Judaism in Africa

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The History of the Jews in Africa has three different forms:

• Scattered African groups who claim to belong to the descendants of ancient Israel or to Judaism in some other way - actually " Israelitism " - and who cultivate customs which one can assume to be related to Jewish-Israelite customs. Consisting solely Ethiopia originating Beta Israel are from the State of Israel and the international Jewish community as Jews recognized.

Jewish population in the African states 2005

• The Sephardim and Mizrahim , who mostly live in North Africa . Many of them emigrated to Israel and France , but also to Canada , Brazil and the USA .
• The Ashkenazim who came to Africa as European colonists.

African groups

Beta Israel

→ Main article : Beta Israel

The Ethiopian Beta Israel or Falascha were recognized by the Israeli government in 1975 as "official" Jews. According to a decision by the Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi ( Rishon LeZion ) Ovadja Josef, they are considered descendants of the Dan tribe , one of the ten lost tribes of Israel . However, historical and genetic evidence suggests a different origin.

Today most of them live in Israel after being airlifted out of Ethiopia. Rabbi Yosef ordered a pro forma conversion to Judaism of all Beta Israel after their arrival in the State of Israel and a declaration of submission to the Halacha way of life , or the teaching and practice of Orthodox rabbinic Judaism. Many rabbinical authorities see conversion to Judaism not as pro forma, but as real.

The practice of Beta Israel differs significantly from other forms of Judaism in certain areas , as the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia mostly lived in ignorance of the Talmud .

However, they had their own oral law, which at times resembled that of the Karaites . However, their elders or priestly caste, the "kessim" or "qessotch" biblical law of the interpreted Tanach in a not completely different way from what other rabbis and Jewish communities practiced in other parts of the world. In this sense, the Beta Israel follow a tradition similar to the Talmud, although at times it is in conflict with the teaching and practice of other Jewish communities worldwide. Today they are a community in the river and have adopted "normative" Judaism with many kessim, while other traditionalists insist on keeping their own and unique form of Judaism, as practiced in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The Ethiopian Jewish youth who immigrated to Israel adapted on the one hand to the form of Orthodox Judaism prevailing in Israel, while others oriented themselves to the secular lifestyle in Israel.

Lemba

→ Main article : Lemba (people)

The Lemba are an ethnic group in southern Africa who can be traced back partly to Arab, partly to Jewish origins. Although they speak the Bantu language like their neighbors, they maintain specific religious practices similar to those of Judaism and suggesting an origin in the Middle East or North Africa.

Intercultural marriages with non-Lemba are taboo, so that it is especially difficult for male non-Lemba to become part of the ethnic group. The presence of the CMH haplotype on the Y chromosome was interpreted as a genetic relationship via the Aaron of the Y chromosome with the Kohanim , the descendants of the Jewish priests. However, this haplotype is not limited to the Kohanim, but also occurs elsewhere in the Middle East, and is therefore not suitable for reliably demonstrating Jewish ancestry. Recent, more detailed genetic studies have shown that the special variant of the CHM haplotype typical of the Kohanim is not represented in the Lemba. In terms of blood groups and blood serum proteins as well as the mitochondrial DNA passed on through the female line , the Lemba do not differ from their African neighbors. It is therefore assumed that Arab men have a genetic influence, presumably through the Arab trade on the east coast of Africa.

Although a sizeable majority of the Lemba see no contradiction in proclaiming their supposed Hebrew heritage at the same time as practicing Christianity or Islam, there was later a movement towards mainstream Judaism, and organized activities that supported them, full members of the Jewish world-wide To become community.

Abayudaya

Synagogue of the Abayudaya Congregation near Mbale , Uganda

→ Main article : Abayudaya

The Abayudaya (= children of Judah) live at the foot of Mount Elgon in Uganda . They are a group of around 1,500 members who converted to Judaism since 1919 . They are only partially recognized as Jews.

Canaanite Israelite Society of West Africa

Until the middle of the 20th century, the idea of ​​massive outside influences dominated the image that was made of the history of Africa. The idea of ​​Israelite emigration to Africa also played a certain role, as did the influences of Canaanite culture, which were caused by the Phoenician expansion from 1000 to 500 BC. Were mediated. However, these approaches were rarely accepted in the post-colonial era. More recently, she took up Dierk Lange and re-established her. Other African historians such as Christopher Ehret continue to assume that Africa is isolated from ancient world history and accordingly ignore the subject of the Israelites in sub-Saharan Africa.

