posted
I wrote a summary on this subject, i would like to know your opinions:
(corrected version) "The history of the Jews in Northwest Africa can be traced back to ancient times. The exact dates of the first Jewish arrival to Northwest Africa are unknown. Some stories suppose that the Jews reached Northwest Africa in the period of their king Solomon. According to that legend, Solomon has sent them to the Sahara to seek gold. Other stories suggest that the Jews were brought to Northwest Africa by the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were skillful seafarers, and they established an ancient civilization known as Carthage in North Africa.
The most reliable story is that the Jews were settled by Ptolemy I in Cyrenaica. Ptolemy I was a Greek ruler who ruled Egypt. A later reference is Augustine, who mentioned that there were Jews in North Africa. Archaeological evidences are found in Volubilis.
Before the Jews would settle in Northwest Africa, they would know the ancient Berbers in Egypt were both lived. Even an Egyptian pharaoh with a Berber background called Sheshonq I invaded Palestine. Biblical sources may refer to him when speaking on Shishaq. According to the biblical sources, Solomon would have married with the daughter of Shishak. But the identification of Shishak with Sheshonq I is questioned for chronological reasons by some scholars.
In antiquity, Cyrenaica was the most known Jewish center in Northwest Africa. Biblical sources mentioned that the person who carried the cross with Jezus, was a Cyrenican. He is therefore known as Simon of Cyrene.
Historical sources reported that the Jews revolted against the Romans and Greeks in Cyrenica, and killed 200,000 Greeks and Romans. They were led by Jew called Lucuas. The revolting Jews aimed to support the other Jews in Alexandria and in Cyprus as well.
The Romans are said to have used a Berber legion and could subdue the Jewish revolt, and obligated them to pay for the damages caused by them. The revolt would emphasize that there were a powerful Jewish community in Libya. The Jewish Roman historian Flavius Josephus estimated the number of the population to be 500,000 Jews. This figure may be exagerated. Also it remains unclear whether those Jews were descendants of the Israeli Jews or the Judaized Northwest Africans: Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans and Berbers.
Just as Libya was a center of the Jewish history in the Northwest African antiquity, Morocco was a remarkable center in Medieval and later periods. When The Arabs invaded North Africa a Berber queen or tribe leader resisted them for many years. She was called Kahina by the Arabs who considered her as switch. The Arab historians supposed that she would have been a Jewish.
Her Jewish origin would be doubted since there is no deciding evidence, and since other sources mentioned that she used a pagan deity called Gurzil against the Muslims. But whether she was Jewish or not, the Arabs reported that there were many Judaized Berber tribes in North Africa.
The Judeo-Berbers spoke the Judeo-Berber language which is basically a Berber language influenced by the Hebrew pronunciation, written in the Hebrew script. The Jews even wrote the Haggada in the Berber language. The Arabic language replaced gradually the Berber language in the Jewish communities. Even the Berber in some area's learnt Arabic from the Jews to carry out trades with the Jews while others refused learning Arabic because it was associated with the Jews.
The jews of Northwest Africa didn't only speak the Berber language, but they also worn clothes like the Berbers, and they seemed to be influenced by the local Berber beliefs. Although the orthodox judaism does forbid the maraboutism, the jews practiced it . Many jewish saints in Morocco have names which are related to the Berber language, as example: abbi David U Moshe and Rabbi David N Baruch, according to Harvey E. Goldberg. Until the day, some Moroccan jews still organize pilgrims to their saints. Issachar Ben-Ami (the author of Cult of the saints and judeo-muslim pilgrimages in Morocco) concluded that 126 saints were common between the jews and muslims and 15 islamic saints were worshiped by the jews and 90 jewish saint worshiped by the muslims whereas 36 saints are disputed between them.
