ABSTRACT
The script in which most of the extant medieval Jewish manuscripts had been written, copied and transcribed was the Hebrew script. The Rabbanites’ use of the Hebrew script indicates the detachment of Rabbanites’ Judaism from its surroundings, namely the Arab culture. The Hebrew script in medievaljewish writing created an illusion which has misled many modern scholars. It became the common denominator and representative of what was constant and essential in Jewish cultural identity. It is well known that the early Karaites were in the habit of writing not only Arabic but also Hebrew in Arabic script. The Karaites, or rather a group of Karaites, chose not only to use the Arabic script while writing Arabic, but also transcribed Hebrew, especially Biblical Hebrew, into Arabic. In Karaite circles the issue of script-use in the Karaite literary system has two dimensions: the use of Arabic/Hebrew or both scripts in Arabic proper and the use of Arabic script in transliterating the Hebrew Bible.
