The notion of the possible existence of Black African Jews intrigued Rabbinical Jewry in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, fed by reports and rumours such as the travel descriptions of the 9th Century Jewish traveller Eldad Ha-Dani. Knowledge of the geography of the African continent however remained very scant, not allowing any precise identification of who or where these Jews (sometimes termed “Israelites”) were; before the modern period no permanent channels of communication existed that ..
