Finally, Ben Ezra Jewish Synagogue, Babylon Fortress, Magra El Oyoun aqueduct are due to open soon after restoration.
This announcement by Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Mostafa Waziry came during his recent inspection tour.
The Ben Ezra Temple is one of the most important and oldest synagogues in the country. It contains many valuable books related to the customs and traditions of the Jews and their social life in Egypt in addition to the Geniza, a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents.
The 12th-century synagogue takes its name from Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra, one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages.
Rebuilt in the 19th century, the synagogue was originally a church called Al-Shama’in. The Coptic Orthodox Church sold it to the Jewish community to build their synagogue.
Babylon Fortress was built by order of Emperor Trajan in the 2nd century AD, and was restored and expanded by the Roman Emperor Arcadius in the 4th century. The fort is regarded as one of the most important Roman monuments in Cairo.
The Magra El Oyoun aqueduct was built by Sultan Al-Nasir Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi in the 12th century. Then Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun completely renovated it in the 14th century.
