The
Sadducees (;
Hebrew:
Ṣĕdûqîm) were a
sect or group of
Jews that was active in
Judea during the
Second Temple period, starting from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The sect was identified by
Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society. As a whole, the sect fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining the Temple. The Sadducees are often compared to other contemporaneous sects, including the
Pharisees and the
Essenes. Their sect is believed to have become extinct sometime after the destruction of
Herod's Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, but it has been speculated that the later
Karaites may have had some roots in – or connections with – Sadducean views.