Joseph Amzalak was born 1779 in the British colony of Gibraltar. He was the son of Isaac Amzalak and a descendant of early Jewish ancestors who were expelled from Spain or Portugal in the late fifteenth century. Joseph migrated and settled in Jerusalem ca. 1816. He married three times and was the father of four sons and one daughter. Joseph died in 1845 and was buried on the Mount of Olives outside the City of Jerusalem. Descendants lived primarily in Jerusalem, Jaffa and other parts of Palestine.