The sparse reports by Arab geographers on medieval West Africa mention Jewish communities only for the west of Bilad al-Sudan in the area of ​​present-day Mali . Such information is lacking for the Lake Chad region, which is much more directly affected by emigration from the ancient Near East. Here only various internal traditions suggest significant Israelite influences, the dating of which is based on immigration following the collapse of the Assyrian empire at the end of the 7th century BC. BC.

Jews in West Africa

Closed synagogue in Azemmour , Morocco

The geographer al-Idrisi , who lives in Palermo, wrote in 1154 regarding the area of ​​the western Niger Arc that there were the cities of Malal ( Mali ) and Do , which were four days' journey apart. The inhabitants of the two cities are Jews, but they are infested with ignorance and unbelief. The inhabitants of the mysterious country of Qamnuriya, whose location has been speculatively linked to the Ghana Empire, are said to have been Jews, but their religion is so confused that they ultimately believe in nothing. The Andalusian geographer al-Zuhri, who was writing at the same time as al-Idrisi, offers the following information: “The inhabitants of Amima (Mema) profess Judaism. You can reach their country via Gao and Wargla. They are the poorest of the blacks. They read the Torah . ”There are few mentions of black African Jews in other medieval Arab authors. These few references were collected and often combined with oral traditions that came from the 20th century, quite uncritically in historical accounts.

There is a Moorish tradition according to which an earlier indigenous population , called Bafour , were also Jews, in addition to other attributions, and the Iggawen (Mauritanian griots ) or the Mallimin ( blacksmiths , both on the lowest social level) were originally Jews. Such topoi, like the stories about dog-headed people and amazons that are spread in travelogues, belong in the realm of fable. On the other hand, it is very likely that there were Jewish merchants from the Maghreb who were active in the Sahara trade in the 12th century.

According to the Arabic records of Tarikh al-Fattash (c. 1665) and Tarikh al-Sudan (c. 1655), there were Jewish communities in the ancient empires of Ghana , Mali and Songhai . Such a community is said to have been founded by a group of Egyptian Jews who apparently immigrated to Mali via the Sahara and the Sahel zone . Manuscript C of Tarikh al-Fattash describes a community called Bani Israel , which existed in 1402 in the Niger Lake District in Tendirma, owned 333 wells and had seven princes and an army.

According to other sources, further Jewish communities in the region were founded by migratory flows from Morocco , Egypt , Portugal and possibly from Gojjam , Ethiopia . Some communities are said to consist of a group of certain Berber Jews such as the Tuareg group of the Idaksahak or Iddao Ishaak ("Sons of Isaac"). To explain their origin, three possibilities can be considered: They were immigrants from pre-Christian times, they fled the Arab-Islamic invasions of North Africa in the 7th and 11th centuries AD to West Africa or they were influenced by later commercial travelers from North Africa .

Igbo Jews in Nigeria

About 30,000 of the 30 million Igbo (obsolete Ibo ) of Nigeria practice parts of the Jewish rite and claim to be descendants of North African, Egyptian or Near Eastern Jews. Accordingly, one assumes either an ancient or a medieval origin. The ethnologist Dierk Lange, who for the Oyo-Yoruba who also live in southern Nigeria, has a partial descent from the 722 BC. Assuming Israelites deported from the Israelite northern empire, assumes a similar origin with the Israelite elements of the Igbo.

In the absence of an official census in the region, it is not known how many Nigerian Igbos refer to themselves as Israelites or Jews. There are currently 26 synagogues of various sizes, and an estimated 30,000 Igbos practice some form of Judaism.

Bnai Ephraim in Nigeria

The Bnai Ephraim ("Children of Ephraim") live among the Yoruba people in Nigeria . In 1930 they numbered around 2,000 people in 400 families in 20 small villages in the Ondo district in southwestern Nigeria. According to tradition, they came to Nigeria via Morocco in the 16th century after the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. Their language is a mixture of Moroccan Arabic with Yoruba, but with Aramaic elements, such as ima for "mother". In their views and most of the customs they do not differ significantly from their Yoruba neighbors, but the Yoruba call them Emo Yo Quaim - the "strange people." They call themselves Bnai Ephraim and keep copies of parts of the Torah in their shrines . The Bnai Ephraim are the only isolated ethnic group among the Yoruba.

