Siddur Yemei Mo'ed (Karaite Festival Liturgy) [Crimea: 18th-19th century]

261 leaves (9  1/4  x 7  1/2  in.; 235 x 190 mm). Written in brown ink on paper in Hebrew and Karaim (a Turkic language) in Crimean Hebrew semi-cursive vocalized script; instructions in unvocalized Eastern European Hebrew semi-cursive script; some headings in square Hebrew script. 26-28 lines; original foliation in Hebrew characters; several additional, unnumbered leaves bound in. A few leaves with marginal tape repairs; text loss to f. 2. Lightly browned; some soiling and staining. Remains of original contemporary gilt-tooled leather binding laid down over board. Supralibros. Rebacked. Rubbed.

Karaite Jews pride themselves on their adherence to the Written Law, or the sacred texts of the Bible, in exclusion to the Oral Law (primarily viewed as the rabbinic works of the Mishna and the Talmud).  As a result, Karaite liturgy relies heavily on the biblical Book of Psalms and is significantly divergent from traditional Jewish liturgy, as employed by Rabbanite Jews. In addition to prayers in Hebrew, this volume includes translations and glosses in Karaim, a Turkic language spoken by Crimean Karaites. The contemporary binding bears the name of an early Karaite owner, Joseph ben Simhah Sulimovich.