Azariah ben Eliyah
AZARIAH BEN ELIYAH
AZARIAH BEN ELIYAH (d. after 1838), one of the leaders of the Karaite community in Chufut-Kale and its chronicler. Very little is known about his life. He signed a letter (1810) from the community of Chufut-Kale to that of Constantinople, concerning financial support for the Karaite community in Jerusalem. He wrote an important chronicle in which he describes the events of the civil war in the Crimea during the Russian invasion (1777–83) and the rule of the last Crimean Khan, Shahin Giray. As an eyewitness Azariah depicts the suffering of the population of the Crimea, including Karaites. He gives unique information about the events in the Crimea in general, and in particular about the Karaite communities of Chufut-Kale and Eupatoria (Yevpatoriya), the relations between Karaites and Rabbanites and other communities of the Crimea, the rates of taxation levied on the Karaites, etc. This work, with many biblical citations incorporated into the text, is written in a very lively and fascinating way. It was published twice in the Russian translation of A. *Firkovich and recently in the Hebrew original text.
bibliography:
G. Akhiezer, "Ha-Me'ora'ot she-Hitraḥashu bi-Krim bi-Tekufat Malkhuto shel Shahin Giray Khan: The Historical Chronicle by R. Azaryah ben Eliya the Karaite" (M.A. thesis, Heb. Univ. of Jerusalem, 2000); idem, in: M. Polliack (ed.), Karaite Judaism (2003), 730, 734–35, 738, 748, 751–52; Azarija ben Elija (trans. A. Firkovich), in: Vremennik imperatorskago moskovskago obshchestva istorii i drevnostei rossiiskix, 24 (1854), 101–34; K. zh. v–vi (1911), 52–77.
[Golda Akhiezer (2nd ed.)]