[Khazaria.com - The American Center of Khazar Studies]
A Resource for Turkic and Jewish History in Russia and Ukraine

Last Updated: March 25, 2023

For information about THE JEWS OF KHAZARIA, click here Read about The Jews of Khazaria - the best general-interest book about the Khazars in English

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The sequel is The Maternal Genetic Lineages of Ashkenazic Jews (October 2022)

A new candidate for Atil's location has emerged! It's Semibugry, a large Khazar-era city that was discovered in 2019 by researchers from Astrakhan, including Damir Solovyov. They continued to dig in the summers of 2020 and 2021. I added what we know so far about Semibugry's remains to my Atil page.

The Genetics of the Medieval Khazars is our new page summarizing the results obtained so far from scientific teams around the world that have worked with genuine Khazar DNA and Saltovian DNA. The latest study was led by Tatiana Tatarinova of the University of La Verne and included Y-DNA, mtDNA, and autosomal DNA. Tatarinova's team concluded that the Khazars' DNA doesn't match the Ashkenazic Jews' DNA. They also confirmed that the Khazars included members with a combination of Caucasoid and Mongoloid origins. Both of these findings match statements in the 3rd edition of The Jews of Khazaria, which was written two years earlier. All but one of the bonafide Khazars studied show significant Mongoloid ancestry from the original Turkic homeland in southern Siberia and Central Asia.

"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.
       In his article "Iudaizm, khristianstvo, islam v khazarskom kaganate po arkheologicheskim dannym (kratkiy obzor)" ("Judaism, Christianity, Islam on archaeological data in Khazaria") in volume 8 (2018) of the journal Prinosi kum bulgarskata arkheologiya on pages 139-145, Valery S. Flyorov agrees that among artifacts currently unearthed it depicts a unique image of a Jewish Khazarian menorah (with 7 candles above a rhombus) "S bol'shoy doley veroyatnosti" (with a high degree of probability) (page 140). Having said that, Flyorov regards it as Jewishly inappropriate to find a menorah in a kitchen and thus believes that the pot was made by a "neophyte" (page 141). He also points out that the pot was found in a grave together with other artifacts, including a mirror, a copper chain, and two dirham coins originating from 8th-century Baghdad, and burials with objects typify paganism rather than standard Judaism (page 140). The rhombus within the menorah is also unusual and "raises questions" (pages 139). Flyorov disagrees with the idea that the pot's "small clumsily incised oblique cross with equal bars" was inspired by Christianity (page 139).

Medieval Kingdom of Khazaria, 652-969

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.

"The Khazars originated from the distant East... In the seventh and eighth centuries, this new empire halted Arab expansionism, established contact with Byzantium, and became a decisive force between the Caspian Sea and the River Don up to the middle of the tenth century. Land cultivation, animal husbandry and handicrafts flourished in the empire. Merchants traded not only with Byzantium, but also with the Arab-Persian world and the distant East. The kagans did not prohibit the activities of Christian and Moslem missionaries. Both religions maintained places or worship and schools on Khazar land. Out of political considerations, however, the kagans and their retinues embraced a third great monotheist religion, Judaism."
- The Magyars: The Birth of a European Nation by György Balázs, page 8.

"The khaganate of the Khazars was of the upmost strategic importance for the Byzantines for several reasons. First of all, it controlled the routes to the southern Caucasus, thus playing a central role in the geopolitics of the area. ... Secondly, the Byzantine possessions in Crimea... were bordered by the Khazars, who represented a major piece in the puzzle of nations who competed for domination of the region. ... Finally, the Khazar Empire lay at a crossing of trading routes linking the Russian steppes with Central Asia..."
- The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829-842 by Juan Signes Codoñer, "Section V: The Khazar Flank", page 335.

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 third edition was the first book on the Khazars to contain genetic data from Khazaria.

THE KHAZARS
by Mikhail Zhirohov and David Nicolle
An illustrated guide to Khazar history, focusing on military affairs including Khazaria's wars with Arabs and the Rus', their weapons such as spears, battleaxes, and swords, their helmets and armor, and their fortifications made from stone and timber.

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.

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