(Jewish Group) On This Day: 955 years since the murder of Jews in Granada massacre
December 30 marks 955 years since the Granada massacre, a brutal event when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada in Muslim-ruled Spain, crucified the Jewish vizier and slaughtered thousands of Jewish residents of the city.
Granada was the capital of a Berber Muslim kingdom of the same name in modern-day Spain, then known as al-Andalus when it was under Muslim rule. At the time, it was ruled by the Zirid dynasty, and while control of the kingdom would change hands for several centuries, Granada would ultimately be known as the last bastion of Muslim rule in al-Andalus before it fully fell to Spanish rule in 1492 in the culmination of the Reconquista.
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But the Jewish presence in Granada is far older. In fact, while some legends even posit that Jews had lived in the city since the destruction of the First Temple, the first known evidence dating back to the year 711. In fact, the Jewish presence in Granada is so old and established that the city is said to have once been known as Garnāta-al-Yahūd, meaning Granada, City of the Jews. Although some scholars cast doubt on this widespread assumption of Jewish history in the city, the traditional legacy lives on, as has its importance in Jewish history.
Like in many parts of al-Andalus, the local Jewish population thrived, with the period of Muslim rule over the Iberian peninsula widely being regarded as the "Golden Age" for Sephardi Jewry. During this era, Jews enjoyed more freedoms and prosperity than they had for over a thousand years, and Jewish culture, philosophy and science thrived.
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