JIMENA
The first Jews arrived in Iraq in the 6th century BCE after being exiled to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar. By 220 CE Iraq had become the center of Jewish scholarship and development and remained that way for the next 500 years. When the Arabs conquered the region in 638, Islam became the official religion and Arabic the official language. In 720, Jews experienced persecution forbidding them to build synagogues, which caused some to flee.
Photos
See AllClick on the photos to enlarge and discover the stories behind them.
Linda Nabil Daly Hadiq’a 1971
Eliahou Rouben Watercolor – Sawdayee.com
Linda Nabil Daly Hafla 1971
Eliahou Rouben Photo, 1919 – Sawdayee.com
Culture
See AllAlthough Jews lived in Iraq for over three thousand years – predating the Arab Islamic conquests by centuries – today less than 10 remain. Indigenous Jewish communities throughout Iraq and the Middle East, were all but completely uprooted and destroyed in the twentieth century.