Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry

The Khazar theory of Ashkenazi ancestry refers to a hypothesis that Ashkenazi Jews descend from the Khazars - a collection of Turkic peoples who formed a semi-nomadic Khanate in what is now Southern Russia , extending from Eastern Europe to Central Asia . The theory relies on some Middle Ages ' sources such as the Khazar Correspondence , according to which at some point in the 8th-9th centuries, the ruling elite of Khazars was said by Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud to have converted to Rabbinic Judaism . The scope of the conversion within the Khazar Khanate remains uncertain, and the evidence used to tie the Ashkenazi communities to Khazars by descent is exiguous and subject to conflicting interpretations. Those who have argued in support of the theory use a variety of arguments from genetic hypotheses to inferences from linguistic evidence , and historical records and archaeological data. In the late 19th century, Ernest Renan and other scholars speculated that the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe had their origin in Turkic refugees that had migrated from the collapsed Khazarian Khanate westward into the Rhineland , and exchanged their native Khazar language with the Yiddish language while continuing to practice the Jewish religion. The Khazar-Ashkenazi hypothesis came to the attention of a much wider public with the publication of Arthur Koestler 's The Thirteenth Tribe in 1976. This theory has had a complex history, within and beyond Judaism . Major scholars have either defended its plausibility or dismissed it as a pure fantasy. It has also been seized on at times by antisemites and anti-Zionists for various purposes to argue for the idea that Ashkenazi Jews have no ancestral connection to ancient Israel . The theory had been received with scepticism or caution by most modern scholars: according to Paul Wexler, who promotes the theory, scholars prefer to ignore the topic, which is controversial, and both ideological insecurities and a perception that earlier work advancing the hypothesis was incompetent may play a role in their diffidence. I think that his conclusions have gone well beyond the evidence. Nonetheless, these are themes that should be pursued further."

Largely abandoned theory about Jewish descent "Khazar myth" redirects here. The Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry , often called the Khazar myth by its critics, is a largely abandoned historical hypothesis that postulated that Ashkenazi Jews were primarily, or to a large extent, descended from Khazars , a multi-ethnic conglomerate of mostly Turkic peoples who formed a semi-nomadic khanate in and around the northern and central Caucasus and the Pontic–Caspian steppe . The hypothesis also postulated that after collapse of the Khazar empire, the Khazars fled to Eastern Europe and made up a large part of the Jews there. The hypothesis draws on medieval sources such as the Khazar Correspondence , according to which at some point in the 8th–9th centuries, a small number of Khazars were said by Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud to have converted to Rabbinic Judaism . The scope of the conversion within the Khazar Khanate remains uncertain, but the evidence used to tie the subsequent Ashkenazi communities to the Khazars is meager and subject to conflicting interpretations. Speculation that Europe's Jewish population originated among the Khazars has persisted for two centuries, from at least as early as 1808. In the late 19th century, Ernest Renan and other scholars speculated that the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe originated among Turkic refugees who had migrated from the collapsed Khazarian Khanate westward into Europe. Though intermittently evoked by several scholars since that time, the Khazar-Ashkenazi hypothesis came to the attention of a much wider public with the publication of Arthur Koestler 's The Thirteenth Tribe in 1976. It has been revived recently by geneticist Eran Elhaik , who in 2013 conducted a study aiming to vindicate it. Genetic studies on Jews have found no substantive evidence of a Khazar origin among Ashkenazi Jews. Geneticists such as Doron Behar and others (2013) have concluded that such a link is unlikely, noting that it is difficult to test the Khazar hypothesis using genetics because there is lack of clear modern descendants of the Khazars that could provide a clear test of the contribution to Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, but found no genetic markers in Ashkenazi Jews that would link them to peoples of the Caucasus/Khazar area. Atzmon and others found evidence that the Ashkenazi have mixed Near Eastern and Southern European/Mediterranean origins, though some admixture with Khazar and Slavic populations after 100 CE was not excluded. Xue and others note a wholly Khazar/Turkish/Middle eastern origin is out of the question, given the complexity of Ashkenazi admixtures. Although the majority of contemporary geneticists who have published on the topic dismiss it, there are some who have defended its plausibility, or not excluded the possibility of some Khazar component in the formation of the Ashkenazi. The hypothesis has been cited at times by anti-Zionists to challenge the idea that Jews have genetic ties to ancient Israel . It has also occasionally played some role in antisemitic theories propounded by fringe groups of American racists, Russian nationalists and adherents of the Christian identity movement . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Largely abandoned theory about Jewish descent "Khazar myth" redirects here. Khazar Khaganate, 650–850 The Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry , often called the Khazar myth by its critics, is a largely abandoned historical hypothesis that postulated that Ashkenazi Jews were primarily, or to a large extent, descended from converts to Judaism among the Khazars , a multi-ethnic conglomerate of mostly Turkic peoples who formed a semi-nomadic khanate in and around the northern and central Caucasus and the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the late 6th century CE. The hypothesis draws on medieval sources such as the Khazar Correspondence , according to which at some point in the 8th–9th centuries, a small number of Khazars were said by Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud to have converted to Rabbinic Judaism . The hypothesis also postulates that after collapse of the Khazar empire, the Khazars fled to Eastern Europe and made up a large part of the Jews there. The scope of the conversion within the Khazar Khanate remains uncertain, but the evidence used to tie the subsequent Ashkenazi communities to the Khazars is meager and subject to conflicting interpretations. Speculation that Europe's Jewish population originated among the Khazars has persisted for two centuries, from at least as early as 1808. In the late 19th century, Ernest Renan and other scholars speculated that the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe originated among refugees who had migrated from the collapsed Khazarian Khanate westward into Europe. Though intermittently evoked by several scholars since that time, the Khazar-Ashkenazi hypothesis came to the attention of a much wider public with the publication of Arthur Koestler 's The Thirteenth Tribe in 1976. It has been revived recently by geneticist Eran Elhaik , who in 2013 conducted a study aiming to vindicate it. Genetic studies on Jews have found no substantive evidence of a Khazar origin among Ashkenazi Jews. Geneticists such as Doron Behar and others (2013) have concluded that such a link is unlikely, noting that it is difficult to test the Khazar hypothesis using genetics because there is lack of clear modern descendants of the Khazars that could provide a clear test of the contribution to Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, but found no genetic markers in Ashkenazi Jews that would link them to peoples of the Caucasus/Khazar area. Atzmon and others found evidence that the Ashkenazi have mixed Near Eastern and Southern European/Mediterranean origins, though some admixture with Khazar and Slavic populations after 100 CE was not excluded. Xue and others note a wholly Khazar/Turkish/Middle eastern origin is out of the question, given the complexity of Ashkenazi admixtures. Although the majority of contemporary geneticists who have published on the topic dismiss it, there are some who have defended its plausibility, or not excluded the possibility of some Khazar component in the formation of the Ashkenazi. The Khazar hypothesis is sometimes cited in antisemitic arguments promoted by adherents of various movements and ideologies to express the belief that modern Jews are not true descendants of the Israelites . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).