Karaite Bible Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah

The volume contains the edition and description of the fragments of medieval Karaite Hebrew Bible manuscripts in Arabic characters which have been preserved in the Cairo Genizah. It consists of an introduction, a description of the texts, a concluding synthesis, and plates. The manuscripts being examined in this volume are of great importance for our knowledge and understanding of the medieval Karaites in the Near East, and also for the history of the pronunciation of the Hebrew language. While demonstrating how the Karaite Jewish sectarians imitated Moslem scribal practice as a result of their rebellion against Rabbanite traditions and institutions, the texts reflect, too, the distribution of long and short vowels in the Tiberian reading tradition, and so make an important contribution to our picture of how the Hebrew language developed.