The 'Garden of Eden'

Important work of the Byzantine Karaite Aaron ben Elijah the Younger of Nicomedia. Steinschneider considered this manuscript to be one of the oldest of the Leiden collection of Karaitica. Aaron ben Elijah produced important works that reveal influence of Ibn Ezra and Maimonides. Apart from Gan Eden, Aaron ben Elijah wrote Etz Hayyim (1346) and Keter Torah (1362). The former deals with the philosophy of religion and uses similar rational proofs for doctrine of faith as Maimonides does in his Guide. The latter is a commentary on the Pentateuch. Gan Eden was written in 1354 and is concerned with Karaite law. As it is largely based on Levi ben Jafet's (11t century) Sefer ha-Mitzvot, it became the standard reference for Karaite Halakhah.