Samosdelka () is a fishing village in the

Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast (; ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southern Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,010,073. Geography Astrakhan's southern border is the ...

southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia ( rus, Юг России, p=juk rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a Colloquialism, colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia. The term is generally used to refer to the region of Russia's So ...

, approximately 40 km south-southwest of the city of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

, in the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

area of the

Caspian Depression The Caspian Depression or the Caspian Lowland is a low-lying flatland region encompassing the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of water on Earth. It is the larger northern part of the wider Aral–Caspian Depressio ...

marshlands In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

. In September 2008, Russian

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavating in Samosdelka announced their discovery of what they claimed were the remains of

Atil Atil, also Itil, was the capital of the Khazar Khaganate from the mid-8th century to the late 10th century. It is known historically to have been situated along the Silk Road, on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, in the Volga Delta region of ...

, the capital of the medieval

Khazar The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...

kingdom. The claim was considered sensational and, owing to the absence of archaeological evidence, did not meet with widespread acceptance. A 2020 assessment by the

Russian Geographic Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

concluded that Atil had not been found in Samosdelka, and announced that new excavations were underway at another site.

Archaeology

Head archaeologist Dmitry Vasilyev of

Astrakhan State University Astrakhan State University (formerly Astrakhan State Pedagogical University) is a university located in Astrakhan, Russian Federation. It was founded in 1932. The traditional functions of Astrakhan State University include training specialist ...

and his team began excavations at the site in 1999. The research was sponsored in part by the

Simon Dubnow Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov; ; rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪdʑ ˈdubnəf; 10 September 1860 – 8 December 1941) was a Jewish-Russian Empire, Russian h ...

Higher Humanitarian School (called the "Jewish University in Moscow" until 2003) and by the

Russian Jewish Congress The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and Russian Jewish organization. It was established in 1996 by a group of Jewish businessmen, workers and religious figures with the goal of reviving Jewish life in Russia. It unites som ...

, a Russian nonprofit. In 2008 Vasilyev publicly announced that his team had unearthed the foundations of a triangular fortress of fired

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

and had discovered the remains of

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger (Mongolian language, Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and Thermal insulation, insulated with Hide (skin), skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct Nomad, nomad ...

-like dwellings. Vasilyev claimed that the findings were the remains of Atil. A major indication that led him to his conclusion, Vasilyev said, was the presence of

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

-fired (as opposed to dried-mud) bricks, as Khazar law restricted the use of fired bricks to the capital. In his announcement to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP), Vasilyev heralded the "great significance" of his team's "discovery of the capital" of Khazaria. Vasilyev told the AP that "we should view he purported discoveryas part of

Russian history The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in the year 862, ruled by Varangians. In 882, Prin ...

," and that "in many ways, Russia is a

successor Successor may refer to: * An entity that comes after another (see Succession (disambiguation)) Film and TV * ''The Successor'' (1996 film), a film including Laura Girling * The Successor (2023 film), a French drama film * ''The Successor'' ( ...

of the Khazar state". Vasilyev claimed that the excavations conformed to written sources. In an item on Vasilyev's announcement,

Hadassah Magazine ''Hadassah Magazine'' is an American magazine published by the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. It covers Israel, the Jewish world, and subjects of interest to American Jewish women. It was established in 1914. Esther G. Gottesm ...

reported that in an interview with Russian news agency

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

, Russian Jewish Congress spokesperson Evgeniy Satanovsky professed his view that the Khazars, "with their federated structure and peacefully coexisting religions," were to be understood as a "model for modern Russia." In a 2003 paper, Vasilyev remarked that the central portion of Samosdelka was situated on an island between dry

riverbeds A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a channel or the banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports different types of aquatic vegeta ...

, and that historical documents locate Atil's

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

on an island in the center of the city. He noted that the fortress at Samosdelka was said to have a triangular shape and was made from "

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

bricks", and that written sources say that the Khazar

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

had a monopoly on brick buildings. Vasilyev said that traces of a widespread fire were found at Samosdelka in an Atil layer, and that the fire was probably set during the conquest of Atil by

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

prince

Sviatoslav I Sviatoslav or Svyatoslav I Igorevich (; Old Norse: ''Sveinald''; – 972) was Prince of Kiev from 945 until his death in 972. He is known for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers ...

in 968 or 969 CE. Layers dated to the 11th-12th centuries have Oghuz artifacts; these layers are associated with the medieval city of

Saqsin Saqsin, also known as Saksin and Saksin-Bolgar, was a medieval city that flourished from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. It was situated in the Volga Delta (modern-day Astrakhan Oblast), or in the Lower Volga region, and was known in p ...

, also in the Volga delta.

Responses

Following Vasilyev's announcement, researcher Kevin Alan Brook wrote that he was "confident" that the team found Atil, even as he acknowledged that the site has yielded no Jewish artifacts. Dr. Simon Kraiz, an expert on

Eastern European Jewry The expression ''Eastern European Jewry'' has two meanings. Its first meaning refers to the current political spheres of the Eastern European countries and its second meaning refers to the Jewish communities in History of the Jews in Russia, Ru ...

Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...

, was more cautious, remarking that only if the team has discovered Khazar writings would the findings "be very important." Vasilyev's claim was labelled "premature" in a 2018 publication by

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Professor of

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer. On its website dated July 2020, the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

stated that while "many scholars" identified Samosdelka with Atil, artifacts of the

Saltovo-Mayaki Saltovo-Mayaki, also known as Saltovo-Majaki or simply Saltiv, is the name given by archaeologists to the early medieval culture of the Pontic steppe region roughly between the Don and the Dnieper Rivers, flourishing roughly between the years ...

culture inherent to the Khazar Khaganate "were not found". The Society announced that it was on "the threshold of the great discovery" of Atil, this time in the nearby village of

Semibugry Semibugry () is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Semibugrinsky Selsoviet, Kamyzyaksky District, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. The population was 1,778 as of 2010. There are 12 streets. Geography It is located on the Bolda ...

. Professor Alex Feldman of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

wrote that "textual and archaeological evidence provides some support" for identifying the site with Atil but noted some objections to the idea, including that none of the coins uncovered there date back "as early as the tenth century".

References

External links

The Khazar Capital City of Atil
(Yediot Ahronot)
(abc.net.au)-->
Scholar claims to find medieval Jewish capital
Yahoo! * https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26809309 Khazar towns Former populated places in Russia Forts in Russia Archaeological sites in Russia Defunct towns in Russia Cultural heritage monuments in Astrakhan Oblast Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance Populated places in the Golden Horde {{Europe-hist-stub

Archaeology

Responses

References

Further reading

External links