, silk-weavers, painters, and minters (Kay.serling. "Zur Gesch. der .luden in Marocco aus Alter uud NcucrZeit," in " Monatsschrift," 1801, X. 4(11). In the twelfth century, while the
who had come from North
Almohades,
were devastating S|>ain, thousands of Spanish .Jews were obliged to seek refuge in North Africa. In speaking of this persecution Abraham ibn I)au<l (ed. Neubaucr, p. 77) Sitys that Ibn Tumart had massacred all the Jews, from Zala, "the end of theworhl," to Ahncria, in Spain. The same author (p. 80) mentions Tan.Vfrica,
gier (nj3Xt3'^ Tangali) as the remotest settlement of
Jews: compare
tlu^ fragment, p. 190, "the congregation of Israel is scattered from the city of Zala in the extreme Maghn-b |Zala in Trijioli, on the Greater Syrtis, is ])r<ibably lucanl up to Tangier [Tanja, so read with the variant, nniD. Tanilut, which must be read KJjn, Tan.ga] at the beginning of the Maghreb; also in the utmost end of Africa and in all Africa [this last clause is found only in London edition, ji. 214//] and in Egypt." The lands of Asia and Europe then follow. Ibn Daud also calls the Maghreb "the land of the Philistines" (ih. p. 00). The iiersecutioiis of the .Vlniohades forced Moscs Maimonides to leave Spain, and, after remaining for a short time in Fez, he took up his Renaisabode in Ft)stat, near Cairo, Egypt. sance of Thus, through this great philosopher, Egypt. the center of .Vfriean Judaism became, for a time, transferred to F^gypt. The office of /i«///(/ (in .Viable nun), which made its holder the spiritual head of a large section of the Jews, remained for a long time in the family of Maimonides. It is only neces.sary to read the chronicle of Joseph Sambari (ed. Neidiaucr) to ])erceive that Egypt had become, as it were, a second holy land for Judaism. About 1170 Benjamin of Tudela traveled in Africa, and compili'd some very exact data ciaiceruing Egypt. ('om|iaie .Vshcr's edition, and also Lelewel ("Geographic du .Moyen .g<'," vol. iv., Brus.scls. 18,")2). In conneclion w lib this, it is interesting to note that Benjamin knew of warlike Jews in Libya. The Jew isli populallon of Cairo (New-Mizr) was com posed of two |
I'alislinians (Syrians) and Babylonians (lnikiaiis),wlioliad separate.synagogues concerning which many legends were in circulation. Thi' synagogue in Old Cairo(Fostat) was even more celebrated. .
inscription on its wall announced that it had been
creeled Ihlrly-eight yeai-s before the dislruclion of .Vccording to Obadiah Berii the >s;|.(i,nd Temple. noro, whosiiw it. this was h'gible in the sixteenth (••ntiirv ("Jalirbuch fUr die Gesch. der Jiiden," iii.
ilemenls
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The .mbic writers Abdallatif Makiizi also mention il. Sec the note of .Miink on " Benjaiuin of Tudela," ed. .sher. ii. 2(N), Juilah "Tahkcmoni," chap. 40) came across a .Mliarizi large coiign gallon of .Maghrebis in Cairo. Kamiles 24t>, l.eii>sic. I80;t).
anil
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also exlslid ill Egypt in great numbci-s, and periodically stood liighcr in llie esteem of the goveriimenl tliiin the Hubbinitcs. Couceniing t be E.gyptian
