June 14, 2004

Khazaria [map]. The Khazars [wikipedia] were a Turkic people [wikipedia] that settled in contemporary southern Russia and Ukraine and converted to Judaism.

More maps - watch the Khazars settle in, watch the empire grow, and shrink. Yehudah ha-Levi on the Khazar conversion to Judaism. The Khazar fortress of Sarkel. Are Mountain Jews descended from the Khazars?

posted by PF 20 years ago
  • Aaah the Khazars. They seem to have a talent for drawing out all manner of freaaks around the internet.
  • You tryin to step, Psy? Come on, let's go. *assumes "Bare-Armed Crouching Monkey" position* Also, the Bulgars.
  • There's scant little research on this civilization. I remember attempting to find out more about the Khazars and coming to a dead end nearly everywhere I looked. (Granted, this was in the days before the interweb.) There is one recent development though that could really change the theories of whether Ashkenazi Jews are really Khazars or are truly descended from the original Israelis. DNA analysis has found a group of proteins that exist only on the Y chromosome of a particular group of Jewish males. This protein group exists in both Ashkenazi and Sephardic populations, suggesting the two groups are descended from the same original population. Link: http://www.cohen-levi.org/the_tribe/kohanim_forever.htm
  • What rich links, PF! -- and with luck, later this week I might manage more than to just skim a few of them. These are fascinating if, like me, you know sadly little about the area or its peoples and their history.
  • Sorry 'bout that. Link
  • Love them Khazars! But to quote myself: I'd be a bit leery of that Khazaria site, though; the guy is enthusiastic and has a lot of good stuff, but also a lot of dubious stuff (this essay, for example, quotes Leo Rosten as a source for Jewish history!). The fact is that we don't know very much about the Khazars and their Judaism, and the temptation to push the evidence farther than it warrants is too much for some people.
  • To quote plep: Thanks for the heads-up, languagehat.
  • I have Khazar genetic input. Unfortunately, or fortunately I suppose, I have inherited the Khazar-Ashkenazi neurolgical non-typicalities, some of which cause impairments, but can pay off in higher IQ than other groups. Maybe this has something to do with me being an Aspie. /shrug