The Jews of Khazaria FROM THE PUBLISHER
This book, now available in paperback, chronicles the eventful history of
the Turkic kingdom of Khazaria, which was located in eastern Europe and
flourished as an independent state from about 650 to 1016.
As a major world power, Khazaria enjoyed diplomatic and trade relations
with many peoples and nations (including the Byzantines, Alans, Magyars,
and Slavs) and changed the course of medieval history in many ways. For
instance, the Arab-Khazar wars established the Caucasus Mountains as a
boundary between the Islamic world to the south and the Slavo-Turkic world
to the north; Khazarian warriors participated in the founding of the
kingdom of Hungary beyond the Carpathians; Khazarian princesses married
into the Byzantine royal family; and Khazars played a part in founding the
city of Kiev on the Dnieper River.
In the ninth century, the Khazarian royalty and nobility as well as a
significant portion of the Khazarian Turkic population embraced the Jewish
religion. After their conversion, as this book demonstrates, the Khazars
were ruled by a succession of Jewish kings and began to adopt the
hallmarks of Jewish civilization, including the Torah and Talmud, the
Hebrew script, and the observance of Jewish holidays. A portion of the
empire's population adopted Christianity and Islam.
This volume traces the development of the Khazars from their early
beginnings as a tribe to the decline and fall of their kingdom. It
presents historical and archaeological evidence relating to the weaponry,
agriculture, horticulture, burial practices, architecture, and customs of
the Khazar people. It also examines the many migrations of the Khazar
people into Hungary, Ukraine, and other areas of Europe and their
subsequent assimilation, providing the most comprehensive treatment of
this complex issue to date.
The final chapter enumerates the Jewish communities of eastern Europe
which sprung up after the fall of Khazaria and proposes that the Jews from
the former Russian Empire are descended from a mixture of Khazar Jews,
German Jews, Czech Jews, Greek Jews, and Slavs.
The book also includes a map of the Khazar kingdom; a map of
Khazarian-ruled Crimea; several tables illustrating royal genealogies,
king lists, and the Turkic language family; a glossary of Khazarian words
and other important terms which may be unfamiliar to readers; and an
extensive bibliography of articles, books, and other essays.
SYNOPSIS
Khazaria, located in eastern Europe, flourished as an independent state from about 650 to 1016. In the ninth century, the Khazarian royalty and nobility and a portion of the general population embraced the Jewish religion. This volume traces the development of the Khazars from their beginnings to the fall of their empire; examines the migrations of the Khazar people into other parts of Europe; and, most significantly, proposes a continuity between medieval Khazar Jewry and modern eastern European Jewry. The author's credentials are not identified, but his work is scholarly and includes references and an extensive bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Seth Ward - The Jewish Quarterly Review
"Over a millennium after the kingdom's disastrous wars with the Kievan Rus, the Khazar story still has an alluring mystique... Kevin Alan Brook presents the findings of an impressive array of scholarship, referencing primary sources and secondary scholarship written in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Armenian, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish and other languages. He begins with legends about the Khazars' origins - ascription to the biblical Togarma or to one of the Ten Lost Tribes - and attempts to reconstruct the historical process by which Turkic peoples came to settle in the area between Crimea and the Caspian and coalesce into the Khazar Kingdom. Jews also settled there... The Jewish presence in Crimea and beyond increased with refugees from Persian persecution in the 5th century and from the increasing severity of Byzantine anti-Jewish legislation. Brook discusses the Khazar cities one by one, as well as the imperial structure... He describes lifestyles and trade patterns (including visits of the Jewish Radhanite merchants), before turning to the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism... [T]he last Khazar kagan, who became a Christian, was defeated in 1016. Brook notes that some scholars muse about Khazar revivals in the next two centuries, up to the Mongol invasions, but argues that it is difficult to verify these claims... The Jews of Khazaria is broad in scope; often, however, the book reads more like an annotated bibliography than a tight narrative... A highly useful, comprehensive chronology is given as an appendix... By accepting Judaism, Khazar Jews became part of the overall Jewish community... Far from being [merely] a romantic interlude whose brief existence sparked the imagination of generations, Brook's volume shows that the Khazar experience is intrinsic to the narrative of Jewish history."
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