Jewish migration, medieval era
Michael Toch
Abstract In the Middle Ages (500–1500 CE ) as in Antiquity and modern age, history of Jewish people was to a large degree shaped by migration (see DellaPergola 1997, for an overview). Each period knew different patterns each related this existential condition contrasting ways, be it diaspora , Greek word usually used voluntary dispersion, or Galut (“exile” Hebrew) forced scattering. The covered here saw foundation three major divisions that make up today: Ashkenazim Central Eastern European extraction; Sephardim Spanish/Portuguese origin later residents Ottoman empire from Balkans North Africa; Oriental Jewry encompassing both African communities. There are also groupings whose arrival predates Ages: parts Italian Jewry, Yemenites, Jews Caucasus area; numerically culturally dominant into Ages, populations throughout East, most notably Israel/Palestine, Babylonia (Iraq), Egypt.
The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration