During our time in Old Cairo, we also visited the Ben Ezra synagogue. While the current building dates to a remodeling in the 1890’s, its predecessors date back probably another millennium. The Jewish story in Egypt didn’t end with the Exodus. There were thriving communities by the time Jesus’ family sojourned there and that continued until modern times. When the modern state of Israel was born, most Jews moved there, effectively ending their long presence in Egypt. What makes this synagogue remarkable is that there were many old documents found there dating back as much as 1000 years, ranging from religious […]
Monthly Archives: December 2019
Jesus Comes to Egypt
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13 There are not many countries that can say Jesus visited them. Egypt is one of them. It’s part of the Christmas story in Matthew 2. When King Herod tries to kill Jesus, viewing him as potential competition for his throne, Joseph takes the family and escapes by fleeing to Egypt. The […]
The Permanence of Pyramids
The first thing people think of with Egypt are the iconic pyramids. After Memphis, we visited the location of the first “pyramid”, the step pyramid of Djoser. This structure was the architectural transition point from the old mastaba (bench) style of tombs to the pyramids. The complex around it is among the oldest surviving structures in the world. Columns were carved to look like trees bound together. The goal was to make a lasting world. Wood rots, but stone remains. (and those stones have remained nearly 5,000 years) This kicked off the pyramid fad of the Old Kingdom, a period […]
Arriving in the Capital
What do you think of when you hear the name “Cairo”? The most populous city in Egypt, it has a population of nearly 20 million (technically Cairo is 10 million, lying on the east side of the Nile with Giza, also 10 million, on the west, but they form a single metropolis). It is a bustling, dirty city. We landed at Cairo International Airport on a Thursday evening. After making our way through customs, we had a shuttle prearranged to carry us across town to our hotel in Giza. The 19 mile drive through rush hour traffic took about 1.5 […]
The Return to Egypt
The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you. Deuteronomy 28:68 I’ve been slowly reading through Deuteronomy this year in Hebrew. I took more Hebrew classes this year and have spent most mornings translating a couple verses. On November 20, I opened up to 28:68, reading the opening words as “The Lord will cause you to return to Egypt…” Why am I mentioning this? Because that day I […]