After the arrival of the Islam the Berbers converted to Islam, and the Jews who didn't convert to Islam became dhimmi's. During the Moorish conquest of the Iberian peninsula, the Jews welcomed the Moors. When the Almoravids crossed into Andalusia about 1085 to help the weakened Andalusian Muslims, the Jews fought on both sides.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin is believed to have used the Jews in his army, and the christian army is said to have included 40,000 Jews. Another Berber dynasty called Almohads seemed to be intolerant against the Jews. The Jews were according to them untrustworthy even after converting to Islam. Therefore, the Almohads obligated them to wear yellow clothes to distinguish themselves from the Muslims while the Christians had to wear blue ones."
Posts: 883 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
So u are saying that there were NorthWest African Jews and they were Berbers and they had a Jewess Queen well its possible but one thing till this day the Berbers wear Islam very lightly but its possible that some Jews came to Northwest Africa
[ 25. November 2006, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: Horus_Den_1 ]
Posts: 526 | From: Aswan Egypt | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I think what he is saying is that the 'Jews' of North Africa are no more Jewish than the Falasha of Ethiopia. That is they are simply indigenous people who adopted the Jewish faith.
Posts: 26285 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
His reply has been moderated.... We cannot say they are fully indigenous. But we can assume that many Berber jews are indigenous Berbers. They are clearly some jewish aspects that cannot exist in Northwest Africa without contacts with Hebrew jews, like as the script: the hebrew script; That besides the rabbinical stories.
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posted
WEll i think that alot of the Customs of Jews are really imported from Africa. Mazigh there are no close affinities between Berber and Hebrew but Djehuti Hebrew and Ethiopic are very close having alot of words in common.
Ethiopic Hebrew Arabic Aramaic are very closely related but Ethiopic is the only one in Africa and there are no other african languages that are Semitic.
-------------------- Hikuptah Al-Masri Posts: 526 | From: Aswan Egypt | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Hikuptah: WEll i think that alot of the Customs of Jews are really imported from Africa. Mazigh there are no close affinities between Berber and Hebrew but Djehuti Hebrew and Ethiopic are very close having alot of words in common.
Ethiopic Hebrew Arabic Aramaic are very closely related but Ethiopic is the only one in Africa and there are no other african languages that are Semitic.
^^agreed!
Gerald Massey makes the biggest and most accurate argument for the Africans in concerns to Hebrew teachings. If you actually research his work and the cutoms to which he has applied the Yisra'elite doctorine; the religious nature of their teachings become crystal clear.
Posts: 951 | From: where rules end and freedom begins | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Hikuptah: WEll i think that alot of the Customs of Jews are really imported from Africa. Mazigh there are no close affinities between Berber and Hebrew but Djehuti Hebrew and Ethiopic are very close having alot of words in common.
Ethiopic Hebrew Arabic Aramaic are very closely related but Ethiopic is the only one in Africa and there are no other african languages that are Semitic.
There are more semitic tongues in Ethiopia than anywhere else on the planet.
quote:Originally posted by Hikuptah: Mazigh there are no close affinities between Berber and Hebrew but Djehuti Hebrew and Ethiopic are very close having alot of words in common.
I didn't say there are affinities between the Berbers and the hebrews. I just said there were jewish communities influenced by the Berbers in Northwest Africa.
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posted
Jews in Africa is another ignored (or simply looked over) aspect of history. Jews have been in and out of Africa for a long time. The Jews of Ethiopia have a long history with it as well that they say goes back to Menelik I, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon himself...even though the historical community doesn't buy it. They say (which is funny, trying to tell a foreign community what their history is...blatant arrogance) that everyone converted during the Middle Ages. Now, exactly how those mass conversions came about is not known...or if it is, I just haven't read about it.
You also have a vibrant Jewish culture in South Africa. I think this shows, above all else, that many of these areas that we thought was unknown until some Renassiance man "discovered" it is not true at all. Many of these "remote" African areas have had contact with far away cultures for many centuries.
I've also read that there's supposed to be this scroll from Timbuktu that speaks of the history of some of the people in Mali. And it talks about how they moved to West Africa from far away in the East. I don't know, that could just be a rumor....
Posts: 1219 | From: North Carolina, USA | Registered: Jul 2004
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