Countries and Their Cultures: Jews of Kurdistan

Kurdish Jews, a largely rural people, have lived in the mountains and plains of Kurdistan since time immemorial. They have been geographically isolated throughout much of their history and are thought to have retained some old Jewish traditions. Their Neo-Aramaic language is a survival of old Aramaic, which was the dominant language in the Middle East before being gradually superseded by Arabic after the Islamic conquest of the area during the seventh century A . D . Most of the Kurdish Jews emigrated to Israel during 1950-1951. Classification of Jewish populations by domestic language (the language used for day-to-day affairs) provides a convenient taxonomy of groups.