History of the Jews in Armenia
The history of the Jews in Armenia is one of the Jewish communities in the Caucasus region. There is evidence of Jewish settlement in the Armenian Highlands dating as early 1st century BC.
An Armenian Jew
Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis, 13th century
An Armenian Jew, photographed in the Bourne and Shepherd Calcutta studio
Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Yerevan
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran during the time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Books of the Hebrew Bible bring together an extensive narrative shedding light on contemporary Jewish life experiences in ancient Persia; there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Iran since at least the time of Cyrus the Great, who led the Persian army's conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and subsequently freed the Judahites from the Babylonian captivity.
Gathering of the Zionist Federation in Iran, 1920
Cyrus the Great allowing Hebrew pilgrims to return to the Land of Israel and rebuild Jerusalem, painting by Jean Fouquet circa 1470
Hebrew version of Nizami's "Khosrow va Shirin"
Synagogue in Tehran. A postcard from the Qajar (1794–1925) period.