The Cave Dwellers of Libya
Source: Gantz, Pnina. The Immigration, Absorption, and Integration of the Cave Dwellers from Libya into Israel, Seminar Paper, University of Haifa, 2001.
Geographic and Historical Context
Ninety-two kilometers south of Tripoli lies the mountainous region of Gharyan - a name derived from “ghar”, meaning “cave” in Arabic. This area encompasses three villages: Tigrina, Ben-Abbas, and Tagassat. Until the mass immigration of 1949, approximately 600 Jews lived in these villages among a population of 50,000 Arabs and Berbers.
According to Jewish oral tradition, the Jewish community of Gharyan originated from the Jebel Nafusa region, located about 150 kilometers southwest of Tripoli. Near the village of Tagassat stands an ancient fortress referred to by locals as “Qasr al-Yehud” (“Fortress of the Jews”). Another similarly named structure exists in the Jamaṭah region between Gharyan and Bani Walid.
In the nearby area of Al-Hajjara, an ancient tomb known as “Hacham al-Hajjara” is venerated by both Jews and Muslims, believed to be the final resting place of a righteous sage. Candles are lit in his honor, and prayers are recited at the site. Another sacred tomb, known as “The Grave of Rabbi Hajjaj”, lies between Al-Hajjara and the village of Danon. Out of respect for these holy sites, the surrounding lands remain uncultivated by local Arabs.
The ancient Jewish cemetery at Juhaysha is also of historical significance. Local tradition recounts that this area was once a Jewish village. The Jews left after a conflict with a local Arab who had demanded blacksmithing services on Shabbat. Refusing to violate their religious observance, the Jews declined, and the confrontation ended in the Arab’s death. Fearing retribution, the Jews abandoned the area.
Subterranean Living
For centuries, the inhabitants of these villages - Jewish and Arab alike - lived entirely underground, carving multi-level dwellings into the rock at depths of up to 20 meters. Excavating a cave could take one to two years and required precise planning to ensure structural integrity and concealment.
From the surface, these subterranean homes were virtually invisible to passersby. Each complex featured numerous rooms, separated by partitions between families. Inside, the caves resembled ordinary homes - except for their rock ceilings.
Water was drawn from cisterns. Daylight filtered into the caves via concealed openings, and kerosene lamps provided illumination at night. Entrances were discreet, often camouflaged by adjacent animal pens or tool sheds to avoid detection by outsiders.
The landscape above these homes was marked by raised embankments, within which a square, deep vertical shaft led to the cave below. A wooden door reinforced with iron bars covered the opening. Beyond this, a narrow, winding passageway descended into the main courtyard - a rectangular open space surrounded by additional rooms carved into the rock.
The central courtyard often housed livestock, including goats, chickens, cattle, camels, and donkeys. Women prepared food, spun wool, and wove textiles, while children played or helped with chores. Women and children also worked in the surrounding fields and vineyards.
Women’s Roles and Daily Life
Life for women in the caves was especially arduous. They engaged in labor-intensive textile production, crafting wool garments and rugs. Rest periods were rare, and women were only occasionally permitted to venture out to gather firewood.
Despite these conditions, the cave dwellers developed a self-sufficient communal life. Small shops provided essential goods. Though their diets were meager, general health was satisfactory. Families were large, and children were numerous. The population primarily engaged in skilled trades, including jewelry-making, blacksmithing, cobbling, and agriculture. Many traversed vast desert distances to work in Arab villages, some as far as 1,200 kilometers away, traveling by foot with donkeys and camels.
Traditional Medicine and Spiritual Practices
Medical care was administered by an elder healer, known for his use of mystical healing amulets. These “prescriptions” were written on scraps of paper with symbolic lines and acronyms. Patients would either burn the amulets and inhale the smoke, or mix the ashes into water and drink it, accompanied by incantations to ward off illness and evil spirits. This healer, known as the “paper doctor,” also utilized traditional Arabic remedies.
Religious Life
Religious life flourished underground. The synagogues, deeper than residential caves, had double doors and beautifully crafted wooden arks to house Torah scrolls. Most men were literate, and children studied in a “kuttab”, a study hall located in the synagogue corridor. An elderly melamed (teacher) taught Torah to the community’s children.
The community had its own ritual slaughterers, whose services were sought by local Arabs as well. The spiritual leader of the community was the “Hakham Bashi” (Chief Sage) of Gharyan, Rabbi Khalifa Hajaj, who served as the community’s patriarch and religious authority.
The central synagogue of Moshav Porat in Israel still houses the community’s most cherished relic: a centuries-old Torah scroll, known as the “Ben-Abbas Torah.” Accompanying it are prayer books printed in Livorno in 1840, published by Solomon Belforti and colleagues. These prayer books contain acronyms, mystical formulas, and kabbalistic references, some written in Judeo-Arabic (Libyan Arabic in Hebrew script).
Funerary Customs
One enduring custom born of their subterranean lifestyle was their funeral tradition: Upon a death, all work in the village ceased immediately and only resumed after burial. This practice was rooted in ancient fears that the deceased might otherwise not receive proper Jewish burial. The collective pause in labor ensured that the entire community participated in the funeral, affirming the sanctity of the deceased’s final rites.
This testimony preserves the unique cultural, spiritual, and architectural legacy of the Jewish cave dwellers of Libya - a resilient community that maintained its identity beneath the surface, both literally and figuratively, until their aliyah and resettlement in Israel.