The Hebrews in the South of Eastern Europe during the Khazar Period: Resettlement and Origion

Up to the present time, historians-medievalists continue to have interest in Judaism in the Khazar Kaganate exactly among the Khazarian proselytes. In their studies they note the existence of the Hebrew community on the eve of the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, at least in two places: in Bosporus and Dagestan. Further changes in the ethnic structure of the Hebrew population in the South of Eastern Europe were of little interest to researchers. It is known that in the first half of the 10^th century the Hebrews were forced to move from Byzantium to the Khazar land due to the repressions of the Emperor Roman. This information is also confirmed in Schechter’s document in which it is said that after the Khazars’ conversion to Judaism, the Hebrews from Byzantium, also from “Baghddad” (Caliphate) and “Khorasan” (Northern Iran) began to move to Khazaria. In this case, the information about the escape of the Hebrews from Byzantium is confirmed in Christian documents. At the same time, the mentions on the mass resettlement of the Hebrews from Muslim countries needs a verification.

For a long time, it was believed that in the 8^th – 10^th centuries the Hebrews settled only on the lands of the Khazar Kaganate. The “Kievan Letter”, found in the 1960s by N. Golb and published by him in association with O. Pritsak, disproves this opinion. As it was possible to suppose, this document was written in Kiev city in the 10^th century and it had no direct relation to Ashkenazi Hebrews. It was written when Kiev was no already subordinate to the Khazars. Therefore, the origin of local Jews is of special interest. O. Pritsak singled out Turkic terms from the names of the “Letter” and hence he was of the opinion about the Khazar origin of a part of Kiev Jewish community. According to some contemporary scholars, the rest of the community could be the Slavic Hebrews.