Their homes are caves and houses carved or built from stones and mud, or straw and tree branches in the form of huts on top of the mountains and plateaus.

- 8 of 258: ″Africa and the Maghreb, when the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym crossed into it at the beginning of the fifth century (hijri) and invaded it for three hundred and fifty years, were destroyed and all of its areas returned to ruin, after the entire area between the Sudan and the Roman Sea had been built up, as evidenced by the traces of construction in it, including monuments, building statues, and evidence of villages and homes.″Their clothing consists of striped woolen fabric and a black robe.

In the fifth century, the Vandals, a Germanic tribe who had emigrated to the Maghreb in 429 AD, conquered the island under the leadership of its king, Gaiseric.

The island then became part of the possession of emir Bulukīn ibn Zīrī al-Sanhaji, whom al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi appointed as ruler of Afriqiya after the Fatimids moved their capital to Cairo.

Over two decades later however, while the Normans and their ruler William I, were primarily focused on their massive invasion of the Byzantine Empire in 1185, the Almohad Caliphate, with its origins in the sandy deserts of Morocco, "woke up from its slumber and remembered that its enemy was sitting on a cherished piece of its soil.

It prepared a large army in a huge fleet, forced the Frankish garrison to withdraw, and the island entered the rule of the Almohads."

At that time, the rule of the Dey with sole authority appeared (in the first half of the 17th century), then a semi-monarchical hereditary system during the era of the Muradid Beys (1628-1702) and then the Husseinis (after 1705).

These Husseinis succeeded in building the edifice of a state firmly established in the country and enjoying broad independence from external powers (Istanbul or the Dey of Algiers), especially during the reign of Hammuda Pasha (1782-1814).

With the help of the people, the Ottomans were able to storm the huge fortress of La Goulette, then seize Tunis and completely eliminate the Spanish presence during the summer of 1574.

However, its political system quickly developed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries into an independent “semi-national monarchy” with only formal ties of loyalty to Istanbul.

Then Tunisia fell into the trap of colonialism, as German Chancellor Bismarck declared to the French ambassador in Berlin (January 4, 1879): “The Tunisian pear has ripened and it is time for you to pick it...” Indeed, since the first third of the nineteenth century, the conditions of the Tunisian province have gradually deteriorated and worsened under the pressure of the rising European expansionist powers, until the province stabilized in a comprehensive crisis that facilitated the French intervention in 1881.

[13] Local tradition holds that when Nebuchadnezzar II levelled Solomon's temple and laid waste to Judah and the city of Jerusalem in the year 586 BC, the Kohenim who settled in Djerba were among the refugees who were able to avoid slavery.

[13] The legend claims the Kohenim carried the door and some stones from the Temple in Jerusalem which they then incorporated into the "marvelous synagogue", also known as Ghriba, which still stands in Djerba.

[16] Some traditions that are distinctive of the Jewish Djerba community is the kiddush prayer said on the eve of Passover and a few prophetic passages on certain Shabbats of the year.

[19] In the aftermath of World War II, the Jewish population on the island declined significantly due to emigration to Israel and France.

However, once the State of Israel was established, and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was building up many Jewish people were expelled from Tunisia.

This is reportedly attributed due to all the people of the island being at some point Jewish, and therefore share similar practices in their ways of life.

[13] Some of these Jewish practices that can be seen in Muslim households in Djerba are the lighting of candles on Friday night, and the suspending of matzot on the ceiling from one spring to the next.

[22] On 11 April 2002, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack close to the famous synagogue, killing 21 people (14 German tourists, 5 Tunisians and 2 French nationals).

[14] Citing the long and unique Jewish history on Djerba, Tunisia has sought UNESCO World Heritage status for the island.

[14] A Jewish school on the island was firebombed during the national protests held in 2018, while security forces in Djerba were reduced, being preoccupied with protection efforts elsewhere.

[25] The city Girba in the Roman province of Tripolitania (mostly in modern Libya), which gave its name to the island, was important enough to become a suffragan bishop of its capital's archbishopric.