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Newly-discovered Egyptian Genizah seized by authorities

Harel13

Am Yisrael Chai
Staff member
Premium Member
Egyptian Antiquities Authorities Confiscates New Genizah Found In Cairo Jewish Cemetery - VINnews

From the article:

"JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A new genizah (archive) with rare ancient Jewish documents was discovered in the Cairo Jewish cemetery last month, but a report by Israeli Arab affairs correspondent Roi Kais reveals that employees from the Egyptian Antiquities Authority arrived at the cemetery this week and began emptying the genizah, despite the vehement opposition of the local Jewish community.​

In 1896, Solomon Shechter travelled to Egypt to see the original Cairo Genizah. Shechter knew of the Genizah, which had been reported by previous travellers to the region but did not know its significance. With the assistance of the local Chief Rabbi, Shechter sorted and removed the greater part of the contents of the Genizah chamber, a treasure trove of nearly 300,000 manuscripts which document a thousand years of history and illuminate Jewish religious and social life in the Middle Ages.​

In recent years, the local Jewish community began preserving what was left of the local Jewish cemetery which had been neglected for decades. While restoring and cleaning, a new genizah was discovered there including documents and materials whose date is unknown. The new genizah has enormous significance, and the treasure requires careful examination because if it is an ancient genizah, it has a very significant historical and cultural value.​

A few days ago, employees of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority broke into the cemetery, having received information about the genizah, and began dumping its contents into dozens of plastic bags without examining the contents. They worked for 48 hours, ignoring the protests of the Jewish community who demanded that a Rabbi must oversee the removal.​

The Cairo Jews protested the removal and contacted the US embassy, but so far nothing is known about the fate of the precious documents and artifacts. The community has stressed that it doesn’t want to remove the documents from Egypt, only to be involved in monitoring them to prevent damage. So far they have been ignored by authorities. [...]"​

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Egyptian authorities removing the genizah.

I saw somewhere in an Israeli news site that the Egyptian government is worried about its antiquities being smuggled out of Egypt, so their concern is understandable, but the manner in which this was executed is very troubling, to say the least. Unceremoniously stuffing all of these ancient documents into garbage bags most likely further damaged them. Not to mention that most likely many of these texts are religious texts and considered holy by Jews.
 

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I saw somewhere in an Israeli news site that the Egyptian government is worried about its antiquities being smuggled out of Egypt, so their concern is understandable, but the manner in which this was executed is very troubling, to say the least. Unceremoniously stuffing all of these ancient documents into garbage bags most likely further damaged them. Not to mention that most likely many of these texts are religious texts and considered holy by Jews.
It could have far reaching implications for all people everywhere, really. Its ancient information. It could affect all of us.
 

Harel13

Am Yisrael Chai
Staff member
Premium Member
It could have far reaching implications for all people everywhere, really. Its ancient information. It could affect all of us.
Agreed. Besides for a wealth of information on Jews and Judaism, the first Genizah has revealed information on everything from the Crusades to medieval trade routes to the history of the Caliphate, and much, much more.
 

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
"JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A new genizah (archive) with rare ancient Jewish documents was discovered in the Cairo Jewish cemetery last month, but a report by Israeli Arab affairs correspondent Roi Kais reveals that employees from the Egyptian Antiquities Authority arrived at the cemetery this week and began emptying the genizah, despite the vehement opposition of the local Jewish community.

A tragedy! If that is how they are treating this treasure, for me it is a foregone conclusion that it is now lost to the world.
 

Harel13

Am Yisrael Chai
Staff member
Premium Member
A tragedy! If that is how they are treating this treasure, for me it is a foregone conclusion that it is now lost to the world.
I agree it's tragic, but still I remain hopeful that most of it remains intact and that the Egyptian government will come to its senses and assist in bringing these text to the light.
 

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I think they really are just making sure its not stolen, but it may be a while before experts get a chance to work on the documents. Hopefully they are being stored in controlled environments.
 

Wandering Monk

Well-Known Member
Anyone familiar with the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they first appeared on the market should understand why the government wants to control this.
 

Harel13

Am Yisrael Chai
Staff member
Premium Member
Anyone familiar with the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they first appeared on the market should understand why the government wants to control this.
The same is true with what happened to the original Cairo Genizah. Now it's spread all over the world. Every university and private collector at the time rushed over to Cairo to lay their hands on as many fragments as they could. I perfectly understand why the government did this, but the manner in which it was done is appalling on so many levels.
 

Sedim Haba

Outa here... bye-bye!
I think they really are just making sure its not stolen, but it may be a while before experts get a chance to work on the documents. Hopefully they are being stored in controlled environments.
They threw them in garbage bags. The controlled environment is probably an incinerator.
 
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