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Cemetery of Beni-Abbes at Beni-Abbes, Algeria
In the sands of the Sahara lie the ruins of an old Jewish quarter and cemetery, situated along a bank of the Saoura River. Jews took shelter in Beni-Abbes (known as the "pearl of the Saoura Valley" and the "white oasis") and other towns along the Saoura in 1492, after the Jewish empire in Touat (to the south) was destroyed. Nearby the section of the city known as "Souiguiat" can be found in the rubble of the old Jewish quarter. Next to it sits the cemetery, its graves covered by sand - in its own way offering a blanket of protection.
Description
The Amar family dominated the local Jewish community, and most of the tombs in Beni-Abbes' decaying cemetery carry the Amar name. In the 1850s, the community was headed by Rabbi Yossef Benichou, a native of the town of Kenadsa to the north. Most of the community left in 1910 for the new French garrison town of Colomb-Bechar (also Colum-Bechar), situated to the north. The last Jews left in 1955.
Sources
Oliel, Jacob. Les Juifs de Colomb-Béchar: une communauté vivante (1999, Avis). Accessed July 11, 2014, http://books.google.fr/books/about/Les_Juifs_de_Colomb_B%C3%A9char.html?hl=fr&id=WC-0GAAACAAJ.
Trabelsiismail. "Béni-Abbés Oued saoura." Wikipedia.org. August 20, 2010. Accessed July 14, 2014, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/B%C3%A9ni-Abb%C3%A9s_Oued_saoura.JPG.