Writing and Printing

History of the Jews in Africa

Jewish communities of Continental Africa include: Maghrebi Jews, Sephardic Jews and Mizrahi Jews who predominantly live in the Maghreb of North Africa, including Moroccan Jews, Algerian Jews, Tunisian Jews, and Libyan Jews. Historically, smaller Sephardic communities also lived in Egypt. Some of them were established in North Africa before the Roman period; other communities were established after the expulsion of Jews from Iberia in the late 15th century. Berber Jews, the majority of whom were assimilated and converted to Islam, especially during the historical persecutions of the Almohadic Caliphate in the Middle Ages. The modern population of Berber Jews now numbers about 8,000 people in Morocco, many of whom have emigrated to Israel since the establishment of the State of Israel, along with smaller numbers throughout Europe and the Americas. South African Jews (mostly Ashkenazi Jews, descended from pre-Holocaust immigrant Lithuanian Jews) and Lemba Jews in Southern Africa. Beta Israel who live in the Amhara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia and sparsely live in Eritrea. Such historical communities which no longer exist in sub-Saharan Africa (due to assimilation) such as the Jews of Bilad el-Sudan in West Africa, who practiced Judaism prior to the introduction of Islam in the 14th century.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Lipi (script)
• ▸Canadanthus
• ▸Cree syllabics

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