Jews in Cameroon

It is believed that Judaism came to Cameroon through merchants from Egypt . According to sources, these communities observed customs such as the separation of dairy and meat products and wore a tefillin . It is also alleged that Jews immigrated to Cameroon on their flight from the Islamic conquests of North Africa.

The claim of a Jewish presence in Cameroon comes from Rabbi Yisrael Oriel. Rabbi Oriel, formerly Bodol Ngimbus-Ngimbus, was born in the Ba-Saa tribe. The word Ba-Saa is Hebrew for “on the way” and means blessing. Rabbi Oriel claims the Levitical descendants of Moses. Allegedly, Rabbi Oriel undertook his aliyah to Israel in 1988 and is said to have been ordained there by the Sephardic chief rabbi and appointed rabbi of the Nigerian Jews.

Rabbi Oriel claims that in 1920 there were 400,000 "Israelites" living in Cameroon and that he can prove their Jewish status according to medieval rabbinical sources. By 1962, the number had decreased to 167,000 due to conversion to Christianity and Islam . They have not yet been recognized halachically.

Tutsi

The approximately 2.5 million Tutsi of Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi are predominantly Roman Catholic , with a notable minority adhering to Islam . Since the 1980s, however, a movement has emerged among Tutsi intellectuals that is named after the mythical land of Hawila in the Bible ( Gen 2.11  EU ) and postulates a Jewish descent for the Tutsi.

According to one of their spokesmen, the linguist Jean ("Yochannan") Bwejeri, the Jewish ancestors of the Tutsi are said to have ruled the kingdom of Kush (Ethiopia) in the basin of the White Nile , which Bwejeri equates with Hawila, and which is often mentioned in the Bible since the Mosaic period and after the destruction of this empire in 1270 AD, he moved to the Great Lakes area , what is now Burundi, Rwanda, parts of Uganda, Tanzania and the Congo. Bwejeri refers, among other things, to the alleged linguistic correspondence between the language of the Tutsi and the Hebrew as well as to the testimony of Eldad ha-Dani , a Jewish traveler of the 9th century who visited Jewish communities in Tunis and Maghreb and there, the medieval tradition claimed to be a descendant of the Dan tribe and resident of one of five neighboring African empires of lost tribes of Israel in the land of Hawila.

The Havila Institute in Brussels, founded by the movement, claims that it has around 200 members among the roughly one thousand Tutsi refugees in Belgium. It has set itself the task of those Tutsi (Batutsi) of Rwanda and Burundi to help, have retained a memory of a Hebrew past, "despite Christianity in the 19th and genocide of the 20th century and as descendants of the tribes of Judah and Dan look ". From the point of view of critics, it is an extremist movement that is fueling the conflicts in the region by constructing a new identity for the Tutsi as a selected people superior to other ethnic groups with territorial claims to a large empire of Hawaii.

The Kanem Empire

For the kingdom of Kanem east of Lake Chad, the state chronicle, the divan , shows the great importance that the Sefuwa rulers of the empire attached to a descent from Israel. According to this, their progenitor Sef is said to have been a descendant of the 18 named biblical patriarchs from Adam to Abraham . Under the influence of the post-colonial paradigm of the historiography of Africa, it was previously of the opinion that these names had to be borrowed from Arabic literature. However, various peculiarities of the traditional patriarchal names, which are to be regarded as authentic, point to an internal, pre-Arabic written tradition in Hebrew. The oral second name of the Chronicle, Girgam , derived from Sumerian , also points to a written tradition of the Chad Empire Kanem-Bornu that preceded Arabic .

The written sources of the inner tradition consistently report the destruction of the Mune national shrine by the radical Islamic reform king Dunama II (1203-1242). Although they are firmly rooted in the Islamic tradition, they criticize this act of violence, which destroyed the unity of the political ruling class of the empire. The most important chronicler of the Chad empire, Grand Imam Ibn Furtu , describes the destruction of the Mune 350 years earlier as a monumental mistake with consequences that the people would have to suffer until his time. When explaining the meaning of the mune, he casually mentions that it was the ark of the covenant of the Israelite king Saul. It has the same religious meaning for the inhabitants of the Chad Empire as the Sakina (Ark of the Covenant) for the prophet Mohammed .

