The Jewish Community of Urmiya

The Urmiya (Urumia, Orumiyeh) Jewish community anecdotally traces its roots to the Assyrian exile of the biblical Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BCE. The Mongol Ilkhanate’s conquests in the thirteenth century CE temporarily relocated the Jewish exilarch from Baghdad to Tabriz, and then to Urmiya. A Jewish vizier, Sa‘ad ad-Daula, was appointed in the capital city of Tabriz for what was one of the largest Jewish populations in Paras Katan (Lesser Persia, the historical Hebrew term for western Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan). These communities were poor, spoke a distinct dialect of Jewish-Azeri neo-Aramaic known as lishan didan (our language), and were primarily occupied in peddling, linen production, moneylending, and jewelry making. Their acute persecution during the Qajar period (1780s–1925)—the community’s peak—made them prime targets for the proselytizing Baha’i movement and Protestant missionaries from Europe. Ultimately, they immigrated to the State of Israel following its establishment in 1948.