The Constantinopolitan Karaites or Greco-Karaites are a Karaite community with a specific historical development and a distinct cultural, linguistic and literary heritage stemming from their residency in the capital of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. There are numerous commonalities between the community and the Rabbinical

Romaniote Jews The Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes ( el, Ῥωμανιῶτες, ''Rhomaniótes''; he, רומניוטים, Romanyotim) are a Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean. They are one of the oldest Jewish com ...

History

Karaites have lived in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

(modern-day

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) for more than a thousand years. Smaller settlements in the surrounding area of Constantinople have existed as well, such as the Karaites of

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

, who themselves descend from the Constantinopolitan community. While having close relations and daily interactions with the Grecophone Byzantine Christians and the Romaniote Jews, they nonetheless developed their own unique Karaeo-Greek dialect of the

Yevanic language Yevanic, also known as Judaeo-Greek, Romaniyot, Romaniote, and Yevanitika, is a Greek dialect formerly used by the Romaniotes and by the Constantinopolitan Karaites (in whose case the language is called Karaitika or Karaeo-Greek). The Romaniote ...

; this dialect was used by elder members of the community until recently. The Karaite Elias Afeda Beghi compiled a glossary on the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

with

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

words translated into Greek. Other works of Greco-Karaite literature are also known.

Language

Until recently, the Constantinopolitan Karaites spoke Karaeo-Greek. Their Hebrew has some special features which connect them with the

Tiberian Hebrew Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tiberia ...

of the Tiberian

Masoretes The Masoretes ( he, בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה, Baʿălēy Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in ...

Influence on Karaite Judaism

In spite of the small size of this community, the Constantinopolitan Karaites have had a great influence on the Karaite Judaism through their literary output. The communities of Constantinople and Adrianople produced eminent personalities for the Karaite movement like Caleb Afendopolo, Elijah Bashyazi, Aaron ben Joseph of Constantinople, Aaron ben Elijah, Judah Hadassi, Moses Beghi a 15th/16th century paytan, Judah Gibbor a paytan and author of several writings, Judah Poki ben Eliezer (nephew of Elijah Bashyazi) a scholar, Elijah Yerushalmi also a scholar and others. These authors have produced prominent theological, liturgical and philosophical works, which have been eminent for the development of the wider Karaite Judaism. It was the work "Seder Tefillot" (Book of Prayers and Hymns) of Aaron ben Joseph of Constantinople that was adopted by most of the Karaite congregations as the standard prayer-book, and that probably earned for him the epithet "ha-Kadosh" (the Saint). In order to settle the religious laws Elijah Bashyazi compiled a code entitled "Aderet Eliyahu" (The Mantle of Elijah). This code, which contained both the mandatory and prohibitory precepts, is rightly regarded by the Karaites as the greatest authority on those matters.

Shlomo ben Afeda Ha-Kohen Shlomo ben Afeda Ha-Kohen or Solomon Afeda Cohen (in he, שלמה בן אפידה הכהן) (1826–1893) was a Karaite Jewish hakham of the nineteenth century considered the last of the Karaite sages of Constantinople. He is famous for his ...

considered the last of the Karaite sages of

wrote an abridgment of the "Aderet Eliyahu" in 1860, named "Yeriot Shelomo".

Relations with other groups

There were close relations (though not always appreciative) between the Rabbanite and Karaite "Romaniotes" of Constantinople, as can be seen in the exchange of

piyyut A ''piyyut'' or ''piyut'' (plural piyyutim or piyutim, he, פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט ; from Greek ποιητής ''poiētḗs'' "poet") is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, ch ...

im for their liturgies, which went both ways, but consisted mostly of Karaite borrowings from the Rabbanite liturgical repertoire.

Origin of the Crimean Karaites

It is possible that the

Crimean Karaites The Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар, ''Qrımqaraylar'', singular къарай, ''qaray''; Trakai dialect: ''karajlar'', singular ''karaj''; he, קראי מזרח אירופה; crh, Qaraylar; ), a ...

are descendants of Karaite merchants who migrated to

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

from the Byzantine Empire. In one particular incidence, migration of Karaites from Constantinople to Crimea is documented following a fire in the Jewish quarter of Constantinople in 1203.Tsoffar 2006 and Tütüncü et al. 1998

References

{{Reflist

External links

Judah Gibbor
o
JewishEncyclopedia.com
On Karaeo-Greek

pdf-document

A recording
Karaite Judaism Jews and Judaism in the Byzantine Empire Jews and Judaism in the Ottoman Empire Jews and Judaism in Istanbul Romaniote Jews topics Jewish ethnic groups Ethnic groups in the Middle East