The Cairo Genizah

In the heart of Coptic Cairo stands the Ben Ezra Synagogue, an unassuming building that once guarded one of the greatest documentary treasures ever found. Its genizah, a storeroom where worn sacred texts were set aside rather than destroyed, preserved hundreds of thousands of manuscript fragments across nearly a thousand years, from prayers and Bible pages to letters, contracts, shopping lists and legal deeds.

Rediscovered in the late 19th century and now dispersed among libraries worldwide, the Cairo Genizah opened an unmatched window onto medieval Jewish life, trade and everyday reality across the Mediterranean world. The synagogue itself, beautifully restored, sits among the churches and lanes of Old Cairo, tradition even marking it near where the infant Moses was said to be found. It is a moving stop for anyone drawn to the city's layered faiths.