Penang Jewish Cemetery

Penang Jewish Cemetery is billed as the oldest single Jewish cemetery in Malaysia. Spread across more than 38,000sqft, this cleaver-shaped plot of land was established in 1805. Set on Jalan Zainal Abidin (formerly known as Yahudi Road) it used to be a green ‘lung’ but much of it has now been cemented over.

The Penang Jewish Cemetery houses over 107 graves, most of which resemble traditional ossuaries (triangular vaulted-lid caskets) such as those found in Israel. The oldest Jewish tombstone, dating back to 1835, belongs to that of Mrs. Shoshan Levi, the benefactor who donated the land on which the cemetery was set up.