Hello Savage,
After I listened to your audio, where you mentioned and verbatim read
from " The History of the Jewish Khazars" by D. M. Dunlop, I also
took my copy of Dunlop's book and found some amazing flaws
in Dunlop's research. Here's what i found and emailed to my smal
maillinglist :
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:07:51 +0200 (CEST)
From: Robert M. Stockmann <stock@stokkie.net>
To: [list]
Subject: The Khazar Conversion to JudaismHi,
According Dunlop's "The History of the Jewish Khazars" [1], the
conversion to Judaism of the Khazars has been documented by
the Khazars themselves. From the index [1] page 281 we read :
Judaism: Khazar, x, 76, 86, Chap-
ters v and vi, passim (see also
under Khazars); Byzantine, 89,
125, 157, 169, 256; conversion
of "Meshech" to, 220
Checking on page 76 (Chapter IV, THE SECOND ARAB-KHAZAR WAR (722-737),
we read :
" For the events of 112/730 our narrative gains confirmation
once again from the Khazar side. The memory of the capture
of Ardabil appears to have been retained long afterwards. Ac-
cording to the Reply of Joseph, when the Jewish religion had
already been established among them, the King of the Khazars
was inspired to set up a place of worship, and for the purpose
of obtaining the necessary means undertook an expedition by
way of the Darial pass, into the country south of the mountains.
The principal objective of this expedition was Arbadil. The
Khazar returned with a treasure of gold and silver, and this
was dedicated and used for providing the furniture -- ark,
lamp-stand, table, etc.-- of a tabernacle on the Biblical model.
The Reply adds that these still existed (c. A.D. 960).{80}
{80} See Chapter VI."
Apparently there is a old document written by the Khazars themselves,
titled "The Reply of Joseph". Geee, did they already have email back
then? Sorry for my humor, but according the above quote it had more
todo with the "acquisition" of gold and silver, then the worship of
Yaweh inside their mobile tabernacles on horseback. Looking for "The
Reply of Joseph" inside Dunlop's index, we find that both a "Short" and
"Long Version" of "The Reply of Joseph" exist(ed) :
Reply of Joseph, 42ff., 76, 91, 94n.,
98n., 125, 132, 133, 139, 144ff.,
186n., 195, 208n., 240; Long
and Short Version of, 130ff.,
139ff., 146ff.; grandiloquent tone
of, 147; different Hebrew style
from Letter of Hasday, 148,
151ff.
... How about that eh? Going to page 130 we read :
page 130 :
" So much for the possibility of interpolation in the work of
Aqrish. If anyone thinks that the Khazar Correspondence was
first composed in 1577 and published in Qol Mebasser, the onus
of proof is certainly on him. He must show that a number of
ancient manuscripts, which appear to contain references to the
Correspondence, have all been interpolated since the end of the
16th century. This will prove a very difficult or rather an
impossible task.
When we try to get behind the printed editions of Qol
Mebasser, the results are not entirely satisfactory. The only
known manuscript containing both the Letter of Hasday and
the Reply of Joseph is in the library of Christ Church, Ox-
ford. {37} This manuscript presents a remarkably close similarity
to the printed text, as may be seen from Kokovtsov's edition
and as I have personally checked. It is not easy to say what
is the genetic connection between the two, but it is unlikely
that the manuscript, as has several times been suggested, is
actually a transcript of the printed text. Rather, as Kokovtsov
says, the manuscript served directly or indirectly as a source
of the printed text. But it has no claims to great antiquity.
Undated like the Christ Church manuscript is another in
{37} No. 193. Owing to the liberality of the Christ Church
authorities I was able to consult this valuable MS. not
only in the Bodleian but also in the Glasgow University
Library. Though collated once again by myself, the MS.
yielded little or nothing which had escaped Kokovtsov.
page 131:
"the Leningrad Public Library, {38} which contains along with
midrashic material a longer version of the Reply of Joseph
than is found in the Christ Church manuscript and the printed
text of Aqrish, but lacks the letter of Hasday. Attention was
directed to this manuscript by Harkavy, a most diligent student
of Khazar antiquities, in 1874, and hailed by him as the un-
doubted original of the previously known version. {39} Unfortu-
nately the Long Version of the Reply of Joseph passed to the
Leningrad library via Firkovitch, who had apparently acquired
it in Egypt in the sixties of last century. {40} This connection with
Firkovitch did not predispose investigators to regard it as an
undoubted relic of antiquity. It would appear, however, that in
this case we need not immediately suspect a forgery. Chwol-
son, who had examined it, states that the whole manuscript
is written in the same hand and there are no additions of any
kind. {41} It is supposed to date from the 13th century. {42} Unless
therefore this indication of date is completely wrong and
Firkovitch is responsible for the whole -- contrary to his usual
method of fabrication, which was to make alterations and ad-
ditions in authentic documents -- we probably have to reckon
with the Long Version as considerably older than the printed
text of Aqrish. Harkavy, in spite of his very critical attitude to
Firkovitch and his discoveries, had no hesitation in accepting
it as the original of the Short Version in Aqrish, as already said.
If the view of Harkavy, which for once coincides with Chwol-
son's, is not right, most people will agree with Kokovtsov's
cautious statement {43} that as basis for both versions there is
certainly the same original text, which is in general better
preserved in the Long Version.
That the Khazar Correspondence is a forgery of the 16th
century can scarcely be taken seriously in view of what has
{38} MS. Heb. 157 of the 2nd Firkovitch Collection.
{39} Measeph Niddahim, I, no. 8.
{40} Chwolson, Corpus, German ed., St. Petersburg 1882, 143, n. 6.
{41} Ibid., 520 (quoted similarly by Kokovtsov from the Russian ed.,
1884, 499)
{42} Ibid., 143 n. 6. {43} Op.cit., Introduction"
Anyone who had the slightest belief that Dunlop's work is a most solid
documented publication on the Khazars and their history, should think
again, as we are dealing here, only, with manuscripts originating from
the hands of Soviet Communist professors and researchers, where the
Oxford connection does not shine brightly for this University's
much admired reputation.
Best regards,
Robert
PS.
[1] The History of the Jewish Khazars
by D. M. Dunlop
Paperback: 293 pages
Publisher: Schocken; First edition (1967)
Language: English
ASIN: B000E3WIZS
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E3WIZS--
Robert M. Stockmann - RHCE
Network Engineer - UNIX/Linux Specialist
crashrecovery.org
stock@stokkie.net