The Magharians (, 'people of the caves') or Maghāriya were, according to

Jacob Qirqisani Jacob Qirqisani (c. 890 – c. 960) ( ''ʾAbū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Qirqisānī'', ''Yaʿaqov ben Yiṣḥaq haQarqesani'') was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. His origins are unknown. His pat ...

, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

sect founded in the

1st century BCE The 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year number ...

. The group apparently earned its name because it stored its books in caves, including the writings of an individual known as "the Alexandrinian" and a later work called ''Sefer Yadu'a''. It possessed peculiar commentaries on the Bible and, in contrast to the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...

, rejected all anthropomorphic representations of God. The Magharians believed that God, being too sublime to interact with matter directly, created the world through an intermediary power—an angel who acted as God's representative (''see''

demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the Demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. Various sects of Gnostics adopted the term '' ...

and Ptahil). The sect attributed all anthropomorphic expressions about God found in the Bible to this angel, including communications to prophets. Abraham Harkavy and others identify the Magharians with the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd cent ...

, and the author referred to as the "Alexandrinian" with

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

(whose affinity for the Essenes is well-known), based on the following evidence: # The sect's name, which, in his view, does not refer to its books but to its followers who lived in caves or desert areas—an established Essene lifestyle; # The sect's founding date coinciding with that of the Essenes; # The angelic theory aligning with Essene beliefs, as well as Philo's concept of the ''

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...

''; # Qirqisani's omission of the Essenes from his list of Jewish sects, which can be explained if he considered the Magharians to be synonymous with the Essenes. Harkavy and others sometimes identify them with the

Therapeutae The Therapeutae were a religious sect which existed in Alexandria and other parts of the ancient Greek world. The primary source concerning the Therapeutae is the ''De vita contemplativa'' ("The Contemplative Life"), traditionally ascribed to the ...

References

{{Jewish Encyclopedia, article=Maghariyyah, Al-, url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10262-maghariyyah-al, first1=Isidore, last1=Singer, first2=Isaac, last2=Broydé, volume=8, page=254–255 1st-century BCE Judaism Cave dwellings Apocalyptic groups Jewish asceticism Judaism-related controversies Messianism Mandaeism Mandaeans Israelites Extinct Jewish sects

See also

References