Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Tunisia
02: Arab rule 670-1228
Berber defeat - Golden era with religious tolerance
under Aghlabids, Fatimids, and Zirids - Kairouan and
international trade of Jewish families - Almohad
invasion 1159
from: Tunisia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 15
presented by Michael Palomino (2008 / 2010)
<Tunisia under Arab Rule
(to the Advent of the Hafsid).
[670-701: Berber defense
against the Arab horsemen warriors]
The Arab conquest of this part of the world began in 643
when they took Tripoli, but it did not take on a permanent
aspect until the foundation of Kairouan in 670. The
resistance of the Byzantines rapidly decreased as the
Berbers withstood the conquerors stubbornly. The Berber
leader Kusayla was a Christian. After having gained control
of Kairouan in 688, he was defeated and killed.
*Kahina, who according to certain sources was a Jewess and
whose life is surrounded in legends, then reigned over the
powerful Jarrawa tribe in the Aurès. Ibn Khaldun
asserts that the Jarrawas were Jewish. After the death of
Kusayla, Kahina - followed by all the Berbers - directed the
military operations. A new Arab chief, Hassan ibn Nu'man,
received a mighty army from the caliph *'Abd al-Malik -
(col. 1432)
Hassan seized Carthage, and its inhabitants, doubtless
including a number of Jews, and sailed for the islands of
the Mediterranean. Kahina, advanced with her Jarrawas on the
Arab army, which she overwhelmed near Tebessa and drove out
of Ifriquiya. The Berbers then lived in security for a few
years; once Hassan ibn Nu'man had received reinforcements,
he launched another offensive in 702. Moreover, the Arabs
found allies among the Greek inhabitants of the towns as
well as the Berber farmers, who were opposed to Kahina
because she had destroyed their crops in order to prevent
them from falling into the hands of the invaders. The old
queen fought a desperate battle against Hassan ibn Nu'man
but her army was beaten and pursued into the Aurès
Mountains. In the wake of a second battle Kahina was killed
and her head was sent to the caliph 'Abd al-Malik as a
trophy. With the death of this woman, who was called the
"Berber Deborah", the period of heroic defense was brought
to a close.
[since 702: Arab rule: poll
tax for Berbers, Christians, and Jews - revolt]
The Arabs then subordinated the whole of North Africa. The
"people of the Book" (see *Ahl al-Kitab) and the Christians
were authorized to live under their domination upon the
condition that they paid the
*jizya (an annual poll tax, sometimes
called also in the Maghreb (as elsewhere)
jawali, the tax of the
expellees; see *Galut). Although the Berbers converted to
Islam, they were also compelled to pay these levies. The
demands of the Arabs soon incited large-scale revolt.
[800-1057: "Golden era":
Aghlabid, Fatimid and Zirid dynasty: tolerance and
prosperity of the Jewish communities]
In Ifriquiya an Arab governor, Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab,
established the dynasty of the *Aghlabids, which reigned
from 800 to 909. There is evidence that from this period
important groups of Jews were found particularly in the
towns, where the revenue of their poll tax constituted an
appreciable income for the state. They coexisted peacefully
with the Muslim masses. Muslim scholars maintained friendly
relations with Jewish scholars and important Muslim
merchants and ship owners were content to trade with their
Jewish colleagues.
Under the Aghlabids, their successors the *Fatimids
(Fatimids), and the Zirids, until the invasions of Ifriquiya
by the Bedouin in the mid-11th century, the century enjoyed
an exceptional prosperity, which was followed by a period in
which remarkable intellectual activity prevailed. The (col.
1433)
Jews played an important role in this progress.
[Jewish life in Kairouan:
Torah schools, Jewish academies, Jews at the Arab court -
astronomy, astrology, scholars, talmudists]
In Kairouan, the leading city of an immense empire, there
were famous yeshivot [[religious Torah schools]] which were
headed by eminent scholars who for a long time maintained
relations with the
*geonim
[[presidents of rabbinical colleges]] of the academies of
*Sura, *Pumbedita, and Palestine. Shortly after the city's
foundation the Umayyad caliph of Damascus had 1,000 families
- who are thought to have been Jewish - transferred from
Egypt to Kairouan.
