Attire of a hazzan, Karaite priest. The Karaites, late 19th–early 20th century. Taurida Province, the city of Eupatoria

Karaites

Costume

The articles of the Karaite culture entered the collection of the Russian Museum of ethnography as a result of studies of Crimean ethnography. It should be noted that the Karaites themselves were interested in presentation of their culture in the museum world. This is how the collection donated to the museum by the gaham of Crimea should be taken. In religious aspect, Crimea’s Karaites are adherents of “Karaimism-Karaitism” recognized in Judaism as a Jewish religious doctrine, and by the Karaites, as the ethnic religion. Many Karaites complement this doctrine with tenets of Tengrianism as heritage of ancient Turki’s religion. The Karaite teaching appeared in the Middle East in the 9th century. In Crimea, it was adopted in the 10th century. Its name is derived from the word kara, or scripture, indicating that it only accepts the Torah and rejects the Talmud as its interpretation, thus disagreeing with orthodox Judaism. The adherents of Karaitism live in Turkey, Egypt, and in Middle East, being distinguished everywhere by especially strict observance of kashruth, i.e. Jewish norms of everyday behavior. Given the general trend of replacing traditional men’s clothing with smart European clothes, the religious norms ensured saving artifacts of ritual culture, including sacred vestments. In the 19th and early 20th century, Crimean Karaites lived in communities, mainly in cities. In 1837, by the decree of the Emperor Nicholas I, the Board of Karaite Religious Affairs was established, located in Eupatoria, which regulated the activities of all Karaite communities of Novorossiya. Later, it was renamed the Taurida and Odessa Karaite Clerical Board. The supreme spiritual and judicial power with the Karaites resided in the gaham. The word gaham may originate from the Turkic khagan or from hakham, which means “wizard” in Hebrew. He was elected at the congress of representatives of all Karaite communities and approved by Russia’s Minister of the Interior. Clerical governance involved Karaite priests (hazzans). The hazzans were guardians of traditions and spiritual advisors. Crimea’s Karaites maintained contacts with the Karaites of Lithuania (descendants of some Crimean Karaites settled there in the 14th century) and Karaite communities of Novorossiya. According to 2014 data, in the 21st century Karaite ethnic cultural societies were registered in Crimea, as well as in Melitopol, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk.