A Resource for Turkic and Jewish History in Russia and Ukraine

Last Updated: August 8, 2018

Read about The Jews of Khazaria - the best general-interest book about the Khazars in English

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"O nakhodke sosuda s graffiti v Mariupole" by Eduard Ye. Kravchenko and V. K. Kul'baka was published in Russian (with an English summary) in the journal Arkheologicheskii al'manakh No. 21 (2010) on pages 386-395. This article describes Khazar-era artifacts found in the city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. They include two Arabic dirhams that were used as pendants, mirror fragments, and a pot (shown on the bottom of page 389) that bears two drawn symbols: a Jewish menorah and a plus sign that's interpreted as a Christian cross. The authors believe the potter was neither a Jew nor a Christian but was a pagan who was familiar with these other religions that were practiced in Khazaria at the time. Was the plus sign really not a tamga? Some other authors disagree with the hypothesis that that plus sign was Christian.

Over a thousand years ago, the far east of Europe was ruled by Jewish kings who presided over numerous tribes, including their own tribe: the Turkic Khazars. After their conversion, the Khazar people used Jewish personal names, spoke and wrote in Hebrew, were circumcised, had synagogues and rabbis, studied the Torah and Talmud, and observed Hanukkah, Pesach, and the Sabbath. The Khazars were an advanced civilization with one of the most tolerant societies of the medieval period. It hosted merchants from all over Asia and Europe. On these pages it is hoped that you may learn more about this fascinating culture.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF KHAZARIA

Essays summarizing the history of the Khazars, their principal cities, their culture, and their conversion to Judaism in the 9th century.

An Introduction to the History of Khazaria

Current Issues in Khazar Studies

Los Khazares: un experimento europeo de construcción de un estado Judío - in Spanish

Histoire des Khazars: la nation juive de Russie et d'Ukraine - in French

Znakomstvo s Istoriey Xazarii - in Russian

Hazar Türkleri tarihine giriş - in Turkish



ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF KHAZAR ARTIFACTS

The first gallery includes images of Turkic runes, Turkic tribe symbols, a Khazar metal disc with an engraving of the Star of David, Khazar-Saltovo amulets, depictions of an epic motif, Khazarian battle and hunting scenes, Khazar silver belts, a pot with images of a menorah and a cross, and a map of Khazaria. The second link presents the display on 8th-9th century Khazar objects (including arms and armor) from the northwestern Caucasus from the March-September 2003 exhibit "Horse and Rider" at the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

Khazaria Image Gallery

Horse and Rider: Khazaria Exhibit

THE KHAZAR CAPITAL CITY OF ATIL

Atil was the third capital city of Khazaria until it was conquered in 969. Archaeologists have located the remains of Atil.

The Khazar Capital City of Atil

THE KHAZAR FORTRESS OF SARKEL

Sarkel's fortress was one of Khazaria's most important, serving both as a defensive structure and a trading caravan stopover. Includes images of the layout of the fortress, a bronze warrior figurine, pottery, jewelry, bricks, and other objects.

The Khazar Fortress of Sarkel

AN EXPLORATION OF KHAZARIAN SHAMANISM

The original religion of the Khazars was Tengri Shamanism.

An Exploration of Khazarian Shamanism

MEDIEVAL QUOTES ABOUT KHAZAR JUDAISM

Judaism was practiced widely among Khazars, as these authentic quotes from medieval chroniclers demonstrate.

Medieval Quotes About Khazar Judaism

DESCENDANTS OF THE KHAZARS IN EUROPE

What happened to the Khazars after the fall of their kingdom? This remains one of the most controversial questions in Khazar studies. Some new answers emerged from new discoveries. The first essay is outdated now but summarizes evidence and opinions surrounding the issue. The second essay explains how we know that Eastern European Jews descend from non-Khazar Jews. The third page gathers available evidence on genetics and shows that Ashkenazic Jews have substantial roots in the Middle East as well as some ancestry from Italy, Southern China, North Africa, and the Slavic lands. The fourth page queries whether Jews who live in the Caucasus today descend from Khazar converts.

Are Russian Jews Descended from the Khazars?

Are Russian Jews Descended from the German and Bohemian Jews?

Jewish Genetics: Abstracts and Summaries

Are Mountain Jews Descended from the Khazars?

Contested Origins of Eastern European Jewry: Clues from History, Linguistics, and Onomastics by Alexander Beider in the Summer 2017 issue of Avotaynu includes discussions of theories of Khazarian and Slavic contributions to Ashkenazic populations.