It was there that Isaac Israeli, the most famous physician
of his day, studied in about 900. He became the private
physician of the last of the Aghlabids, Ziyadat-Allah III,
and held the same position under the first of the Fatimid
caliphs, the mahdi 'Ubaydallah. The most famous of Israeli's
disciples was *Dunash ibn Tamim, who, like his teacher, left
a number of valuable works including a treatise on astronomy
which refuted the principles of astrology, a commentary on
the
Sefer Yezirah,
and a textbook on Hebrew grammar.
Jewish scholars who possessed a wide, profound, and
diversified knowledge - as was customary in the Middle Ages
- flourished in Ifriquiya. In addition to Kairouan they wee
to be found in such important communities as al-Mahdiya and
Gabès. Outstanding among the talmudists in Tunisia
were the scholars of the Ibn Shahun family: R. Nissim, his
son Jacob to whom R. Sherira and R. Hai addressed their
famous
Iggeret
(responsum concerning the history of the Oral Tradition),
and his grandson *Nissim, author of many talmudic treatises.
Not less important was R. Hushi'el (one of the *Four
Captives), and especially his son R. *Hananel. The leading
family of scholars in Mahdiya were the ibn Sighmar (or
Zughmar), four generations of them served as
dayyanim [[judges of
the Jewish community]]. But according to Abraham ibn Daud (
Sefer ha-Kabbalah,
77-8) after the demise of R. Hananel and R. Nissim, the
talmudic learning came to an end in Ifriquiya. Ibn Daud did
not hold in high esteem later scholars in Mahdiya and in
Gal'at Hammad.
[Jewish businessman and
businesses in Tunisia - trade connections and products]
From the thousands of documents preserved in the Cairo
*Genizah [[closed holy
cellar room in a synagogue]] and recently studied it is
particularly evident that the class of Jewish-Tunisian
businessmen (which was also - as was almost always the case
in North Africa - the intellectual class) was a factor of
considerable importance at this time not only in Tunisia but
also throughout the (col. 1434)
Mediterranean countries. The importance of these other
merchants, whether indigenous or from places in the Maghreb
- but who often established themselves in Tunisia - lay in
the decisive role they played in the trade with India and
their dominant position in the trade of the western
Mediterranean. A large number of the leading and most active
merchants in Egypt - in Fostat, *Alexandria, the large
textile centers of Busir and Tinnis, and the smaller
localities where flax and indigo were grown - were Tunisian
Jews who stayed in the country or had recently established
themselves there; their families generally remained in
Tunisia. Others lived in *Aden or even further away, as in
India.
Jewish Jerusalem of the 11th century was also inhabited by
many Jews from the Maghreb. The majority of the Jews of
*Sicily, which had been conquered by the Muslim natives of
Tunisia from the ninth century, were Tunisians. Their
extensive activity on the island - in *Palermo, *Messina,
and later *Syracuse - was felt as far as in northern Italy
and Spain to the west.
The principal goods which the Jews exported from Tunisia
were linen and cotton textiles of every category, which they
themselves occasionally manufactured, especially in the
large industrial center of *Sousse. Silk cloth and valuable
brocades were also exported. Their carpets, manufactures in
Tunis, Sfax, or Gafsa, and the canopies of Gabès,
well-known in the Middle Ages, were much sought after.
They exported many metals: copper from Morocco, Spanish tin,
lead, and mercury. The reexport of Spanish and Sicilian
silks was practiced on a large scale. The agricultural
products exported by the Jews included primarily olive oil
and its by-product soap, beeswax, almonds, saffron, and
occasionally wheat. They sent salted tunny (fish) to Egypt.
One of their main exports was raw or tanned hides; they also
exported coral, which was found abundantly along the African
coasts, and all kinds of ornaments which were made from
them. Finally, books, written in Hebrew in Kairouan, were a
very important item in the export trade to the west.
the Jews of Ifriquiya imported spices of every kind,
oriental perfumes, indigo, walnut peel for its dyes and
varnishes, sugar, medicinal drugs and plants, jewelry,
precious stones, and pearls. The most important import,
however, was Egyptian linen.
