Back كنيس بن عزرا Arabic معبد بن عزرا ARZ Sinagoga Ben Ezra Catalan Synagoga Ben Ezry Czech Ben-Esra-Synagoge German Sinagoga Ben Ezra Spanish کنیسه بن عزرا Persian Synagogue Ben Ezra French בית הכנסת בן עזרא HE Sinagoga Ben Ezra Italian
30°00′21″N 31°13′52″E / 30.0057944°N 31.2310222°E
| Ben Ezra Synagogue | |
|---|---|
 Ben Ezra Synagogue, Old Cairo | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Sephardic Judaism |
| Location | |
| Location | Cairo, Egypt |
| Geographic coordinates | 30°00′21″N 31°13′52″E / 30.0058°N 31.2310°E |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | 1892 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 17 meters (56 ft) |
| Width | 11.3 meters (37 ft) |
The Ben Ezra Synagogue (Hebrew: בית כנסת בן עזרא; Arabic: معبد بن عزرا), sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue (בית כנסת אל גניזה) or the Synagogue of the Levantines (al-Shamiyin),[1] is situated in the Fustat part of Old Cairo, Egypt. According to local folklore, it is located on the site where baby Moses was found.[2]
This was the synagogue whose geniza or store room was found in the 19th century to contain a treasure of forgotten, stored-away Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic secular and sacred manuscripts. The collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, was brought to the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England at the instigation of Solomon Schechter. It is now divided between several academic libraries, with the majority being kept at the Cambridge University Library.
- ^ Kenneth Seeskin (2005). The Cambridge companion to Maimonides. Cambridge University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-521-81974-9. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ "Finally, there is the Ben Ezra Synagogue, with its cool marble floors. Lore has it that the Nile once flowed up behind the synagogue, and there, in the reeds, baby Moses was hidden." Slackman, Michael. "36 Hours in Cairo", The New York Times, February 3, 2008.