The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Monday that it has begun working to restore the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said that the synagogue is located inside the Babylon Fortress, and is of great importance as it is the oldest synagogue in Egypt and the Middle East. He added that a joint committee had been formed in cooperation with the projects sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to start the project to restore the synagogue, as the last restoration work was done in 1991. The head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Osama Talaat, said the temple was named after religious scholar and Jewish philosopher Ezra. The Assistant Secretary-General for the Restoration of Antiquities and Museums and Chairman of the Committee, Mostafa Abdel-Fattah, explained that the restoration work began in the Holy of Holies area.
