Mellahs were the walled Jewish quarters in Moroccan cities. Rural mellahs could be groups of tighermatine (fortified houses) in the Dadès Valley or parts of ksour (fortified villages) in the Drâa Valley. Often they were separate villages solely inhabited by Jewish Berbers. In the pre-Saharan valleys they were highly appreciated as silversmiths and they played an important role in local economy. Until the 1950s Morocco had a large Jewish population (about 260,000). After the creation of the of Israel in 1948 most Jews emigrated to the new Jewish State.