From Cairo to Cambridge: The remarkable journey of Ben Ezra Synagogue's hidden manuscripts

New book reveals intimate details of daily life in medieval Egypt, from marriage contracts to magic spells

A Hebrew Bible written in Arabic script, part of the Cairo Genizah collection. Photo: Dr Melonie Schmierer-Lee/ the University of Cambridge

In Cairo’s famous Ben Ezra Synagogue, one of the city’s most prominent Jewish landmarks, a treasure trove of history lay hidden for centuries until its gradual discovery, piece by piece, and subsequent transfer to a prominent UK university in the 1960s and '70s.

Though it was largely outside the public’s view, the Cairo Genizah, a vast collection of more than 400,000 Jewish manuscripts dating from the 5th century to the 19th century, is now available to the public in a newly published book titled The Illustrated Cairo Genizah.

The book, published to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of a University of Cambridge research unit that catalogued and studied the Genizah, provides an unparalleled glimpse into the daily lives, religious practices and cultural interactions of the medieval Arab world.

The Genizah first came to the attention of European scholars in the late 19th century, when visitors to Egypt began returning with bits and pieces of the collection, said Dr Melonie Schmierer-Lee, co-author of the book.

"People had known about this synagogue storage room throughout the 19th century. At the time, there were a lot of European scholars who were very interested in going to far-off places, like monasteries and synagogues, to see what kind of old writings they held," says Dr Schmierer-Lee of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at University of Cambridge Library. “They returned with bits and pieces and slowly manuscripts started leaking out on to the antiquities market in the later part of the 19th century. Dealers were selling manuscripts to places like Oxford and Cambridge who didn't know fully where they were coming from," she tells The National.

Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, where the Genizah manuscripts were discovered in the late 19th century, leading to their eventual transfer to Cambridge. Photo: Dr Melonie Schmierer-Lee / the University of Cambridge

The collection of manuscripts and documents had been stored in the Genizah (or storage room) of Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, because according to Jewish tradition any document bearing God's name could not be destroyed and had to be preserved then later buried.

This practice at Ben Ezra led to the accumulation of a vast array of significant materials, including religious texts, personal letters, legal documents and even administrative forms from the Ayyubid, Fatimid and Mameluke periods, which were recycled for use in the synagogue.

It was not until 1897 that the bulk of the Genizah was brought to Cambridge by Solomon Schechter, a lecturer in Talmud law at the university. Mr Schechter recognised the immense value of the manuscripts and, with the agreement of the Egyptian Jewish community, transported the fragments back to England.

“Schecter got very excited by one of them, because he recognised there was a piece of a lost Hebrew version of a book from the Apocrypha. This is a book that didn't quite make it into the Hebrew Bible, but it almost did,” Dr Schmierer-Lee explains.

The process of studying and preserving the Genizah continued in the following decades at a modest pace, but investigations sped up in the 1960s when American historian Shelomo Dov Goitein recognised the collection's significance while searching for documents on medieval trade with India.

A unique Arabic Quran written in Hebrew script, one of many valuable finds within the Cairo Genizah collection. Photo: Dr Melonie Schmierer-Lee/ the University of Cambridge

Through Mr Goitein’s efforts, the remainder of the Genizah collection was transferred to Cambridge where serious cataloguing work began in earnest.

After 18 years of work, Dr Schmierer-Lee has accumulated a number of fascinating insights about medieval life in Egypt, which she describes as the “centre of the world” at the time.

"Everything comes through Cairo, it was the centre of the world in the Middle Ages, and the Jewish community there, many of whom were in the trader class, are very well connected with other world trading hubs."

The manuscripts reveal a thriving trade network, with merchants travelling as far as India and Spain, dealing in textiles, precious gems and spices.

One of the most striking aspects of the Genizah is the picture it paints of a society characterised by a high degree of literacy and religious tolerance, Dr Schmierer-Lee points out.

"What is clear from the manuscripts is that Jews in Cairo are not living in a special Jewish ghetto or Jewish area. They're very integrated with Christian and Muslim neighbours, and they'll be in business together, living very similar lives," she says.

The Genizah also sheds light on the education system of the time, revealing that boys and girls attended school together and were taught by teachers both male and female.

However, one of the most interesting aspects of the collection is the vast number of personal documents that offer intimate details of social customs in medieval Cairo.

A child's alphabet primer from the Cairo Genizah, offering a glimpse into the education and daily life of Jewish children in medieval Egypt. Photo: Dr Melonie Schmierer-Lee / the University of Cambridge

Marriage contracts, prenuptial agreements and divorce records provide a glimpse into the courtship customs of the time. Some practices, such as trousseau lists for new brides, remain part of life in Egypt today.

"When women got married, they made a list of everything that they owned," Dr Schmierer-Lee says. "So if they got divorced, and there was a good chance they would get divorced because there were very high divorce rates, they would be able to take those items with them."

The Genizah also contains a wealth of medical and magical texts, reflecting Egypt's status as a leader in science and medicine during the medieval period. "We found records of a lot of eye infections, haemorrhoids and all sorts of other things. And when medicine didn't work, people turned to magic," Dr Schmierer-Lee explains.

Through studying the large array of magic spells featured in the collection, one might be surprised to find that people hundreds of years ago had largely similar concerns as they do today.

The collection includes a variety of amulets and spells that provide insight into the personal concerns of people in medieval times. Dr Schmierer-Lee notes: "There are lots of amulets to keep you safe from scorpions, to give you favour with other people, because everyone wants to be liked and successful. There are also quite funny magical spells, like one to make a child have a bath, one to tell you what a woman is thinking and one to make many people fall in love with you."

Some of the spells found in the Genizah were darker in nature. "There are some to kill people," Dr Schmierer-Lee reveals. "There's one deadly spell to kill someone, and someone has written a note at the bottom saying, 'this really works, this is very effective.'"

The collection includes manuscripts that blend religious traditions, such as a Hebrew Bible written in the Arabic alphabet and a Quran written in Hebrew, which Dr Schmierer-Lee suggests may have been used by a Jewish magician for dark magical purposes.

As religious tension continues to plague the Middle East, the Cairo Genizah serves as a poignant reminder of a past characterised by greater tolerance and understanding.

"One of the things you see in the Genizah is the full range of human behaviour," Dr Schmierer-Lee says. "And I guess it shows you that nothing really changes."

The Cairo Genizah is a priceless window into a world long gone, but whose lessons remain as relevant as ever, reminding us of the enduring power of knowledge, tolerance and shared humanity.