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verification. (September 2010) |
The Kievan Letter, or Kyivan letter [1] is an early 10th-century (ca. 930) [2] letter thought to be written by representatives of the Jewish community in Kiev. The letter, a Hebrew-language recommendation written on behalf of one member of their community, was part of an enormous collection brought to Cambridge by Solomon Schechter from the Cairo Geniza. It was discovered in 1962 during a survey of the Geniza documents by Norman Golb of the University of Chicago. The letter is dated by most scholars to around 930 CE. Some think (on the basis of the "pleading" nature of the text, mentioned below) that the letter dates from a time when Khazars were no longer a dominant force in the politics of the city. According to Marcel Erdal, the letter does not come from Kyiv but was sent to Kyiv. [3]
Some scholars point to a district in Kievan Podil named after the Khazars (called "Kozare"), which indicates to some that Turkic Khazars lived in Kiev. The Khazars apparently played a significant role in the economic vitality of the city, importing caviar, fish and salt into Kiev. This may point to a Radhanite presence in the city, which was common in greater Khazaria.
If so, it might at first glance suggest that Khazar control over Kiev, in some form or another, continued well into the 10th century, significantly later than the traditional date for conquest by Oleg, 882. On the other hand, the letter itself implies that the Khazar authorities could do little to help the Jewish community of Kiev. The letter itself had ended up in Egypt, and the beleaguered alms-seeker had presumably travelled thousands of miles in his search for relief. The identity and the status of the reviewing officer is therefore ambiguous. It would seem more likely that the letter was reviewed in Khazaria while Khazar Jewish power had waned not only in Kiev but also in the heartland itself (sometime in the 11th century).[ citation needed]
Linguists are interested in the letter because the names of the community members are of Turkic, Slavic, and Hebrew origins (for example, names such as: " Hanukkah," "Yehudah," "Gostata," and "Kiabar"). There is some disagreement as to whether the Jews were Israelites who had taken local names or whether their names indicate Turkic or Slavic origins. The debate is complicated by the presence of the name Kiabar Kohen. According to Omeljan Pritsak, the name indicates that non-Israelite Khazars adopted the status of Kohen, possibly because they had formed a pre-conversion priestly caste. Another explanation is that Israelite Jews in Khazaria adopted Khazar Turkic names, much as Jews, including prominent rabbis, had adopted Arabic, Aramaic, German, Greek, Persian, and Slavic names. [4]
The letter may contain the only written record of the Khazar language extant today, the single word-phrase "I have read [it]". Bur Erdal argues against that hypothesis and favours Bolgar-Chuvash (hakurüm from the reconstructed verb *okï-, 'call out, recite, read') and suggests that it originated in the Danube-Bulgar region. [5] (Similar inscriptions in Latin and Greek are found in Byzantine documents from roughly the same period.)
𐰜𐰇𐰆𐰬 𐰘𐰛 - it says: Küonak - "read", modern Chuvash ( ogur) word "Kĕneke" - " book" (read). turk. okumak.[ citation needed]
Found by Norman Golb in the Cairo Geniza, the tenth-century Kyivan letter illuminating the presence of allegedly Turkic-named Jews among the Kyivan Jewish elites, again pointed to the Khazarian origin of Jews in Kyivan Rus′, and to the Judaic character of the Khazarians.
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (September 2010) |
The Kievan Letter, or Kyivan letter [1] is an early 10th-century (ca. 930) [2] letter thought to be written by representatives of the Jewish community in Kiev. The letter, a Hebrew-language recommendation written on behalf of one member of their community, was part of an enormous collection brought to Cambridge by Solomon Schechter from the Cairo Geniza. It was discovered in 1962 during a survey of the Geniza documents by Norman Golb of the University of Chicago. The letter is dated by most scholars to around 930 CE. Some think (on the basis of the "pleading" nature of the text, mentioned below) that the letter dates from a time when Khazars were no longer a dominant force in the politics of the city. According to Marcel Erdal, the letter does not come from Kyiv but was sent to Kyiv. [3]
Some scholars point to a district in Kievan Podil named after the Khazars (called "Kozare"), which indicates to some that Turkic Khazars lived in Kiev. The Khazars apparently played a significant role in the economic vitality of the city, importing caviar, fish and salt into Kiev. This may point to a Radhanite presence in the city, which was common in greater Khazaria.
If so, it might at first glance suggest that Khazar control over Kiev, in some form or another, continued well into the 10th century, significantly later than the traditional date for conquest by Oleg, 882. On the other hand, the letter itself implies that the Khazar authorities could do little to help the Jewish community of Kiev. The letter itself had ended up in Egypt, and the beleaguered alms-seeker had presumably travelled thousands of miles in his search for relief. The identity and the status of the reviewing officer is therefore ambiguous. It would seem more likely that the letter was reviewed in Khazaria while Khazar Jewish power had waned not only in Kiev but also in the heartland itself (sometime in the 11th century).[ citation needed]
Linguists are interested in the letter because the names of the community members are of Turkic, Slavic, and Hebrew origins (for example, names such as: " Hanukkah," "Yehudah," "Gostata," and "Kiabar"). There is some disagreement as to whether the Jews were Israelites who had taken local names or whether their names indicate Turkic or Slavic origins. The debate is complicated by the presence of the name Kiabar Kohen. According to Omeljan Pritsak, the name indicates that non-Israelite Khazars adopted the status of Kohen, possibly because they had formed a pre-conversion priestly caste. Another explanation is that Israelite Jews in Khazaria adopted Khazar Turkic names, much as Jews, including prominent rabbis, had adopted Arabic, Aramaic, German, Greek, Persian, and Slavic names. [4]
The letter may contain the only written record of the Khazar language extant today, the single word-phrase "I have read [it]". Bur Erdal argues against that hypothesis and favours Bolgar-Chuvash (hakurüm from the reconstructed verb *okï-, 'call out, recite, read') and suggests that it originated in the Danube-Bulgar region. [5] (Similar inscriptions in Latin and Greek are found in Byzantine documents from roughly the same period.)
𐰜𐰇𐰆𐰬 𐰘𐰛 - it says: Küonak - "read", modern Chuvash ( ogur) word "Kĕneke" - " book" (read). turk. okumak.[ citation needed]
Found by Norman Golb in the Cairo Geniza, the tenth-century Kyivan letter illuminating the presence of allegedly Turkic-named Jews among the Kyivan Jewish elites, again pointed to the Khazarian origin of Jews in Kyivan Rus′, and to the Judaic character of the Khazarians.