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Dedicatory Inscriptions from the Ben Ezra Synagogue
Egyptian (Cairo (Fustat), Egypt)
Not on view
Beginning in the tenth century, the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo) served as a leading center of Jewish communal life in Egypt. According to early modern accounts, these inscriptions were positioned above and below the synagogue’s central wood Torah ark. They include passages from the book of Psalms as well as a dedication commemorating the donations of Obadiah and Solomon ben Japhet, members of the eminent al-Maʿali family, who served at the Egyptian Muslim court. These carvings represent a common vocabulary of artistic forms that was fostered through interaction in workshops comprising Muslim, Jewish, and Christian craftspeople.
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