The Virtual Jewish History Tour

Mauritania

by Joanna Sloame

There were Jews living in Mauritania, located between Senegal, Western Sahara, and the North Atlantic Ocean, as early as the fall of the Jewish state in 70 BCE. They spread throughout the Roman Empire, including the province of Mauritania. Divided into groups that paid taxes to the Romans, they raised cattle, farmed, and traded. Under the Romans and Vandals (after 429), the Jews of Mauritania flourished. After the Byzantines gained control in 534, a series of restrictive laws were enacted agains the Jews, Arians, Donatists, and other dissenters.