Only a small number of Hebrew books were printed in Cairo. The first Hebrew press in that city Cairo, also the first one in the whole Middle East outside of Palestine, was founded in 1657 by Gershom ben Eliezer Soncino. Two of his books printed in this year are known: Refu'ot ha-Talmud, a book of remedies, and Pitron Halomot ("Interpretation of Dreams"), attributed to R. Hai Gaon. A second printing press was founded in Cairo in 1740 by Abraham ben Moses Yatom, who had also previously worked as a printer in Constantinople. He printed only one book, the first edition of Hok le-Yisrael, edited by R. Isaac Baruch of Cairo. This work was later reprinted in many editions. The renewal of Hebrew printing in Cairo took place in 1905, and after that year there were five Hebrew printing presses. They were principally used for commercial purposes, with the printing of books as a secondary activity. Up to World War II, they printed over 50 books, most of which served the needs of the Egyptian communities or were the works of authors living in Egypt.

הסכמה: ר' חיים נחום, קהיר, ז טבת תרצ"ז.