The Karaites in the tenth and eleventh centuries often used Arabic script for their Judeo-Arabic writings, unlike their Rabbanite rivals, who used Hebrew script for Judeo-Arabic compositions (with very few exceptions). The earliest evidence for Karaite Judeo-Arabic manuscripts written in Hebrew script is found in colophons dated to the beginning of the eleventh century, but the practice became widespread in later centuries. Early Karaite scholars used Arabic script even to transcribe Hebrew texts, first and foremost the Bible. Such Arabic transcriptions are fo…