Another indication of the importance of the Israelite tradition for the inhabitants of the Chad empire, today's Kanuri , is provided by the oral tradition, according to which the rule over the Chad empire on Bremi, i.e. H. Abraham, lead back. Sef and Dugu, the forefathers of the two leading clans of the Chad Empire, are his contemporaries. From this it can be seen that not only the ruling dynasty of the Sefuwa , but the entire state of Kanem-Bornu is rooted in an Israelite tradition. Nevertheless, as is evident from the descriptions of the Arab geographers, Kanem was not a purely Israelite or even Jewish state. The interaction of Israelite and Canaanite elements made it a state of the Canaanite-Israelite tradition.

The house states

In contrast to the Greater Kanem-Bornu Empire , the house states were distinguished by their division into different city-states. The small city-state of Daura in the northwest was the traditional center of this world of states. The Bayajidda legend, which is authoritative for all house states and is to be regarded as the Canaanite-Israelite founding charter of the house states, is also handed down here. Their most important Canaanite element is the killing of the dragon. The Abraham - Sara - Hagar story, which is slightly distorted by name, is to be regarded as her central Israelite heritage , according to which the states of Central Sudan are made up of one half of the descendants of the older son of Hagar / Bagwariya and the other half of the descendants of the more legitimate son of the local queen, the Sara / Magajiya , emerged.

One might be of the opinion that the house tradition is a superficial tale, with only incidental similarities to the Abraham story of the Old Testament. It is noteworthy, however, that in both cases reference is made to the regional peoples: here the "seven Hausa" and the "seven Banza states", there the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve tribes of the Arabs . In addition, in both cases we also find inner representatives of the frowned upon outsider group: here the scattered Azna clans within the "seven Hausa" and there the scattered Levites within the tribes of Israel. The deep anchoring of the Hausa and Azna clans within the house states and the house society suggest an origin in the founding time of these states, which can also be set in the period of Phoenician expansion.

The only chronicle of all Hausa states, the Kano Chronicle , confirms the anchoring of the Hausa story in the Israelite tradition. After that, the founder of the Kano state was none other than the Israelite King David , who bears the local name Bagauda here. Other names in the city's legendary tradition can be identified with Moses , Joshua and Solomon . Obviously, the early chroniclers wanted to present the history of their city parallel to Jerusalem: Just as the Jebusite- Canaaean Jerusalem was conquered by David and the Israelites, the local, polytheistic community of Kano was besieged by Bagauda, ​​who appeared like a Muslim and ultimately taken over by his successor.

The Yoruba States

Attempts to trace the origin of the Yoruba states from Egypt or the Middle East were common during the colonial period . Under the pressure of the post-colonial paradigm, these attempts were all abandoned. Only recently have there been renewed efforts to address the links between the history of the Yoruba and the ancient world. First of all, the parallels between the pantheon of the Yoruba and the Canaanite-Phoenician gods are striking. The high god Olodumare appears as a replica of Els , Obatala as a counterpart to Yahweh and Melqart and Yemoja as the equivalent of the sea deity Jamm / Tiamat . These comparisons show a general parallelism with the Canaanite-Israelite world of gods, but do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about precise historical connections.

The great creation myth of the Yoruba, residing in Ile-Ife, confirms the relationship with the Canaanite-Semitic world. After that, the earth was created in the primordial ocean in connection with a dispute between the creator god Obatala and the primordial god Oduduwa . The dispute is still the subject of general cult-dramatic arguments between the representatives of the various cult groups in the city during the Itapa New Year celebrations. Since the palace groups are also involved in this dispute, in this case too there must be ideas that go back to the founding time of the city-state of Ile-Ife.

