Les Juifs d'Amara (Maïsan)

Amara, in southern Iraq, was home to a Jewish community culturally close to that of Basra, established in the southern plain traversed by the Tigris. Its members, Arabic-speaking, participated in river commerce and regional trade, and were organized around their synagogues. During the twentieth century, many made their way to Baghdad. After the creation of the State of Israel and the exodus of the Jews of Iraq in the early 1950s, the community emigrated almost entirely, principally to Israel.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan