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The Jewish community in Carthage, the largest North African city, mostly prospered during the Roman era. Its history can be divided in three parts: old Carthage, before its destruction by the Romans, the new Roman Carthage, and Carthage after the Roman era.
Old Carthage
According to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, Jews took part in the foundation of Carthage together with the Phoenicians. The Hebrews and the Phoenicians were neighbors, and the Hebrew Bible mentions that King Solomon undertook maritime expeditions together with King Hiram of Tyre, the Phoenician city-State that founded Carthage. However, if there indeed were some Jews among the first inhabitants of Carthage, then they quickly assimilated into the Phoenician population and stopped practicing their religion.
Carthage is sometimes identified with Tarshish, a place mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible, as a trading partner of the ancient Hebrews. Tarshish most likely was actually Tartessos, in Spain. However, the Hebrew ships that traded with Tartessos certainly used the port of Carthage.
More Jews arrived in Carthage after their homeland was destroyed by the Babylonians, in 586 BCE. The Jewish community of Djerba, the oldest in North Africa, goes back to that era. While no archaeological trace of a Jewish presence in ancient Carthage has been found, most specialists agree that there likely were small Jewish communities in Carthage and other Punic cities.
New Roman Carthage
After Carthage was rebuilt by the Romans, new Jewish populations settled there, especially after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Second-century writings are the oldest archaeological proof of a Jewish presence in Carthage.
The Christian writer Tertullian of Carthage mentions a Jewish community in his city, which he describes as a “fountain of persecution” against Carthaginian Christians. This expression most likely refers to ideological opposition rather than violent persecution. Also, other references to the Jews by Tertullian show he still had some respect for them, for their deep faith, their moral integrity, and their refusal of idolatry.
The Talmud mentions the names of four Carthaginian rabbis. The most prominent one was Rabbi Abba. For some of these references, it is however unclear whether they actually refer to Carthage, North Africa, or to Carthago Nova (Carthagene), Spain, a city with a flourishing Jewish community.
The main archaeological discovery related to the Carthaginian Jewish community is the Gammarth necropolis, that dates back to the beginning of the 3rd Century. This necropolis contains 105 burial chambers, where up to 1.500 people could have been buried. Its Jewish identity is attested to by numerous Jewish symbols.
Carthage after the Roman era
In 439, the Vandals invaded Carthage and made it the capital of their new North African Kingdom. The Jews, who were suffering under growing restrictions in the Christian Roman Empire, supported the Vandal invasion. The Vandal Kings gave them religious freedom.
According to certain sources, after the Vandal King Gaiseric pillaged Rome in 455, he took back to Carthage the sacred utensils of the Temple of Jerusalem, that had been kept in the Roman city treasure. After the Byzantines reconquered Carthage in 533, the Roman general Belisarius had them transported to Constantinople, from where they were later send back to Jerusalem.
While the Jews enjoyed religious freedom under the Vandals, the Byzantine reconquest was the beginning of a time of persecution: their religious services were restricted and many were forced to convert to Christianity. For the Jews, and for the many Christian dissident minorities in North Africa, the Arab Muslim conquest was initially a relief.
