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Last update - 11:27 22/09/2008
Ancient lost capital of the Jewish Khazar kingdom found
By The Associated Press
Tags: Judaism, Russia, Khazars

Russian archaeologists said Wednesday they had found the long-lost capital of the Khazar kingdom in southern Russia, a breakthrough for research on the ancient Jewish state.

"This is a hugely important discovery," expedition organiser Dmitry Vasilyev told AFP by telephone from Astrakhan State University after returning from excavations near the village of Samosdelka, just north of the Caspian Sea.
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"We can now shed light on one of the most intriguing mysteries of that period -- how the Khazars actually lived. We know very little about the Khazars -- about their traditions, their funerary rites, their culture," he said.

The city was the capital of the Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic peoples who adopted Judaism as a state religion, from between the 8th and the 10th centuries, when it was captured and sacked by the rulers of ancient Russia.

At its height, the Khazar state and its tributaries controlled much of what is now southern Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan and large parts of Russia's North Caucasus region.

The capital is referred to as Itil in Arab chronicles but Vasilyev said the word may actually have been used to refer to the Volga River on which the city was founded or to the surrounding river delta region.

Itil was said to be a multi-ethnic place with houses of worship and judges for Christians, Jews, Muslims and pagans. Its remains have until now never been identified and were said to have been washed away by the Caspian Sea.

Archaeologists have been excavating in the area if Samosdelka for the past nine years but have only now collected enough material evidence to back their thesis, including the remains of an ancient brick fortress, he added.

"Within the fortress, we have found huts similar to yurts, which are characteristics of Khazar cities.... The fortress had a triangular shape and was made with bricks. It's another argument that this was no ordinary city."

Around 10 university archaeologists and some 50 students took part in excavations in the region this summer, which are partly financed by the Jewish University in Moscow and the Russian Jewish Congress
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  1.   The KNESSET must act! LAW OF RETURN to KHAZER STATE 11:45  |  From Moishe to Musa 22/09/08
  2.   diaspora then? askenazi are turks? 12:06  |  tvini 22/09/08
  3.   PURE CONJECTION THERE IS NO PROOF WHATSOEVER 12:17  |  v.hardman 22/09/08
  4.   MEDIEVAL, not ancient 12:38  |  Martin 22/09/08
  5.   Khazar Capital 12:52  |  Anna 22/09/08
  6.   Israel haters always point to Khazaria... 13:44  |  dyinglikeflies 22/09/08
  7.   Khazer Jewish Land 14:46  |  Jay 22/09/08
  8.   Nice to know, but doesn`t change anything 14:49  |  D 22/09/08
  9.   Most israelis are Sons of the Khazar Empire 15:31  |  Sayid 22/09/08
  10.   Jews had a Khazar kingdom but they were semites, proof inside 16:03  |  anti-racist 22/09/08
  11.   Family Photos 17:04  |  Yosemite 22/09/08
  12.   Khazars were Turks, not Semitic. 17:17  |  Israel/Turkey 22/09/08
  13.   All Jews and Arabs descend from Semites... 17:26  |  John Defur 22/09/08
  14.   Askenazi home at Volga delta by Caspian Sea 17:35  |  ataturk 22/09/08
  15.   Ashkenazi 17:53  |  Polish/Hungarian Jew 22/09/08
  16.   #9 Said - Most israelis are Sons of the Khazar Empire 18:37  |  Shlomo 22/09/08
  17.   #9 Sayid 19:27  |  Robert 22/09/08
  18.   Destroyed by the Russian Empire...Putins of past and present 19:50  |  Alain 22/09/08
  19.   The March of Science 20:01  |  Mark Lincoln 22/09/08
  20.   Sayid, to too coulc be Jewish if . . . 20:52  |  Zev Davis 22/09/08
  21.   Ashkenazim 21:39  |  Mort Reichek 22/09/08
  22.   Are the Arabs semites 21:42  |  Jackie 22/09/08
  23.   #19 Say Mark 22:41  |  ballistic 22/09/08
  24.   to #10 "anti Racist" 22:49  |  Tova 22/09/08
  25.   ballistic, who says sthe leadership of the State . . . 15:27  |  Zev Davis 24/09/08
  26.   Birthright Judaism Israel and secularism 17:48  |  Bitin Dawg 24/09/08
  27.   Khazars 18:46  |  Nisso Acher 24/09/08
  28.   Khazer/schmazar 06:03  |  bruno 25/09/08
  29.   So the jews were not `victims` for ever 14:03  |  Ferox Garseas 25/09/08
  30.   Can americans find jews in the Moon? 14:06  |  Ferox Garseas 25/09/08
  31.   jews controversial History 14:29  |  Ferox Garseas 25/09/08
  32.   jews more spirituals than others 14:51  |  Ferox Garseas 25/09/08
  33.   to Ferox Garseas 20:52  |  ben 25/09/08
  34.   Read and discover your roots 10:17  |  Steve the Pals. 26/09/08
  35.   Steve, once converted . . . 15:11  |  Zev Davis 26/09/08
  36.   Khazar is a TURKIC state and we call caspian HAZAR(Khazar)SEA 19:26  |  Tayfun_Turkey 28/09/08
  37.   shana tova 20:11  |  fernando bisker 28/09/08
  38.   Proud of Khazar Heritage! 23:47  |  Gil 28/09/08
  39.   Khazar = Gog, Saxons = Magog 00:13  |  Muslim 29/09/08
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