AND~ Regarding the Atlass Mountains ..."The Jews appear as a group, specializing in trading and crafts, which is ritually and socially separated from the Moslems, who specialize in agriculture... The Jews are non-combatants, not being allowed to carry arms. Yet
in their role as smiths, they are responsible for making and repairing arms."
Thus we come to the realization that the ancient North African guns, knives and swords of exquisite workmanship, weapons whose hand-wrought and tooled metals were engraved with elaborate patterns or inlaid with mother-of-pearl,
the very weapons that now command high prices on the antiques market, are not of Arabic provenance at all but were produced by Judaic smiths! And that is not all!
"[Jewish] blacksmiths fan charcoal fires and create useful tools; hammers, axes, hatchets, scythes, plows, and all the other tools required by the people of the region.
They also repair weapons. These artisan’s shops are in the entrances of their homes. The Berber who needs any tool will bring the metal and the charcoal to the Jew’s house."
See also
http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpa...017-1_gold.htm