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Journal ArticleDOI

The role of jews in early russian civilization in the light of a new discovery and new controversies

01 Jan 1990-Russian History-histoire Russe (Ferdinand Schöningh)-Vol. 17, Iss: 4, pp 379-394
TL;DR: The existence of medieval Jewish communities in Eastern Europe has been investigated in this paper, however, the extent of Judaism's dissemination in the Khazarian people is subject to dispute, since the conversion happened perhaps at the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century.
Abstract: We have very few indubitable facts concerning medieval Jewish settlements in Eastern Europe.1 The presence of a Jewish community, as well as the existence of syncretic beliefs influenced by Judaism, is attested on the northern shores of the Black Sea, in the Bospor kingdom, in the first centuries A.D.2 Another fact which implies the existence of a considerable Jewish community is the conversion to Judaism of the rulers of Khazaria, the empire that preceded Rus' in its dominance over Eastern Europe. The conversion happened perhaps at the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century; however, the extent of Judaism's dissemination in the Khazarian people is subject to dispute.3 Finally, Russian4 and Hebrew5 sources contain some few and vague notions of the presence of supposedly pre-Ashkenazic Jews or rather a Judaic element in Rus' in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (as well as in late medieval Crimea and Caucasus). Yet there is an established opinion
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Dissertation
01 Dec 2018
TL;DR: The authors study top-down, monotheistic conversions in Pontic-Caspian Eurasia and their respective mythologizations, preserved both textually and archaeologically, which serve as a primary factor for what we might call state formation.
Abstract: What is the line between the “ancient” world and the “medieval” world? Is it 476? 330? 632? 800? Most historians acknowledge there is no crisp line and that these are arbitrary distinctions, but they are made anyway, taking on lives of their own. I believe they are much the same world, except for the pervading influence of one flavor of monotheism or another. This thesis endeavors to study top-down, monotheistic conversions in Pontic-Caspian Eurasia and their respective mythologizations, preserved both textually and archaeologically, which serve as a primary factor for what we might call “state formation.” These narratives also function, in many cases, as the bases of many modern nationalisms, however haphazard they may be. I have attempted to apply this idea to Christian Rome (Byzantium)’s diachronic missionary policy around the Black Sea to reveal how what we today call the “Age of Migrations” (the so-called “Germanic” invasions of the Roman Empire), was actually in perpetual continuity all the way up to the Mongolian invasions and perhaps even later. In this way, I hope to enhance the context by which we understand the entirety of not only Western history, but to effectively bind it to a broader context of global monotheization.

104 citations


Cites background from "The role of jews in early russian c..."

  • ...174 See for example Shepard, 2008, “The Viking Rus and Byzantium,” 496-516; Petrukhin, 1992, “The Normans and the Khazars in the South of Rus’: (the Formation of the ‘Russian Land’ in the Middle Dnepr Area),” 393- 400; Koptev, 2010, “The Story of ‘Chazar Tribute’: A Scandinavian Ritual Trick in the Russian Primary Chronicle,” 189-212; and Kaplan, 1954, “The Decline of the Khazars and the Rise of the Varangians,” 1-10. somewhat lesser extent Manichaeism in Uighuria175 or Judaism in Khazaria, we can see that each adopted form of monotheism was imposed on subject populations by a ruling minority....

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  • ...The Khazar rulers themselves associated themselves with the ten lost tribes, according to Chekin, 1990, “The Role of Jews in Early Russian Civilization in the Light of a New Discovery and New Controversies,” 386-389....

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  • ...388 See for example Petrukhin, 1992, 393-400; Kaplan, 1954, 1-10; Brutzkus, 1944, 111, 122; Chekin, 1990, 379-394; Golden, 2001b, “Nomads in the Sedentary World: the Case of Pre-Chinggisid Rus’ and Georgia,” 29-34; Vernadsky, 1959, Kievan Russia, 174; and Shepard, 2008, “The Viking Rus and…...

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  • ...---------------, 2013, “The Russian Controversy over the Varangians,” in From Goths to Varangians: Communication and Cultural Exchange between the Baltic and the Black Sea, eds....

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  • ...KAPLAN, F. I., 1954, “The Decline of the Khazars and the Rise of the Varangians,” American Slavic and East European Review 13/1, 1-10....

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Book ChapterDOI
01 Mar 2000
TL;DR: The evolution of family structure was accompanied by the presence or the persistence of human groupings such as the hundred or even simply parishes as mentioned in this paper, suggesting that people needed to make a survey of cultivated lands before examining the environment.
Abstract: Blinded by classical towns or fascinated by the mosaics which decorated a few exceptionally rich houses, ancient historians have refused to admit, in spite of archaeological evidence, that to the left and to the right of the Rhine, the Germanic and the Graeco-Roman rural economy were in much the same state. The basic unit of daily life was the family. The historian who examines the family of the first half of the tenth century will find three levels. This chapter suggests that the evolution of family structure was accompanied by the presence or the persistence of human groupings such as the hundred or even simply parishes. It shows why people needed to make a survey of cultivated lands before examining the environment. From the tenth to the eighteenth century it was the seigneurie in which the men of Europe lived, in forms showing wide chronological and geographical variation.

63 citations

Book ChapterDOI
13 Mar 2000

31 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Mar 2000
TL;DR: A comparison of the Rheims electoral dispute of 989-97 with that of 940-48 shows how France and the Ottonian Reich had developed away from each other.
Abstract: Charles the Fat had been able to reunite the Carolingian kingdoms and, apart from Provence, had exercised direct rule over all of them. Unlike Charles, who had accepted the west Frankish crown offered him in 885, Arnulf of Carinthia rejected a corresponding offer from the west Frankish magnates. Franconia and Lotharingia were former royal provinces, whose political organisation stemmed from the Carolingians; Suabia, Bavaria and Saxony were ethnically defined regions. The phrase Francia et Saxonia, used by Otto I and later by Widukind of Corvey and Adalbert of Magdeburg, corresponds to the actual structure of the Reich. Instead of the device renovatio imperii Romanorum used by Otto III Henry adopted the formula renovatio regni Francorum, which had already been used on the imperial bulls of Louis the Pious, Charles III, Arnulf and Wido of Spoleto. Acomparison of the Rheims electoral dispute of 989-97 with that of 940-48 shows how France and the Ottonian Reich had developed away from each other.

23 citations

Book
Simon Franklin1
29 Aug 2002
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the social and cultural dynamics of writing, and the changing environment of writing in the graphic environment, including the written remains, scripts, languages, and social organisation of writing.
Abstract: Part I. The Graphic Environment: 1. The written remains 2. Scripts and languages 3. The changing environment Part II. Functions and Perceptions of Writing: 4. Writing and social organisation 5. Writing and learning 6. Writing and pictures 7. Writing and magic 8. Afterword: on the social and cultural dynamics of writing.

21 citations