A member of a Jewish sect, established in the Middle East in the 8th cent., rejecting the Talmud and acknowledging only the Bible as the authority in religion.
The Jews of the Karaite sect differ entirely from the orthodox Jews both in worship and in mode of life.
Two and a half miles to the east is Chufut-Kaleh (or Jews' city), formerly the chief seat of the Karaite Jews of the Crimea, situated on lofty and almost inaccessible cliffs; it is now deserted except by the rabbi.
includes many Jews, the Karaite sect having here their principal synagogue.
Of its numerous ecclesiastical buildings three are of interest - the synagogue of the Karaite Jews; one of the mosques, which has fourteen cupolas and is built (1552) after the plan of St Sophia in Constantinople; and the Greek Catholic cathedral (1898).