6. Karaites and Sadducees

Yoram Erder, writing on the ‘Karaites and Sadducees’, addresses the polemical identification of the two groups by Rabbanite Jews (such as Moses Maimonides). Not all Rabbanites equated the Karaites with the Sadducees, and the Karaites recognized the Sadducees as a group distinct from their own movement. In fact, the Karaites refer to two groups called Sadducees: the Second Temple sect and the “Zadokites” of the Qumran movement. He suggests that the Damascus Document, found at Qumran but also in the Cairo Genizah, was known to the Karaites. While the Karaites have much in common with these “Zadokites”, there are also important differences between them, such as the Karaite belief in the resurrection.