KHAZARIAN NAMES

A list of personal names that the Khazars used in their own country, including Turkic, Hebrew, and Slavic names.

Khazarian Names

EXCAVATION REPORTS FROM CHASTIYE KURGANY AND GOLDEN HILLS

Excavation reports with photographs of Khazarian graves and objects.

Khazar Burial Mounds at Chastiye Kurgany

Khazar-Era Fortress of Golden Hills (Zolotiye Gorki)

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KHAZAR STUDIES

The largest database of references of books and articles about Khazarian history, including works in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Russian, Swedish, and other languages.

Bibliography of Khazar Studies (1901-Present)

KHAZAR FICTION

A guide to conventionally-published novels, short stories, and poems about Khazaria.

Fictional Literature about the Khazars

THE KUZARI AND ITS AUTHOR

Yehudah ha-Levi was one of the greatest Spanish Jewish poets. He was born circa 1080 in Toledo, Spain, while it was under Islamic rule. He was a prolific writer of both Arabic and Hebrew poetry. From 1120 to 1140, ha-Levi wrote the famous 5-chapter book known as The Kuzari, which bases its storyline upon the Khazars' conversion to Judaism.

The Kuzari's References to the Khazar Conversion to Judaism

The Poetry and Prose of Yehudah ha-Levi

RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE HISTORIES OF KHAZARIA

This is a wonderfully illustrated guide to the history of the Khazars, compiled by staff at Rostov State University. The only unfortunate thing in the site is that Khazar Judaism is wrongly accused of causing strife and a civil war.

Khazarskiy Kaganat

THE KHAZAR CORRESPONDENCE

The Jews of Spain were introduced to facts about the Khazar kingdom largely through the efforts of Hasdai ibn Shaprut, vizier and physician to the Spanish caliphs, who wrote a letter to King Joseph of the Khazars.

Excerpts from the Letters of Hasdai ibn Shaprut and King Joseph

THE GENETICS OF THE PEOPLES OF KHAZARIA

Gennady E. Afanasiev and his co-authors published the Russian article "Khazarskie konfederaty v Basseyne Dona" in Yestestvennonauchnie metodi issledovaniya i paradigma sovremennoy arkheologii: Materiali Vserossiyskoy nauchnoy koferentsii, Moskva, Institut arkheologii Rossiyskoy akademii nauk, 8-11 dekabrya 2015 in 2015 on pages 146-153. They examined the uniparental markers of 4 individuals in the Saltovo-Mayaki culture of Khazaria who lived circa the 800s:
•Sample A80301 belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup R1a1a1b2a (R-Z94) which is of Persian/West Asian origin and found today among Turkic-speaking Karachay people. A80301's mtDNA haplogroup was I4a which is found today in northwestern and central Europe such as in Sweden, and also found around the Black Sea, in the North Caucasus, and in Armenia, Iran, and Siberia.
•Sample A80302's mtDNA haplogroup was D4m2, which is found today in Siberia among the Dolgan, Yakut, and Even peoples, but is never found among Ashkenazim.
•Sample A80410 belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup G, commonly found among peoples in West Asia and the Caucasus today.
•Sample A80411 belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup J2a, which is also commonly found in West Asia and the Caucasus today, and also in Central Asia and in parts of Europe like the Balkans.

HISTORY OF THE PROTO-BULGARIANS

This book, translated from Bulgarian into English, chronicles the history and archaeology of the Khazars, Bulgars, North Caucasian Huns, and Alans. There are sections discussing the Khazar cities Sarkel and Balanjar. Includes maps, photographs, footnotes, quotes from historical sources.

History of the Proto-Bulgarians North and West of the Black Sea

OTHER ESSAYS ABOUT THE KHAZARS

Selected essays about Khazar history in English and Russian.

