Disclaimer
This entry contains information known to us from a variety of sources but may not include all the information currently available. Please be in touch if you notice any inadvertent mistakes in our presentation or have additional knowledge or sources to share. Thank you.
Archive
Beja at Beja, Tunisia
The town of Beja is located in the northern Medjerda valley of Tunisia, west of the city of Tunis.
Description
The earliest documentation of Jews living in Beja suggests that Jews were living in the city before the end of the 16th century. Most of the Jewish community at this time had migrated to Beja from Algeria in the Middle Ages.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Beja emerged as a financial and commercial center for agricultural produce and was active in the trade of wool, grain, and hide. As a result, many Jews traveled to Beja to work in artisanal fields as goldsmiths, silversmiths, blacksmiths, and carpenters. According to the consul of Sardinia in Beja by 1830, there were 20 Jewish families1 settled in the area.
During the next several decades the Jewish population would continue to grow and by the end of World War II in 1945, the community had grown to a total of 1,0112. In 1956 Tunisia won independence from France and Jews fearing the independent Muslim regime began to migrate to France and Israel. Shortly after, the population diminished to 6563. By 1976 there were only 20 Jews4 living in Beja.
Beja, Tunisia
© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap
Sources
Notes
1 "The Jewish Community of Beja.”
2 “The Jewish Community of Beja.”
3 “The Jewish Community of Beja.”
4 Saadoun.
Works Cited
1. Saadoun, Haim. ‘Béja’. In Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, edited by Norman A. Stillman, Phillip I. Ackerman-Lieberman, Yaron Ayalon, Avigdor Levy, Vera B. Moreen, Meira Polliack, Angel Saenz-Badillos and, and Daniel Schroeter. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com:443/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world%252Fbeja-SIM_0003430.
2. “The Jewish Community of Beja.” Museum of the Jewish People. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e264233/Place/Beja.