BENHAMOU Origin of surname
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name.
Benhamo is a form of Hamo. The Hebrew prefix Ben means "son of".
As a Berber name, Hamou is a diminutive of Mohammed. Many Jews in Arab lands borrowed Arab names. In some cases, Hamo is a Berber diminutive of the Hebrew male personal name Hayyim, which means "life".
As personal names, Hayyim and some of its forms, such as Hai and Yihye, the Aramaic translation Hiyya, and the feminine form Haya, go back to the 3rd century. Hayyim is documented as a Jewish family name in 13th century Spain. Ben Hamou and Benhammou, the "son of life", are recorded in 16th century Morocco.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Benhamou include the 19th century Moroccan rabbi, Moche Benhamou.
BEN HAMOU
(Family Name)Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a Gentile name.
Ben Hamou, Benhamu and Benhamo are North African names meaning the "son of Hamo(u)/Hamu". According to some experts, the names in this group are derived from the Hebrew Cham meaning "hot/warm" in English, or from the name of a Moroccan tribe called Ait Hammu. According to others, Hamou(n) and its variants are based on a Berber diminutive of Mohammed. The Hebrew origins of this group of names indicate that Hamou is a Berber diminutive of Hay(y)im. Hayyim appears in its different forms - Hai, Hiyya, Yihye, and the feminine Haya. In the Middle Ages, it became a popular practice among Ashkenazi Jews to add Hayyim to a personal name either during circumcision or, in the event of sickness or danger, later on in life. This was done to ensure health and long life. Among Sephardi Jews, Hai/Chai ("alive") is still a popular additional name while Yihye ("he will live") was widespread among Yemenite Jews. In the course of Jewish wanderings, the name Hayyim was influenced by local pronunciation - becoming, for example, Aim or Haym in Spain, Heim or Hayems in Germany and Alsace, Chajjim in Turkey, Hagin in England. It was translated into Latin as Vives, Vita, Vidal, and into Arabic as Yaish and Ayash. Under German and Yiddish influence Vives became Feives, Feis, Feivush and even Feischel.
Hayem, derived from Hayyim, became a surname in the Jewish community of Metz, north eastern France, where Jews lived since the 9th century, and also a Jewish family name. Hamou is documented as a Jewish family name in Morocco since the 16th century.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Ben Hamou include the 15th/16th century Moroccan rabbi, Yahya Ben Hamou and the 17th/18th century Moroccan commentator and teacher, Moche Ben Hamou.
Debdou
(Place)Debdou
Also: Dubdu; Arabic: دبدو
Debdou is a town in northeast Morocco, close to the Algerian border, at the foot of the Atlas mountains. During the 19th and early 20th century the Jewish residents constituted 75% of the town's inhabitants, giving it a special status where Jews actually outnumbered Muslims.
Early history 1391 – 1493
The first Jews to settle in Debdou were refugees who fled from Seville in Spain as a result of the anti-Jewish riots of 1391, which led to the massacre of many Jewish communities. The following 15th century saw a continuation of Catholic persecution of the Jews in Spain, as well as Spanish- controlled Sicily.
In 1465 a large extended family named Cohen-Scali settled in Debdou, followed by many others as a result of the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The Jews of Sicily were forcibly expelled a year later, in 1493. Since there were many families of Cohanim (priests) in North Africa, several of them took second names to differentiate themselves. One explanation of the origin of the name Scali is "Sekelli", meaning the Sicilian. Another possible explanation is the Arabic word Skali which describes the golden thread used by Sicilian artisans who sewed both religious articles and clothing. Other families who lived in Debdou were Marciano, Benhamou, Ben Naim and Morali.
The community was documented by an anonymous Portugese traveler in 1596.
17th-20th Century
At the beginning of the 17th century the Cohen –Scali family left Debdou for the village of Dar Ben Meshal, in the Taza region of Morocco, where they established a synagogue and schools. In 1690 the Sultan of Morocco Ismael (1671-1727) expelled the Jewish family who returned to Debdou.
In 1745 a cholera epidemic broke out in Debdou, resulting in the emigration of 300 of the 630 Jewish families to other parts of Morocco . leaving a total of 330 families in the town . Despite the migration, the Jews constituted 60% of the town's total population.
The Cohen- Scali family was noted for its rabbis scholars, and scribes who wrote torah scrolls for many communities of northern Morocco and Algeria . One family member, David Cohen-Scali, served as unofficial governor of Debdou from 1895-1910. At the turn of the century the 1,600-2,000 Jewish residents constituted approximately 30% of the town's total population
In 1903 the community was subject to hostility from the Muslims in the surrounding villages, and also suffered from economic difficulties . As a result they contacted the Paris headquarters of Alliance Israelite Universelle to ask for financial help. Assistance from this organisation enabled them to overcome their problems until 1912 when the French Protectorate took control over Morocco. With the rise in the level of security, many Jews gradually left Debdou for nearby towns.
Despite the emigration, Jewish life flourished in Debdou during the first half of the 20th century . There were 17 synagogues maintaining the Spanish tradition. In addition to the religious leaders, the Jewish population included merchants, tailors and weavers. After World War II there were 1,000 Jews in the town. After the establishment of the State of Israel the Jewish Agency organized Aliyah and most of the remaining Jews left Debdou for the Jewish homeland in 1955-56.