Khazars, by Roman K. Kovalev (from Encyclopedia of Russian History)

Khazaria, by Peter B. Golden (from The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe)

Khazaria (586-1083 AD), by Dennis Leventhal

The Khazars, by Peter Wolfe and Jeff Zolitor

The Khazars, by Steven Lowe

The Khazar Kingdom: A Jewish Empire in the Middle Ages, by Rivka Shpak-Lissak

Khazar Khaganate, by Tristan Dugdale-Pointon (from Military History Encyclopedia on the Web)

Khazari: Il popolo dimenticato che difese l'Europa, by Lawrence M.F. Sudbury

Der erste Judenstaat Europas

Xazarskiy kostyum VII-X vv., by Aleksey (Kutluk) Tselikovskiy - about Khazarian and North Caucasian costumes

"Russkie xazary", with Svetlana Pletnyova and Vladimir Petrukhin

Khazary, by Svetlana A. Pletnyova

Khazary, by "Oleg Ivik" (the collective pseudonym of Olga Kolobova and Valeriy Ivanov) and Vladimir Klyutchnikov

"Xazary. Xazarskii kaganat. Prinyatie iudaizma. Rastsvet i gibel' Xazarii." (Chapter 2) and "Xazary i slavyane. Evrey i Kievskaya Rus'. Nashestvie mongolov." (Chapter 3) in Ocherki vremen i sobytii, by Feliks S. Kandel'

Iudeo-xazarskoye tsarstvo v drevnyaya Rus', by Grigorii Vinogradov

K Istorii Yevreyskikh Obshchin Severnogo Kavkaza, by E. A. Rabaev

Novye materialy k probleme izucheniya slavyano-xazarskix otnosheniy (po pamyatnikam Severskogo Dontsa), by V. V. Koloda - about apparent coexistence and synchretism between certain groups of Khazars and Slavs

Issledovaniya v Verxnem Saltove v 1996 godu, by V. V. Koloda - discusses Khazarian/Saltovo burials, one of which contained a well-conserved felt boot

Krupneyshey punkt (gorod) Khazarii, by A. V. Kryganov - discusses the more than 30 Khazarian cities, some of which (particularly Atil) have not yet been located

Vooruzhenie i voennoe delo Khazarskogo kaganata, by A. V. Komar and Oleg Sukhobokov

Rannie khazary v Severnom Prichernomorye (Postanovka problemy), by A. V. Komar

Xazary, Xazarskiy kaganat - includes Mikhael Gorelik's illustration of Khazar kagan's palace in Atil

Rusi i Bizantiya, by Igor Godovich Semyonov

600 Lyet Vmeste i 50 Lyet Lzhi, by Semyon Charny, in Lekhaim, March 2003

V Storonu Khazarii, by Denis Sobolev, in Zhurnal "22" No. 103, pp. 114 ff. - brief history of Khazars

Vozvrashchenie v Khazariyu, by Denis Sobolev, in Zhurnal "22" No. 108, pp. 162 ff. - about controversy of descendants of Khazars and origins of Russian Jews

Tsarskie imenovaniya v drevnerusskom tezauruse problemi interpretatsii, by Dmitrii Kudryavtsev

The founding family of Kyivan-Rus': Sviatoslav the Conqueror, Part I, by Ingert Kuzych

Current Publications for Sale THE JEWS OF KHAZARIA by Kevin Alan Brook This book discusses all major issues surrounding the Khazar Empire, including diplomacy, trade, culture, military affairs, Khazarian Judaism, and migrations. The book draws from major primary and secondary sources, and includes a concise timeline and glossary towards the end. This was the first English-language book on the Khazars to contain a substantial amount of archaeological data. THE WORLD OF THE KHAZARS edited by Peter B. Golden, Haggai Ben-Shammai, and András Róna-Tas An expensive but valuable collection of wide-ranging views from academic specialists on the Khazars. The 18 articles discuss the Khazars' economy, language, international relations, and more. KHAZARIA IN THE 9th AND 10th CENTURIES by Boris Zhivkov Examines documentary sources, archaeological discoveries, religious history, art history, folklore studies, and more. JAZARIA by Félix Kitroser Spanish-language book about Khazars featuring 12 chapters and 4 appendices, including color maps, illustrations, and translations of the Schechter Letter and Hasdai-Joseph correspondence. HAZARLAR by Osman Karatay A 336-page general-interest book about the Khazars. In Turkish. THE KUZARI: IN DEFENSE OF THE DESPISED FAITH translated and annotated by Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin In this classic philosophical work by Yehuda HaLevi, a Jewish sage explains the principles of Judaism to an inquisitive Khazar king. As a special bonus, the historical communications exchanged between Khazar King Joseph and the Spanish Jewish diplomat Hasdai ibn Shaprut are included in this volume. Books about Eastern European Jews || Books about Khazars Books about Syrian Jews Family Tree DNA: Genetic Testing Service Khazaria.com receives monetary commission payments from Family Tree DNA and Viglink from sales generated through links. These commissions help keep this site online and free. Thank you for your support.

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