20 Aug 2009
Restoration of Egypt's famous synagogue in no way serves as a means to reduce tension with Israel initiated by the country's cultural minister, an official says.

Egypt's 71-year-old Cultural Minister Hosni Farouk had outraged many Jews in April of last year when he had strongly announced that he would burn any Israeli books found in Egypt's famed Library of Alexandria. Now Farouk is campaigning to be the next head of the UNESCO, the UN office that promotes cultural diversity.

The Head of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, on Thursday, unveiling restoration work at the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue in Cairo, said that the reconstruction, which began in mid-June, had nothing to do with Hosni's UNESCO's candidacy.

The decision to restore the synagogue is because they are first of all Egyptian monuments. "They are part of us and part of our culture", he stressed.

The synagogues have sustained serious damage over time from earthquakes and ground water. The restoration is part of a national project to refurbish ten Jewish synagogues across Egypt, he said.

The synagogue where restoration work is in progress was named after Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, a famous physician, philosopher and Torah scholar who was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1135 A.D. He eventually moved to Cairo, where he died in 1204 and was buried inside the synagogue.

presstv