Evidence Found of a Lost Civilization
A Yahoo news story titled Scholar claims to find medieval Jewish capital was authored by Mansur Mirovalev, an Associated Press writer and was dated 9/20/08. The article discussed a little known fact of history. A group of people known as the Khazars had once formed an influential nation which adopted Judaism as its official religion over 1,000 years ago. Archeological evidence for this was recently discovered at an excavation site near the Caspian Sea. The excavation was led by Dmitry Vasilyev, a professor at Astrakhan State University.
The excavation unearthed the foundations of a fortress as well as some dwellings. They are believed to be remnants of the Khazar capital Izar and the fact that the fortess was of flamed brick and Khazar law permitted flammed bricks only in the capital is evidence that Vasilyev has found Izar, said to have been the first feudal state of Eastern Europe. In addition the general location of the city was revealed by medieval European, Jewish and Arab writers. It was said to be on the Silk Road; a trade route involving Europeans, the Chinese and the Khazars. The Khazars ammassed considerable profits at least in part due to their location. They were also known to have interacted with the Byzantine Empire and North Africa. Their conquests included large amounts of land in what are now Russia and the Ukraine and Central Asia. Khazar civilization thrived between the seventh and tenth centuries.
A prominent feature of the Khazar nation was its Judaic nature. The dynasty which ruled the Khazars and the nobility of that nation converted to Judaism. This seems to have taken place during the eigth or ninth century. Russian epic poems speak of their warriors battling the "Jewish Giant."
Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Khazars was the role they played in containing the expansion of Islam toward Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Mountains. Their inhibiting influence has been compared to what French knights accomplished in defeating an Arab army at the Battle of Tours which took place in France in 732.
The excavation unearthed the foundations of a fortress as well as some dwellings. They are believed to be remnants of the Khazar capital Izar and the fact that the fortess was of flamed brick and Khazar law permitted flammed bricks only in the capital is evidence that Vasilyev has found Izar, said to have been the first feudal state of Eastern Europe. In addition the general location of the city was revealed by medieval European, Jewish and Arab writers. It was said to be on the Silk Road; a trade route involving Europeans, the Chinese and the Khazars. The Khazars ammassed considerable profits at least in part due to their location. They were also known to have interacted with the Byzantine Empire and North Africa. Their conquests included large amounts of land in what are now Russia and the Ukraine and Central Asia. Khazar civilization thrived between the seventh and tenth centuries.
A prominent feature of the Khazar nation was its Judaic nature. The dynasty which ruled the Khazars and the nobility of that nation converted to Judaism. This seems to have taken place during the eigth or ninth century. Russian epic poems speak of their warriors battling the "Jewish Giant."
Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Khazars was the role they played in containing the expansion of Islam toward Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Mountains. Their inhibiting influence has been compared to what French knights accomplished in defeating an Arab army at the Battle of Tours which took place in France in 732.
Labels: History
posted by Paul at 7:12 AM
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