The restoration of one of Cairo's historic synagogues has provoked an all too predictable controversy, reports Nevine El-Aref Egyptian and foreign journalists, photographers and TV anchors gathered before the Moses Ibn Maymoun synagogue last week. The façade of the synagogue, located off the Jewish alley in Muski, was hidden behind scaffolding, the scene a hive of activity as workers mixed mortar, cleaned walls and polished wooden beams. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), called the press conference to refute allegations that have appeared on Internet sites claiming that Egypt systematically neglects its Jewish monuments. Early last week, Israeli, Jewish and American organisations submitted an official memorandum to UNESCO seeking to pressure Egypt to restore and preserve synagogues. Predictably, the restoration work sparked the usual conspiracy theories, with much of the local media saying the work was being undertaken simply to boost Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni's chances of being elected as head of UNESCO. Such suggestions were nonsense, said Hawass, who pointed out that the restoration began two years ago, before Hosni had even been nominated for the UNESCO post. "Egypt deals with Jewish synagogues and antiquities as part of its national heritage. We are not responding to foreign pressure when we restore them," said Hawass. The head of Egypt's Jewish community, Raouf Fouad Tawfiq, confirms that the restoration of Ibn Maymoun began more than 14 months before Hosni's nomination. "Egypt deals with Jewish synagogues and monuments as an integral part of the country's antiquities. They face the same problems as Coptic and Islamic monuments, suffering from a rising water table and having sustained damage from the 1992 earthquake," added Hawass, who pointed out that LE700 million had been allocated for the restoration of monuments in the immediate area of the synagogue. Hawass also told reporters that Jewish cemeteries in Egypt would be added to the SCA's list of protected sites, noting the recent discovery of a tomb with walls inscribed with a text revealing important details of the daily life of Egypt's Jewish community and the economic and social realities faced at the beginning of the Islamic era. There are 11 synagogues in Egypt. Some, such as the synagogue of Ben Ezra in Old Cairo and Shaar Hashamayim in Adli Street, have already been restored. The synagogue of Moses Ibn Maymoun is named after the foremost intellectual figure of mediaeval Judaism, better known in the West as Moses Maimonides. Born in Cordoba, he eventually settled in Egypt, where he died in 1204. He served as Saladin's personal physician, and after Saladin's death was retained by the royal family. Perhaps his most celebrated work, originally written in Arabic, is the Guide for the Perplexed, a remarkable document that scrutinises the works of both Islamic and Greek philosophers. Maimonides lived in a time and place in which all aspects of life were governed by an Islamic education, and during a period when Jews partook in all aspects of society, whether political, religious or literary. Tarek El-Awadi, director of research at the SCA, told Al-Ahram Weekly that preliminary assessments of the condition of the synagogue began a year before restoration work started. Actual work, he says, had to be delayed until a new sewage system was installed in the area. Since work began two years ago the walls and ceilings have been reinforced, the floor has been isolated from remaining ground water, and earlier, crude attempts at restoration removed. The doors, windows and chairs of the synagogue have all been renovated. The synagogue, which was declared an antiquity in 1986, is divided into three sections. One area is dedicated to prayers and rituals, another contains the tomb of Maimonides, though his remains were removed to Tiberias several years ago, and which includes a small area for people to come and pray for cures, while a third section comprises rooms for the synagogue's administrators and for women to observe prayers.
