Description of the attraction
The Ben Ezra synagogue is located in Fostat (Old Cairo) and was originally called the "synagogue of the Israelites." It was built in 882 on the remains of a Coptic church that was sold to Jews. The building was dedicated to the prophet Elijah, and the locals called it by the name of Abraham Ben Ezra, a rabbi. One of the most famous Jews of the Middle Ages, Moses Maimonides (Moshe Ben-Maimon-Harambam), a doctor, philosopher, specialist in religious laws, while living in Cairo, went to this synagogue, as a result of which it received another popular name - the Maimonides synagogue.
During the restoration in the 1890s, a great discovery took place here: a medieval geniza cache was found. Sacred books and decrepit scrolls of laws were collected and hidden in the attic, the collection consisted of thousands of authentic documents from the Middle Ages. An exceptional find is a collection of documents known as the Zinees, written primarily in Hebrew Arabic, a variation of the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets used exclusively by Jews in the Middle Ages. They reflect the political, economic and social conditions of Jews under Arab rule, as well as the subordination of organizations and relations between various Jewish sects.
These documents contain a number of rare manuscripts from interpretations of the Old Testament, fragments of linguistic studies in Hebrew, as well as testimonies explaining how Jews interacted with the Arab Muslim authorities. These documents were copied several times, the earliest manuscripts were compiled in the Fatimid era in Aramaic, later they were rewritten in Arabic, according to the regulation on the official language in government departments (sofas).
At the back of the temple there is a very deep well, which was built in the place where, according to the Scriptures, the prophet Moses was found as an infant.
In the 1980s, the synagogue was renovated and today it is a historical monument and one of the most visited places in Cairo.
Description added:
Leonid Measured 2012-21-11
The Ben Ezra synagogue belongs to the representatives of the Karaite religious movement. The synagogue is famous for the fact that in 1865 the patriarch of the Karaites of Crimea Abraham Firkovich took, according to him, numerous manuscripts from the geniza he discovered. In 1896, a geniza with numerous hands was opened in the same synagogue.
Show all text Ben Ezra synagogue belongs to the representatives of the Karaite religious movement. The synagogue is famous for the fact that in 1865 the patriarch of the Karaites of Crimea Abraham Firkovich took, according to him, numerous manuscripts from the geniza he discovered. In 1896, a geniza was opened in the same synagogue with numerous manuscripts taken to Europe by the Jew Shekhter.
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