"Though Jews have populated Yemen since Biblical times, the first substantial number of Yemenites to accept Judaism did so in the fifth century under King Du-Nuas. As the only non-Muslims in the country, Yemenite Jews have faced constant persecution, including laws forbidding them to wear certain colors, ride animals or build tall houses. Jews began to emigrate from Yemen in 1882 and many landed in Israel. Emigration increased when Israel became a nation in 1948, and the fledgling nation accepted thousands of Jews who fled anti-Jewish riots. Despite the suppression, a small, secretive Jewish community remains in northern Yemen in villages in the vicinity of Saada, which is located in Sa'ata Province, close to the Saudi border. These Jews are not allowed to hold political office and are discouraged from having contact with their Muslim neighbors, so they continue their practices in virtual seclusion."
Source:
http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/dispersed.htm [January 2002]
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/communities/wjcbook/yemen/index.htm - [link no longer available]: "It is comprised of the Yahood Al-Maghrib (Western Jews) and the Yahood Al-Mashrag (Eastern Jews). These Jews mostly live in villages in the vicinity of Saada, which is located in Sa'ata Province, close to the Saudi border. The community is extremely insular." [October 2000]
THE CEMETERIES
ADEN:
This cemetery has 22 tombstones from 1741-1858.
Chajes, H. P. Juedische und juedisch-indisch Grabschriften aus Aden" (Jewish and Jewish-Indian graves inscriptions in Aden)in Sitzungbericht der Philodophisch-Historischen Klasse der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. BD.147 nr.3. Vienna, Austria 1904. 30 pages in German. PV181, 147, III. Source: Tagger, Mathilde. Printed Books on Jewish Cemeteries in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem: an Annotated Bibliography. Jerusalem: The Israel Genealogical Society, 1997.
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