Unearthing the Genizah of the Jewish Community in Figuig

What is it about?

Within the framework of an agreement with the National Institute of Sciences of Archaeology and Heritage (INSAP) of Morocco and with the Municipality of Figuig, a multidisciplinary team of Moroccan and French researchers, led by Saghir Mabrouk (INSAP), Laurence Gillot (MCF Paris Cité, UMR 8210 ANHIMA) and André Del (Paris Val-de-Seine School of Architecture, EVCAU) has carried out inventory, research and valorization of the heritage of the oasis of Figuig since 2005. In this context, excavations were conducted in the mellah of the qsar Loudaghir, one of the quarters inhabited by the Jewish community which left in the 1950s. The discovery of manuscripts in the genizah of the mellah has led archaeologists to refer to palaeographers and epigraphists to inventory, study and preserve these manuscripts. This paper accounts for the dialogue established between archaeology and philology.

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