The oral traditions of the large kingdom of Oyo of the Yoruba further to the north enable a reasonably precise dating of the Canaanite-Israelite state tradition that reached West Africa via Egypt. After a connection to the world of gods, the tradition refers first to the Israelite ancestor Isaac (Ajaka) and then to the short interregnum of the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser III. (858–824 BC), remembered as Shango . Further details of Israelite history were kept alive until recently in the form of skull worship in the palace of Oyo. This cult originally concerned the slain princes of the Omrid dynasty, who were part of the Yahwist revolution of Jehu in 841 BC. Had fallen victim. According to this interpretation, the early kings of Oyo identified with the still strongly Canaanite Israelite dynasty of the Omrids. They hated the strictly monotheistic Jehu. The deposition of their ancestors to the west and their migration to West Africa took place after the collapse of the Assyrian Empire at the end of the 7th century BC. From the dynastic tradition of the Oyo-Yoruba it can be seen that these traditions are based on the emigration of formerly deported Israelites following the overthrow of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC. Came to West Africa.

Modern communities

In Kenya

A relatively small up-and-coming community has been founded in Laikipia, Kenya and abandoned its Christian faith against “pure Judaism”. There are currently an estimated 5000 members. This group has ties to the "Black Hebrew" movement. They saw their initially Christian messianic attitude later as incompatible with Judaism and are now waiting to be instructed in pure Judaism. Some of the younger children in this community have been sent to Abayudaya schools in Uganda to receive instruction in Judaism and other subjects.

House of Israel in Ghana

The House of Israel is a community of Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Sui in western Ghana that claims the descendants of their Sefwi ancestors to be Jews who migrated south to Ivory Coast . However, the uninterrupted Jewish practice of this community only dates back to the early 1970s.

Jews from Rusape in Zimbabwe

The Jews of Rusape, Zimbabwe claim an ancient Hebrew tribal relationship; therefore most of the black African peoples (especially the Bantu ) are actually of ancient Hebrew origin. However, Jewish activity in the Rusape community only dates back to the early 20th century; in this case to 1903. Although this community no longer believes in Jesus as Messiah like the Christians, it believes that Jesus was a prophet, but since all people are prophets, Jesus has no special status. Currently the church is moving towards mainstream Judaism. She believes the majority of African peoples are descendants of the twelve lost tribes of Israel and that most Africans practiced Hebrew customs.

Sephardim and Mizrahim

Only remnants remain of the Jewish communities that have lived in Morocco , Tunisia and the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla for a long time, as well as of the strong Jewish community in Djerba , Tunisia. As in the rest of the Arab world , most of them have emigrated or been expelled, mostly to Israel, France or Spain since the state of Israel was declared . The largest influx of Jews into Africa came after the Spanish Reconquista and the expulsion of Jews from Spain, Portugal and Sicily in 1492, which followed soon after. Many of these Sephardic Jews settled in North Africa.

Sao Tome and Principe

see main article History of the Jews of São Tomé

King Manuel I of Portugal banished around 2000 Jewish children to São Tomé and Príncipe around 1500 . Most of them died, but in the early 1600s "the local bishop was disgusted with the fact that Jewish customs were still practiced on the island and returned to Portugal because of his anger with them." Although Jewish customs faded over the centuries, pay attention partly people in São Tomé and Príncipe their origin from this population group. Similarly, numerous Portuguese Jews were banished to São Tomé after their forced conversion to Catholicism .

Mali

In Mali , several thousand people of undoubtedly Jewish origin live in Timbuktu . In the 14th century, many Moors and Jews fleeing the Spaniards migrated south to the Timbuktu area, then part of the Songhai Empire . Among them was the Kehath (Ka'ti) family, descendants of Ismael Jan Kot of Al-yahudi of Scheida, Morocco. The sons of this important family founded three villages near Timbuktu that still exist today - Kirshamba, Haybomo and Kongougara. In 1492 Askia Muhammed came to power in the once tolerant area of ​​Timbuktu and gave the Jews the alternative of converting to Islam or expulsion. Judaism was banned in Mali, as was the case in Catholic Spain in the same year. The historian Leo Africanus wrote in 1526: “The king (Askia) is a declared enemy of the Jews. He forbids them to live in the city. If he hears that a Berber merchant is visiting them or doing business, he will confiscate his goods. "

