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Atlas

ATLAS, mountain range in Morocco and Algeria.

History

Arabic literary sources tell of some *Berber tribes in the Atlas Mountains which observed the tenets of Judaism: e.g., the Jarawa in the Aurès Mountains of eastern Algeria (see Kahina), the Nafusa, the Fandalawa, and Madyuna (west Algerian tribes), and the Bahlula, the Ghayata, and the Fazaz in the Moroccan Atlas. The Islamization of these tribes is ascribed to Idris the Great (ninth century). It is significant that in Jewish sources there is no mention of these tribes. The *Almohads did not succeed in conquering the Atlas tribes and, apparently, many Jews found shelter among them during the persecutions. Until 1956, many Jewish mellahs existed in the Atlas Mountains and on their slopes. Situated on the main communication routes in their quarters near the Berber villages, these small isolated communities remained closely attached to their faith and traditions. Their primary occupations included small business, peddling, metal crafts (silversmiths and blacksmiths), and wine production. According to legends, these tribes had once been strong enough to sustain themselves and to aid the Berbers in their internecine struggles. Many Jews in the Middle Atlas and in Sous Valley either converted voluntarily to Islam or were forced to convert during the marabout movement in the 16th century. During the 19th century the Atlas communities were finally subjugated and sometimes reduced to semi-slavery. The Jewish communities of the Atlantic Atlas disappeared. Throughout the Atlas region old Jewish cemeteries and sanctuaries served as shrines for both Jews and Muslim Berbers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

N. Slouschz, Travels in North Africa (1927), 295 ff., 306 ff.; R. Montagne, Berbères et le Makhzen (1930), 45–46, 66–68, 76–77; L. Poinot, Pélerinages judéomusulmans du Maroc (1948), passim; A.N. Chouraqui, Between East and West (1968), passim; P. Flamand, Diaspora en terre d'Islam (1956), 67–105; Hirschberg, in: Journal of African History, 4 (1963), 313–39; Hirschberg, Afrikah, passim; Corcos, in: Sefunot, 10 (1966), 77, 80 ff., 93 ff.; Minkovitz, in: JJSO, 9 (1967), 191–208; Kohls, in: Megamot, 7 (1956), 345–76 (Eng. summ.).


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.