[Jewish ship owner clans -
rivalry between the Jewish clans]
All these goods were mainly transported by sea. The Jews of
Tunisia were occasionally shipowners or partners in this
trade. The ships, however, were generally owned by the
government or members of the royal family, who maintained
excellent relations with the Jews and entrusted them with
the administration of their wealth. This enormous traffic
was largely controlled by powerful Jewish families. these
families were only about 20 in number but very large,
wealthy and influential. They were organized into clans,
contracted marriages among themselves, and were also related
to the distinguished families of other countries.
Rivalry existed to a degree among these clans; thus, members
of the family *Majjani (originally for Majzana) were the
antagonists of the powerful Tahertis (from Tahere), who were
related by marriage to the Berakhias - all leading clans of
merchants who also produced eminent scholars and community
leaders especially known from the responsa of the geonim
[[presidents of rabbinical colleges]] of Iraq.
On their part, the Majjanis considered the Ben Allans their
implacable adversaries. Whether they were related by blood
or by marriage, or were enemies, other important families
dominated the Tunisian trade. These included the Ibn
Sighmars (Zughmar) of Mahdiya, the Nahrays, among whom there
were also great scholars, and others who lived in the same
centers.
[Jewish life in Tunisia: a
"life of ease" - music - perfumes and extravagance of
dresses]
It can be said that in general the Jews of Tunisia enjoyed a
life of ease. Yet, among the masses as well as among the
(col. 1435)
aristocracy - even among a number of the scholars - there
was such an exaggerated passion for music that the
gaon [[leader of a
Jewish academy]] *Hai addressed his famous responsa against
instrumental music to the communities of Gabès and
Kairouan.
The Tunisian Jews also manifested a misguided enthusiasm for
perfumes and a measure of extravagance in their dress. Great
prosperity obviously prevailed, and in spite of their status
of
*dhimmi
[[protected people of other religions]], their condition was
excellent. They did not suffer from persecutions until about
1057, when Kairouan was destroyed by the hordes of Arabs,
and about 1087, when they were among the victims of the
Christians who came from Italy and attacked Mahdiya and
other coastal towns. On these occasions the Jews suffered
the same fate as their Muslim compatriots. The Arab invasion
of the 11th century marked the end of the golden era of the
Jews of Ifriquiya.
[Development of Tunis -
Tunisian port towns under anti-Jewish Norman rule]
In 698 Hassan ibn Nu'man chose Tunis, a small and ancient
townlet, to replace the fallen capital of Carthage, but it
never attained the importance of Kairouan. In time, after
the invasion of the Bedouins, it succeeded together with
Mahdiya in overshadowing Kairouan. On the other hand, the
closed towns of the coast escaped the Arab peril only to
fall into the hands of the Christians.
The Norman Roger II, who had conquered Sicily, attacked the
coast of Ifriquiya (1118-27) and seized the island of
*Djerba (1134), Gabès, Sfax, and Sousse (1148), as
well as Mahdiya (1156), in all of which there were important
Jewish communities. It does not, however, appear that the
Jews of all these ports suffered extensively under Norman
rule. Those of Tunis, who were governed by the small and
tolerant Banu-Khorassan dynasty, continued to control the
large maritime trade of Tunisia.
[1159: Almohad invasion
with religious intolerance - destroyed Jewish communities]
In 1159 the *Almohads invaded Tunisia. When they conquered
Tunis, they confronted both the Jews and the Christians with
the (col. 1436)
alternative of conversion to Islam or death. Other
communities also suffered heavily as a result of this
conquest. Thus, according to ancient additions to the famous
elegy of Abraham *ibn Ezra, the communities of Mahdiya,
Sousse, Gafsa, al-Hamma, Gabès, Djerba, and the town
of Tripolitania shared the same fate. Many Jews converted,
while others fled and dispersed themselves throughout the
country or chose to die as martyrs.
In the wake of the terrible catastrophe, the strength of
Ifriquiya Jewry was impaired for a long period, and its
social organization, economic situation, and intellectual
and religious condition greatly declined. In a letter
attributed to *Maimonides, who left North Africa in 1165, it
is said that between Tunis and Egypt, including Djerba, the
standard of the Jews was very low. If this letter is
authentic, it at least proves the presence of Jews in
Tunisia who were able to remain so from 1165 onward.>
(col. 1437)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica 1971: Tunisia, sources
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