Mellah
A mellah ( Arabic ملاح, DMG mallāḥ ) is the traditional Jewish quarter in Moroccan cities, comparable to a European ghetto . It is always close to the Arab old town, the medina .
history
Mellah of Fez
The oldest mellah is that of Fez , which was established in 1438 by Abdalhaqq II , the last sultan of the Merinids . A year earlier, the grave with the supposedly intact body of Idris II (791-828) was found from a presumably planned accident . The intention was to revive the cult around the Idrisids and their Sherif descent, which should strengthen the historical significance and consequently the reputation of the Merinid rulers. The population reacted enthusiastically and with religious expectations. In this atmosphere the news spread that wine had been found in the mosques of Fez, which the Jews were accused of. Thereupon large-scale pogroms began against the Jews. For her protection, the Sultan had her brought from her previous district of Kairouan in the medina to the fortified new town of Fès el Jedid , where their new residential area, called Mellah , was being built on a salty (Arabic mellah ) site near the royal palace .
Mellahs in Morocco
All other ghettos in Morocco were soon named after this Mellah. The reasons for setting up Jewish quarters were similar to those in medieval Europe: The state wanted to use the economic power of the Jewish population for itself and protect them from any excesses by the majority population of different faiths and the tribes of the surrounding area. That is why the mellah was often built near the royal palace or the governor's kasbah .
In the middle of the 16th century the name appeared in Marrakech and in 1682 in Meknes when it became the capital for a short time. In the 19th century, separate Jewish quarters were common in all cities in Morocco.
After the establishment of the State of Israel , most of the Jewish Moroccans emigrated there, so that today these quarters are predominantly inhabited by Muslims.
etymology
The etymology of the place name is unclear, the root on which the term is based is ml-ḥ (as in Arabic ملح, DMG milḥ 'salt'). One supposition is that there were originally salt marshes at the site of the Mellah of Fez. Later it was used metonymically to denote a place where salted products are kept; In addition, the folk etymology came into circulation as a “too salty, cursed place”. In addition, there was a legend circulating that Jews had the right to salt the heads of those executed for the purpose of conservation and later public presentation.
literature
- Emily Gottreich: The Mellah of Marrakesh: Jewish and Muslim Space in Morocco's Red City. Indiana University Press 2006, ISBN 978-0-253-21863-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jane S. Gerber: Jewish Society in Fez. 1450-1700. Studies in Communal and Economic Life. (Studies in Judaism in Modern Times, Vol. 6) EJ Brill, Leiden, 1980, p. 19
- ↑ Bettina Marx: Jews of Morocco and Europe, Moroccan Judaism in the 19th Century and Its Representation in the Contemporary Jewish Press in Germany, France and Great Britain , Lang, Frankfurt a. M., 1990, ISBN 978-3-631-44069-8 , p. 89