The history of the Jews in Hadramaut stretches back to ancient times. The
Hadhrami Jews were a subset of the
Yemeni Jews
Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...
.
History
The community was very old,
and, after the rise of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and the expulsion of the
Hejazi Jews
The history of the Jews in Khaybar flourished in Khaybar during the 7th century, which is now located some 95 miles to the north of Medina (ancient Yathrib)
Migration to Khaybar
The first migration of Jews to Khaybar dates back, by some accounts, ...
, the main centers of Jewish population in Arabia were in Hadhramaut and in
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
. However, the Jews of Hadhramaut were much more isolated than their counterparts in
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, and the community only became known to the outside world in the 1940s. The community had distinctive religious traditions. Many of the Hadhrami Jews converted to Islam, but after the founding of the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, some of the community made
Aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
, but those who remained assimilated and converted to Islam. Today, there are no longer any Hadhramaut Jews known to exist in Yemen.
Geography and families
The Jews of Hadhramaut lived in
Seiyun
Seiyun (also transliterated as ''Saywun'', ''Sayoun'' or ''Say'un''; ar, سَيْئُوْن Hadhrami pronunciation: , Literary Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩪𐩺𐩱𐩬 ''S¹yʾn'') is a city in the region and Governorate of Hadh ...
,
Tarim,
Mukalla
Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east of ...
and
Al-Sheher. Among the well known Jewish families of the region in Al-Sheher and Mukalla are Ben Haneen, Ben Haiem, Ben Yaze'a, Ben Ysra'ail and Ben Qatian Ben Zeghieo. Most of these families converted to Islam in the time period from 1509 until the 1960s and a few migrated to Israel after 1948. After the union between south and north and because of the strict tribal system most of these families melted in the tribal community by renaming their family name after a well-known tribe to avoid discrimination based on their former Jewish roots. The Ben Qattian family in Hadhramaut are dagger-makers and gold-smiths. Their handmade daggers are well known.
See also
*
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...
*
Jews of Aden
Adeni Jews ( he, יהדות עדן), or Adenite Jews are the historical Jewish community which resided in the port city of Aden. Adenite culture became distinct from other Yemenite Jewish culture due to British control of the city and Indian-Ir ...
*
Hadhrami people
The Hadhrami ( ar, حضرمي, ḥaḍramī, singular) or Hadharem ( ar, حضارم, ḥaḍāram, plural) are an Arab ethnic group indigenous to the Hadhramaut region in South Arabia around Eastern Yemen, western Oman, and southern Saudi Arabi ...
*
Habbani Jews
The Habbani Jews ( he, חַבָּאנִים, Standard: ''Ḥabbanim'') are a culturally distinct Jewish population group from the Habban region in eastern Yemen (in modern Shabwah Governorate), a subset of the larger ethnic group of Yemenite Je ...
References
*http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/arabia.html
*''New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, 1992, Encyclopedia Publishing, "Arabia", "Hadramaut"''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadramaut
Yemenite Jews
Jewish Yemeni history
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...