The Last Watchman of Old Cairo

Written by Michael David Lukas, The Last Watchman of Old Cairo tells the story of beautiful interactions between the Jewish and Muslim communities of Egypt one thousand years ago, then it shows the change in climate as the years pass.

First we are introduced to the famous Ezra Synagogue when a Muslim orphan, Ali ibn al-Marwani becomes the night watchman. We follow the generations of his dependents who stay loyal to the synagogue and in generation after generation there is a watchman who is descended from Ali bin al-Marwani.  Each watchman has a story which is passed down to the current descendent, who is now Joseph, a Berkeley graduate student.  Joseph is the son of the last watchman of the Ezra Synagogue. He fell in love with a Jewish girl and followed her to Paris, but this was a match that could not last, so Joseph, the son has been raised in America by his Jewish mother, with very little connection to his Egyptian father.  When his father dies, Joseph receives a package that takes him across the world to Cairo.  He reconnects with this father’s brother and family.  He searches for the story of his father’s life.

Intertwined with the history of our fictional character is the true story that surrounds the Ben Ezra Synagogue.  This famous synagogue has sometimes also been referred to as the El Geniza Synagogue.  This is the geniza that was discovered by the English twin sisters, Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson.  They were very helpful to Solomon Schecter in acquiring ancient scrolls and papers that were stored in the synagogue’s storage attic.
A geniza was usually a storage area that was used for discarded religious papers that Jewish people would not throw away.  Today these papers are buried in a grave in the cemetery,  but at that time they were just left in an attic.  This geniza had a treasure trove of documents that are now housed in Cambridge, England.

This is a wonderful story that shows how people could get along and work together between different religious beliefs .  It is also a delightful way to read the story of the sisters, Agnes and Margaret and how they worked to bring the contents of the Geniza back to England for the pure love of history and study.  The sisters were not Jewish but strongly wanted to make sure the papers were not sold on the black market when they were discovered.