Debdou

Debdou دبدو
File:Debdou vue générale 001.JPG File:Debdou ancien cimetière 003.JPG File:Kasbasch de Debdou 12721.jpg File:Debdou vue générale 004.JPG Debdou view from Kasbah
Coordinates:
Country	Morocco
Region	Oriental
Province	Taourirt Province
Population  (2004)
• Total	4,596
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (WEST)

Debdou (Arabic: دبدو) is a town in Taourirt Province in eastern Morocco. It is known for its historically multi-ethnic population, including Berbers Moroccan Jews.

The Ait Urtajjen, a Berber family related to the Moroccan dynasty of the Wattasids, had their own semi-independent state here from 1430 until 1563.

Jewish centre

Debdou was a major Jewish centre in Morocco. The town was settled by many Sephardic Jews from Seville, fleeing the wave of anti-Jewish riots in Spain in 1391. The earliest to settle were the clan of Cohen-Scali-Benzhor who reached Debdou in the 11th century, fleeing Sicily, a family of Jewish priests said to trace their lineage to Zadok, the High Priest.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century the town was briefly renowned as a centre of Jewish learning, exporting rabbis to many cities in Morocco.

At the end of the 19th century the town's population was estimated at 2000 inhabitants, most of them Jews.

At the beginning of the 20th century the number of Jews was estimated at 1600, who formed roughly a third of the population.

Following the establishment of the French protectorate, with the concomitant rise in security, the majority of the Jewish population gradually emigrated to nearby towns in the plains.

Gallery

• Former Marinid cemetery.
  Former Marinid cemetery.
• The door of the typical Jewish house.
  The door of the typical Jewish house.
• Former Marinid kasbah.
  Former Marinid kasbah.
• Typical street in Debdou.
  Typical street in Debdou.

External links

• (in French) C. El Briga, « Debdou », Encyclopédie berbère, vol.15, Edisud 1995, p. 2254-2255