Publication Date
In the year 1077 AH / 1666 AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;34;ar
Library Location
Al-Mallah neighborhood, which is the name of the neighborhood for Jews; Medina, Fez, Morocco
Date
In the year 1077 AH / 1666 AD
Notes
To establish his authority over the country, Al-Mawla Al-Rashid, the actual founder of the Alawite state (ruled in the period 1075-1083 AH / 1664-1672 AD), had to fight the religious zawiyas, especially the Deilais, who established their zawiya near the city of Khenifra, in the Middle Atlas, on the lands of Ait Ishaq, where a large Jewish community lived. In the year 1076 AH / 1666 AD, Moulay Al-Rashid seized Fez from the hands of the Deilais, and decided to make it his capital. He then began rehabilitating the city through restoration and resettlement. To this end, he settled members of the Arab Sharaka tribe from eastern Morocco in the city, recruited them into the army, and brought in a large portion of the Jewish community of Menzawiit Ishaq, to revive the economic activity of the city and occupy some administrative positions. This recent population transfer led to the expansion of the Jewish quarter (the mellah) and the construction of a new synagogue. This new synagogue was built by Maimon Busidan, approximately in the year 1091 AH / 1680 AD, and owes its name to Rabbi Shelomo Danan (1847 - 1928), who was responsible for celebrating Mass there in the early twentieth century. The building was originally composed of three naves leaning on the back of the wall of the mellah quarter, which formed its eastern wall. In which the great hakakh was integrated, that is, the cabinet in which the Torah parchment scrolls were kept. A fourth slab was later added, with a lower ceiling, but which contained a zara (a wing reserved for women). The synagogue was later also attached to a hill (temple), which was raised by steps, and was equipped with a wooden shrine and a cast-iron railing overlooking the prayer hall. The entry door was originally opened in the wall of the wall, and was closed when the fourth slab was built. Since then, access has been made from the opposite side, through a very small door, through a square hall, and a corridor overlooking the cemetery (the temple) and the fourth court. The restoration work that began at the end of the twentieth century made it possible to discover a ritual bath (mikvah), located under the synagogue, where a hidden portal leads to an underground water stream, to which the believers used to go on the occasion of the “Hebrew New Year” holiday for the purpose of “washing away their sins in the water.” This mikveh, which was initially located outside the synagogue, was closed in order to build the fourth wing. The supporting walls of the edifice were built of plastered brick and lime mortar, with the exception of the eastern wall, which consisted of part of the wall wall, which was built of tabiyya. The jambs, which were built of filled brick, take an octagonal shape, while the floors are covered with rectangular pieces of green and white tile, arranged in a zigzag pattern. The interior decoration is concentrated around the Torah cabinets, as their upper part is surrounded by a wide carved plaster strip and painted with geometric elements, while the lower part is framed by a tile coated strip, whose colors range between white and blue. It extends to the floor, via a high step that wraps around the entire hall. The synagogue is no longer used as a place of prayer, and has been arranged as a historic building open to the public.
Sample Text
"Danan Synagogue (Prayer of Rabbi Shelomo Danan)" in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;34;ar