The Kehath family converted with the rest of the non-Muslims. The Cohens, descended from the Moroccan Islamized Jewish trader El-Hadj Abd-Al-Salam Al Kuhin, came to the Timbuktu region in the 18th century, the Abana family in the early 19th century. According to Prof. Michel Abitbol at the Center for the Research of Moroccan Jewry in Israel , Rabbi Mordoche Aby Serour traveled to Timbuktu several times at the end of the 19th century as an unsuccessful ostrich feather and ivory dealer. Ismael Diadie Haidara, a Timbuktu historian, found ancient Hebrew texts among the city's historical records. During genealogical research he learned that he himself was descended from Moroccan-Jewish traders of the Abana family. While interviewing elders in his relatives' villages, he discovered that the family's Jewish identity was kept a secret for fear of persecution.

Mozambique

See also: Maputo Synagogue

Historically, there was a Jewish community in Maputo , Mozambique , but it almost completely disappeared during the independence period. At the end of the civil war, the Jewish community regained its original synagogue building. It was renovated in the 2000s and rededicated in 2013. Since then, church services have been held there again regularly.

Ashkenazim

There are significant, mostly Ashkenazi, Jewish communities in South Africa (see History of the Jews in South Africa ). Most of these Jews came from Lithuania before World War II , while others have roots in Great Britain , Germany and Eastern Europe . These include the small European Jewish communities in Namibia (southwest Africa), Zimbabwe (southern Rhodesia), Lesotho (Basutoland), Swaziland , Botswana (Bechuanaland), Zaire (Belgian Congo), Kenya , Malawi (Nyassaland), Zambia (northern Rhodesia); these usually had synagogues and even official Jewish schools established in the capitals of these countries.

Overview by states

Recognized Jews in the African States:

Country	Total population	‰ Proportion of	Jews	comment
Egypt	80 335 036	0.0012 ‰	100
Equatorial Guinea	551 201	0	no
Ethiopia	76 511 887	0.0013 ‰	100	See Beta Israel
Algeria	33 333 216	0.003 ‰	100
Angola	12 263 596	0	no
Benin	8 078 314	0	no
Botswana	1,815,508	0.055 ‰	100
Burkina Faso	14 326 203	0	no
Burundi	8 390 505	0	no
Democratic Republic of Congo	65 751 512	0.0015 ‰	100
Djibouti	496 374	0	No	See History of the Jews of Djibouti
Ivory Coast	18 013 409	0	no
Eritrea	4 906 585	0.0002 ‰	1
Gabon	1,454,867	0	no
Gambia	1 688 359	0	no
Ghana	22 931 299	0.035 ‰	800
Guinea	9 947 814	0	no
Guinea-Bissau	1,472,780	0	no
Cameroon	18 060 382	0	no
Cape Verde	423 613	0	no
Kenya	36 913 721	0.0108 ‰	400
Comoros	711 417	0	no
Republic of the Congo	3 800 610	0	no
Lesotho	2 125 262	0	no
Liberia	3 195 931	0	no
Libya	6 036 914	0	no	See History of the Jews in Libya
Madagascar	19 448 815	0.005 ‰	100
Malawi	13 603 181	0	no
Mali	11 995 402	0.004 ‰	50
Morocco	33 757 175	0.168 ‰	5 700
Mauritania	3 270 065	0	no
Mauritius	1 250 882	0.032 ‰	40
Mozambique	20 905 585		20th
Namibia	2,055,080	0.056 ‰	115
Niger	12 894 865	0	no
Nigeria	135 031 164	0.00074 ‰	100
Rwanda	9 907 509	0	no
Zambia	11 477 447	0	no
Sao Tome and Principe	199 579	0	no	See History of the Jews of São Tomé
Senegal	12 521 851	0	no
Seychelles	81 895	0	no
Sierra Leone	6 144 562	0	no
Zimbabwe	12 311 143	0.062 ‰	764
Somalia	9 118 773	0	no
Sudan	39 379 358	0	no
South Africa	43 997 828	1.648 ‰	72 500	See History of the Jews in South Africa
Swaziland	1 133 066	0	no
Tanzania	39 384 223	0	no
Togo	5,701,579	0	no
Chad	9 885 661	0	no
Tunisia	10 276 158	0.146 ‰	1,500
Uganda	30 262 610	0.025 ‰	750
Western Sahara	382 617	0	no
Central African Republic	4,369,038	0	no
Together	934 253 429	0.094 ‰	87 720

