Mellah of Fez

Background: the Jewish community before the Mellah (9th to 14th centuries) today, historically known as Funduq el-Yihoudi, was the original Jewish neighbourhood of Fes el-Bali. The original Jewish cemetery of the city was located outside the city gate (now occupied by later Muslim cemeteries). Fez had long hosted the largest and one of the oldest Jewish communities in Morocco, present since the city's foundation by the Idrisids (in the late 8th or early 9th century). They lived in many parts of the city alongside the Muslim population, as evidenced by the fact that Jewish houses were purchased and demolished for the Almoravid expansion of the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque (located at the center of the city), and by the claims of Maimonides' residence in what later became the Dar al-Magana (in the western part of the city). Nonetheless, since the time of Idris II (early 9th century) the Jewish community was more or less concentrated in the neighbourhood known as Foundouk el-Yihoudi ("hotel/warehouse of the Jew") near Bab Guissa in the northeast of the city. Fez, along with Cordoba, was one of the centers of a Jewish intellectual and cultural renaissance taking place in the 10th and 11th centuries in Morocco and al-Andalus (Spain and Portugal under Muslim rule). Later in the Marinid period the Jewish inhabitants of Fes el-Bali were all moved to a new district in the southern part of Fes el-Jdid. This district, possibly created after the 1276 foundation, These regiments were disbanded around 1325 under Sultan Abu Sa'id. due to either a saline water source in the area or to the former presence of a salt warehouse. Other scholars also date the move generally to the mid-15th century, without arguing for a specific date. The influx of migrants also revitalized Jewish cultural activity in the following years, while splitting the community along ethnic lines for many generations. Serious hardship also took place in 1790 to 1792 during a period of general turmoil and decline under Sultan Moulay Yazid.|left In 1912 French colonial rule was instituted over Morocco following the Treaty of Fes. One immediate consequence was the 1912 riots in Fez, a popular uprising which included deadly attacks targeting Europeans as well as native Jewish inhabitants in the Mellah (perceived as being too close to the new administration), followed by an even deadlier repression against the general population. Fez and its Royal Palace ceased to be the center of power in Morocco as the capital was moved to Rabat. A number of social and physical changes took place at this period and across the 20th century. Starting under Lyautey, the creation of the French Ville Nouvelle ("New City") to the west also had a wider impact on the entire city's development. in 1912 behind Bab al-Amer In the area around the Bab al-Amer gate, on the southwestern edge of the Mellah, the French administration judged the old gate too narrow and inconvenient for traffic and demolished a nearby aqueduct and some of the surrounding wall in order to improve access. The former shops were replaced with more ostentatious boutiques built in the architectural style of the Jewish houses of the Mellah, with many open balconies and outward ornamentation. In the late 1940s, estimates of the Jewish population include 15,150 in the Mellah and 22,000 in all of Fez. Major waves of emigration after this depleted the Jewish population. The district was progressively taken over instead by other Muslim residents, who make up its population today. In 1997 there were reportedly only 150 Jews in all of Fez and no functioning synagogues remained in the Mellah. == Layout and organisation of the Mellah ==

