ABSTRACT
During the eighth century messianic movements appeared in the Persian Jewish community which led to armed uprisings against Muslim authorities. Such revolts were quickly crushed, but an even more serious threat to traditional Jewish life was posed later in the century by the emergence of an anti-rabbinic sect, the Karaites. The growth of Karaism provoked the rabbis to attack it as a heretical movement. The first prominent authority to engage in anti-Karaite debate was Saadiah Gaon who in the first half of the ninth century wrote a book attacking Anan; this polemic was followed by other anti-Karaite tracts by eminent rabbinic authorities. Karaite communities were established in Egypt, North Africa, Persia and Israel. The Karaites who settled in Israel were particularly famous for their Biblical scholarship: With the Karaites, the correct understanding of the book of God increased. One of the most famous of the heads of the Babylonian academies was Saadiah Gaon.
