Maghāriya were a minor

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

sect that appeared in the first century BC, their special practice was the keeping of all their literature in caves in the surrounding hills in Palestine. The Maghāriya believed that God is too sublime to mingle with matter, thus they did not believe that God directly created the world, but that an angel, which represents God created the earth (''see''

demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term ''demiurge''. ...

and

Ptahil In Mandaeism, Ptahil ( myz, ࡐࡕࡀࡄࡉࡋ) also known as Ptahil-Uthra (uthra = angel or guardian), is the Fourth Life, the third of three emanations from the First Life, Hayyi Rabbi, after Yushamin and Abatur. Ptahil-Uthra alone does not co ...

). They made their own commentaries on the Bible and the law. Some scholars have identified the Maghāriya as part of the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''Isiyim''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st ce ...

or the Therapeutae. Other minor Jewish sects include the

Bana'im Bana'im were a minor Jewish sect and an offshoot of the Essenes during the second century in Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * P ...

and the

Hemerobaptists Hemerobaptists ( Heb. ''Tovelei Shaḥarit''; "Morning Bathers") were a minor Jewish sect and a subsect of the Essenes. The most important feature of the Hemerobaptists is the common use of baptism. Hemerobaptists would baptize every day, rather t ...

References

{{Reflist Apocalyptic groups Esoteric schools of thought Ascetics Jewish asceticism Jewish religious movements Judaism-related controversies Messianism Mandaeism Mandaeans Israelites