Source: www.ajcarchives.org, as of 2005

See also

• British Uganda Program , British proposal for the creation of a Jewish state in East Africa
• African Jewish Congress
• List of synagogues in Africa

literature

General

• Ken Blady: Jewish Communities in Exotic Places. Jason Aronson, Jerusalem 2000, ISBN 0-76-576112-2 .
• Édith brother: Black Jews of Africa. Oxford 2008.
• Samuel Kurinsky: Jews In Africa: Old Black African Relations. Fact Paper 19-II.
• Tudor Parfitt: The Lost Tribes of Israel: The History of a Myth. London 2002.
• Karen Primak: Jews in Places You Never Thought of. Ktav Publishing, New York 1998.
• Monroe Rosenthal, Isaac Mozeson: Wars of the Jews: A Military History from Biblical to Modern Times. Hipporcrene Books, New York 1990.
• Joseph J. Williams: Hebrewisms of West Africa: From Nile to Niger With the Jews. The Dial Press, New York 1931.

North africa

• Colette Bismuth-Jarrassé, Dominique Jarrassé: Synagogues de Tunisie: monuments d'une histoire et d'une identité . Éditions Esthétiques, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre 2010, ISBN 978-2-9533041-2-1 .
• Rick Gold: The Jews of Timbuktu. In: Washington Jewish Week. December 30, 1999.
• Ismaël Diadié Haïdara: Les Juifs à Tombouctou, or Jews of Timbuktu. Recueil de sources écrites relatives au commerce juif à Tombouctou au XIXe siècle. Editions Donniya, Bamako 1999, ISBN 2911741161 .
• William FS Miles: Afro-Jewish encounters: from Timbuktu to the Indian Ocean and beyond . Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton 2014, ISBN 9781558765825 .
• Rainer Oßwald : The trading cities of the Western Sahara. The development of the Arab-Moorish culture of Šinqīt, Wādān, Tīšīt and Walāta. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1986. (Marburg Studies on Africa and Asia Studies. Vol. 39), ISBN 3-496-00853-9 .
• Abderrahman ben Abdallah ben ʿImrān ben ʿĀmir Es-Saʿdi (translation: Octave Houdas ): Tarikh es-Soudan. Leroux, Paris 1900.
• Sam Timinsky: Jews in Africa: Part 1 The Berbers and the Jews. Hebrew History Federation.

Ethiopia

• Tudor Parfitt, Emanuela Trevisan Semi: Jews of Ethiopia: the Birth of an Elite. Routledge, London et al. 2005.
• Muse Tegegne: Stigma "Gojjam": The Abbyssianian Pariah Orits. Guihon Books, University of Geneva, 1993.

Nigeria

• Ilona Remy, Ehav Eliyahu: Igbos, Jews in Africa? Volume 1, Mega Press, Abuja 2004.
• CK Meek: Northern Tribes of Nigeria. Volume 1, Oxford, p. 66 (Songhay).

Cape Verde and Guinea

• Richard Lobban: Jews in Cape Verde and on the Guinea Coast. University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, February 11, 1996.

Canaanite Israelite Society of West Africa

• Samuel Johnson: History of the Yorubas. London 1921.
• Dierk Lange: Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: Africa-Centered and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives - A Collection of Published and Unpublished Studies in English and French. Dettelbach 2004.
• The Mune-Symbol as the Ark of the Covenant between Duguwa and Sefuwa (in ancient Kanem). (PDF; 509 kB) In: Borno Museum Society Newsletter. 66-67 (2006), pp. 15-25.
• Biblical patriarchs from a pre-canonical source mentioned in the Dīwān of Kanem-Bornu. (PDF; 196 kB) In: Journal for Old Testament Science. 121, 4 (2009), pp. 588-597.
• Africa south of the Sahara: From the sacred states to the great empires. (PDF; 4.1 MB) In: J. Fried, E.-D. Hehl (Ed.): World Interpretations and World Religions 600-1500. Vol. III, WBG-Weltgeschichte, Darmstadt 2010, pp. 103–116.
• The Founding of Kanem by Assyrian Refugees ca.600 BCE: Documentary, Linguistic, and Archaeological Evidence. (PDF; 1.6 MB) Boston 2011.
• Origin of the Yoruba and the "Lost Tribes of Israel". (PDF; 593 kB) In: Anthropos. 106, 2011, pp. 579-595.
• N. Levtzion, Th. Hopkins: Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. Cambridge 1981.