to Bab el-Mellah, the entrance to the Mellah The Mellah's layout took shape progressively over the centuries and has been modified multiple times, especially after periods of destruction by fire or political repression (such as Moulay Yazid's reduction of the Mellah's size in 1790-92). Following the creation of Rue Boukhessissat (or Bou Khsisat) between the former northern boundary of the Mellah and the southern wall of the Royal Palace by the French in 1924, this new road was lined with a new row of relatively ornate Jewish houses and boutiques which are still visible today. The Lower Mellah The "Lower" Mellah was generally poorer and denser than the Upper Mellah. The urban fabric to the south of the main street (Derb al-Souq) was probably also the oldest. Here the streets are especially convoluted due to constant encroachment by expanding houses over time. Many workshops were also found here, especially near the market street. Many lanes led to impasses which were in turn shut off by gates at their entrance, creating private mini-neighbourhoods. Some of the more public streets were only just wide enough to allow for rituals and events such as the parading of a young man on his bar mitzvah. It is also in this neighbourhood that the Mellah's oldest synagogues are found, such as the Ibn Danan Synagogue and the Slat al-Fassiyin Synagogue. On the northern edge of the cemetery, in the southern part of the district, was once located the community's abattoir. Other public amenities and services in the area included a mikveh, an oven, and schools. The Jewish Cemetery The southwest corner of the Mellah is occupied by a large Jewish Cemetery, which existed since the early 19th century but was only filled to its current extent in the 20th century. This has been the main cemetery of the Mellah since the old cemetery, situated to the northwest at the base of the Royal Palace's walls, was forced to move in 1894 by order of the sultan, or possibly by order of the French after 1912. The cemetery was managed by the local Hebra Qadisha, who also served as the community's firefighters. Today, a small former synagogue at the northeastern end of the cemetery is used as a small museum. En-Nowawel Quarter To the east of the cemetery and south of the Sidi Bou Nafa' neighbourhood is a relatively recent neighbourhood called En-Nowawel or An-Nawawil, which likely dates from the end of the 19th century. Its name refers to the straw huts which initially existed here as crude shelters for its inhabitants. The latter were probably recent migrants to the Mellah from rural towns. Over time, regular housing was built in their place. Between the cemetery and En-Nowawel there was once an open space used for games. The neighbourhood also had its own oven as well as a hammam (bathhouse). == Architecture of the Mellah ==

Houses '' tiling, mainly in geometric motifs. The houses of the Mellah today are notable for their marked difference from the traditional houses in the rest of the city. Whereas old houses in Fes el-Bali and the traditionally Muslim neighbourhoods of Fes el-Jdid have very few exterior features and generally closed-off from the outside, the Jewish houses in the Mellah often have open balconies facing the street and a greater number of windows. Some of these balconies are even relatively ornate and have sculpted motifs, such as those on the more modern Boukhessissat street. However, this characteristic is relatively recent in the architectural history of the district and older houses follow the same format as their Muslim counterparts, with an emphasis on privacy and a lack of exterior features. Like other traditional historic Moroccan houses, the houses of the Mellah were centered around an interior courtyard surrounded by a gallery which spanned the multiple floors of the building. In the case of more bourgeois or wealthy households, the interior of the house could also be richly decorated with sculpted wood and stucco. Synagogues , thought to be the oldest synagogue in the Mellah Most of the synagogues in the Mellah were merely pre-existing rooms within private residences which were converted by the owners into places of worship and sustained by member donations. As a result, almost everyone lived within a few steps of a synagogue, but very few synagogues were supported through public funding. A few of them, however, were larger and were decorated with zellij mosaic tiles, carved stucco, and painted wooden ceilings, typically using much of the same decorative repertoires as Islamic architecture elsewhere in the city. Among the best-known synagogues of the Mellah are the Ibn Danan Synagogue, believed to date from the end of 17th century, and the Slat al-Fassiyin Synagogue, reputed to be the oldest synagogue of the Mellah and possibly dating from the Marinid period (13th–15th centuries). Both may have been rebuilt various times, and their age should be interpreted as the date of their establishment at this location. For a few centuries the Sephardic (Spanish) Jews, known as Megorashim, and the Moroccan (Arab or Berber) Jews, known as Toshavim, worshipped in separate synagogues, until the Sephardic tradition (minhag) eventually prevailed in most aspects of religious practice. The Slat al-Fassiyin Synagogue was one of the few where non-Sephardic rituals continued up until the 20th century. The names of the synagogues that existed in the Mellah of Fez in modern times are given below, grouped roughly by neighbourhood: Upper Mellah: • Mansano Synagogue • Ibn Attar Synagogue • Synagogue of Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar • Synagogue of Rabbi Haim Cohen • Synagogue of Haham Abensur • Synagogue of Saba • Gozlan Synagogue Lower Mellah: • Shlomo Ibn Danan Synagogue (or Ibn Danan Synagogue) • Slat al-Fassiyin Synagogue (or al-Fassiyin Synagogue) • Bar Yochai Synagogue • Obayd Synagogue • Dbaba Synagogue • Synagogue of Rabbi Raphael Abensur En-Nowawel quarter: • Synagogue of Aharon Cohen • Synagogue of Saadian Danan • Synagogue of Hachuel • Synagogue of Rabbi El Baz == References ==