Paper Topic:

A forgotten empire: Khazaria

Introduction

In his essay entitled O dvoystvennosti verkhovnoy vlasti u khazarov Vasili V . Grigoriev described the Khazar as follows : The Khazar people were an unusual phenomenon for Medieval times . Surrounded by savage and nomadic tribes , they had all the advantages of the developed countries structured government , vast and prosperous trading , and a permanent army . At the time , when great fanatism and deep ignorance contested their dominion over Western Europe , the Khazar state was famous for its justice and tolerance . People persecuted for their faiths flocked into Khazaria from everywhere . As a

glistening star it shone brightly on the gloomy horizon of Europe , and faded away without leaving any traces of existence

This introduces to a reader who the Khazar people are and their role in Jewish history

Khazars and Judaism

Originally , the Khazars practiced Shamanism and phallic worship with the sky god Tengri as the focus . Subordinate Gods whom the Khazars worshipped include fertility HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Goddess " \o "Goddess " goddess HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Umay " \o "Umay " Umay HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Kuara " \o "Kuara " Kuara , a thunder god , and HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Erlik " \o "Erlik " Erlik , the god of death

Due the persecution of Jews under Heraclius , Leo III , Justinian II and Romanos I , Jews fled to Khazaria . The Mazdak revolts also caused Jews from Persia to flee to Khazaria . It was said that Jewish merchants from this age regularly traded in Khazaria . They may have wielded...

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