Sao Tome and Principe

• Robert Garfield: A History of Sao Tome Island, 1470-1655. San Francisco 1992.

Lemba

• Magdel Le Roux: The Lemba: A Lost Tribe of Israel in South Africa? Pretoria 2003.

Web links

General

• Afrikanet: The black Jews
• ISSAJ - International Society for the Study of African Jewry
• Resources> Jewish communities> Magreb ( Memento of July 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Jay Sand's site about African Jews
• Non-Profit Organization Kulanu Assisting Communities throughout the World specifically Africa -Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria etc ...

Lemba

• Interview with Oxford Professor Tudor Parfitt on PBS concerning the Lemba
• Information about the DNA testing done on the Lemba
• Forensic Biology: Priestly Caste of Jews Linked to Aaron and South African Tribe Might Actually Be Jewish
• African Tribe Presses Bid: Lemba

Nigeria and Uganda

• Jews of Nigeria: The Aro Empire, by Eze Okafor-Ogbaji
• Ibo Benei Yisrael Yahoo! Email list
• The Awakening & In-Gathering of The Ibos ( Memento from October 1, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
• Legends of the Lost Tribes: Documentary series (Episode 3 on Igbos)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Himla Soodyall, Jennifer G. R Kromberg: Human Genetics and Genomics and Sociocultural Beliefs and Practices in South Africa . In: Dhavendra Kumar, Ruth Chadwick (Eds.): Genomics and Society: Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Socioeconomic Implications . Academic Press / Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-12-420195-8 , pp. 316 ( google.com ).
2. ↑ Sergio Tofanelli, Luca Taglioli, Stefania Bertoncini, Paolo Francalacci, Anatole Klyosov, Luca Pagani, Mitochondrial and Y chromosome haplotype motifs as diagnostic markers of Jewish ancestry: a reconsideration . In: Frontiers in Genetics 5, 2014, DOI = 10.3389 / fgene.2014.00384
3. ↑ Dierk Lange: Ancient Kingdoms. Pp. 215-288, pp. 343-375; id., Sub-Saharan Africa. (PDF; 4.1 MB) pp. 103–116.
4. ↑ Christopher Ehret: The Civilizations of Africa. Oxford 2002.
5. ↑ Lange: Africa south of the Sahara. (PDF; 4.1 MB) pp. 104-107.
6. ^ Rainer Oßwald: The trading cities of the West Sahara. The development of the Arab-Moorish culture of Šinqīt, Wādān, Tīšīt and Walāta. Marburg studies on Africa and Asia. Vol. 39. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1986, pp. 105-108
7. ^ Dierk Lange: Origin of the Yoruba and the "Lost Tribes of Israel". (PDF; 593 kB) In: Anthropos. 106, 2011, pp. 579-595.
8. ↑ http://www.haruth.com/jw/JewsCameroon.htm
9. ^ Tudor Parfitt: The construction of Jewish identities in Africa. In: ders., Emanuela Trevisan Semi: Jews of Ethiopia. Pp. 1-42, pp. 15ff .; Brother: Black Jews of Africa. P. 153 ff.
10. ↑ www.kulanu.org/tutsi/jews-africa.php ( Memento of the original dated May 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ ^{a b} www.kulanu.org/tutsi/havila.php ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ Parfitt 2005, p. 16 f.
13. ↑ Lange: Biblical patriarchs. (PDF; 196 kB) pp. 588–597.
14. ^ Johnson: History of the Yorubas. Pp. 149-154.
15. ↑ Lange: Origin of the Yoruba. (PDF; 593 kB) pp. 579-595.
16. ↑ http://www.timesnews.co.ke/16apr06/nwsstory/news5.html ( Memento from July 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ^ The Jerusalem Post: The secrets of the Malagasy Jews of Madagascar . Article of September 26, 2015.
20. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ↑ http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica/subcont.htm#MOZAMBIQUE
22. ↑ http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/2005_4_WJP.pdf