The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and its Heritage
Product ID: 26612723
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All original edition. Nothing added, nothing removed. This book traces the history of the ancient Khazar Empire, a major but almost forgotten power in Eastern Europe, which in the Dark Ages became converted to Judaism. Khazaria was finally wiped out by the forces of Genghis Khan, but evidence indicates that the Khazars themselves migrated to Poland and formed the cradle of Western Jewry. To the general reader the Khazars, who flourished from the 7th to 11th century, may seem infinitely remote today. Yet they have a close and unexpected bearing on our world, which emerges as Koestler recounts the fascinating history of the ancient Khazar Empire. At about the time that Charlemagne was Emperor in the West. The Khazars' sway extended from the Black Sea to the Caspian, from the Caucasus to the Volga, and they were instrumental in stopping the Muslim onslaught against Byzantium, the eastern jaw of the gigantic pincer movement that in the West swept across northern Africa and into Spain. Thereafter the Khazars found themselves in a precarious position between the two major world powers: the Eastern Roman Empire in Byzantium and the triumphant followers of Mohammed. As Koestler points out, the Khazars were the Third World of their day. They chose a surprising method of resisting both the Western pressure to become Christian and the Eastern to adopt Islam. Rejecting both, they converted to Judaism. Mr. Koestler speculates about the ultimate faith of the Khazars and their impact on the racial composition and social heritage of modern Jewry. He produces detailed research to support a theory which could make the term 'anti-Semitism' become void of meaning. Review: GREAT BOOK! - Great book. Gives alot of information that leads me to believe that after the destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 A.D, the Jews that were expelled from the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and Portugal migrated to West Africa --Ghana, Mali, and Songhai--which was called the Bilad as-Sudan meaning LAND OF THE BLACKS in Arabic. They also migrated to Senegal and Cape Verde. Some even went as far as South Africa where there is a large Lemba community today. The Lemba have been genetically determined through DNA to be of the priestly tribe of the Levites!....and yes, they are BLACK AFRICANS. They practice Hebrewism that has been their religion for thousands of years. I always wondered how white people became Jews and owners of Israel! They are proselytes...converts. Not of the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They stole the identity of the true Jews and hijacked the Hebrew language which was the language of the Canaanites. Hebrew is an AFRO-ASIATIC language close to Ugaritic. When they were in Europe, they spoke Yiddish and whatever language of the country they were from. Review: I recoomend this book for anyone interested in world history! - I have read about half of this book and find it very interesting and informative. It certainly clears up a mystery for me. I am a native New Yorker and had many acquaintances who were Jewish from European ancestry. But I could never understand how this assimilation took place, since the Jews were supposed to be from the middle east. This book explains other parallel historical developments concerning the Vikings, Russia, other Turkish tribes as well as the Khazars development and subsequent conversion. As one gets past the introductory information, the book reads as well as a non-fiction work, as opposed to a dry historical tome. There are plenty of footnotes and references to substantiate the research. The author is very careful to give the sources he relies on and in most cases tries to get more than one source to substantiate the information he relies on. This book is not a polemic or agenda driven, but rather one that tries to enlighten the reader as to historical occurrences. I suggest that this book will be informative to anyone interested in early European history and its alliances affect us today.
| Best Sellers Rank | #110,584 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #142 in History of Judaism #221 in Russian History (Books) #378 in Middle East History |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 884 Reviews |
L**A
GREAT BOOK!
Great book. Gives alot of information that leads me to believe that after the destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 A.D, the Jews that were expelled from the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and Portugal migrated to West Africa --Ghana, Mali, and Songhai--which was called the Bilad as-Sudan meaning LAND OF THE BLACKS in Arabic. They also migrated to Senegal and Cape Verde. Some even went as far as South Africa where there is a large Lemba community today. The Lemba have been genetically determined through DNA to be of the priestly tribe of the Levites!....and yes, they are BLACK AFRICANS. They practice Hebrewism that has been their religion for thousands of years. I always wondered how white people became Jews and owners of Israel! They are proselytes...converts. Not of the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They stole the identity of the true Jews and hijacked the Hebrew language which was the language of the Canaanites. Hebrew is an AFRO-ASIATIC language close to Ugaritic. When they were in Europe, they spoke Yiddish and whatever language of the country they were from.
L**E
I recoomend this book for anyone interested in world history!
I have read about half of this book and find it very interesting and informative. It certainly clears up a mystery for me. I am a native New Yorker and had many acquaintances who were Jewish from European ancestry. But I could never understand how this assimilation took place, since the Jews were supposed to be from the middle east. This book explains other parallel historical developments concerning the Vikings, Russia, other Turkish tribes as well as the Khazars development and subsequent conversion. As one gets past the introductory information, the book reads as well as a non-fiction work, as opposed to a dry historical tome. There are plenty of footnotes and references to substantiate the research. The author is very careful to give the sources he relies on and in most cases tries to get more than one source to substantiate the information he relies on. This book is not a polemic or agenda driven, but rather one that tries to enlighten the reader as to historical occurrences. I suggest that this book will be informative to anyone interested in early European history and its alliances affect us today.
D**N
Very Interesting Book
A very interesting book. Koestler describes the fascinating Jewish kingdom of Khazaria, in the land north of the Caucaucus, between the Caspian and Black seas, and the area north of there, reaching as far west as Kiev. This kingdom lasted approximately 400 years, maintaining its independance against the Christian Byzantine empire to the southwest, and the Muslim empire to the south. The rise of the Russian kingdom in Kiev, and its alliance with the Byzantine empire, eventually ended the Khazar dominance in the region. Then its people were swept away-- like all the other peoples in southern Russia-- by the Mongol invasions led by Ghengis Khan. Koestler convincingly makes the case that the Jewish community in Poland descended from the Khazar refugees fleeing the Mongol devastation. He also makes the case the the Hungarian Jewish population descended from a dissident branch of Khazars, who migrated westward prior to the Mongol invasion.
G**E
This is history uncovered.
This is knowledge and history that is eye opening. A bit technical to read but understandable.
I**R
Good to know
Good to know
A**S
Being able to prove things by learning the facts
Just researching proving facts over fiction.
C**T
This is a must read book if you want to know the true history of the people in Israel now.
I like the way the book goes into detail about everything concerning Israel today.
K**N
I appreciate this Book
As an awoken negro, I appreciate this book telling the truth. Not only telling me that I am not anti -Semite but I am perhaps an original Semite. For me this book puts a lot into perspective especially about the origin of the Jewish people and confirming my suspicions that the majority of the modern day Jew is not the same people as referred to in the Bible as Hebrews or the chosen people of the Most High Yah. Great read...
K**N
fun
controversial book but very interesting pov
J**N
Just what I wanted
The ordering was easy, picking the book up at the post station in the local Carrefour uncomplicated, free of charge and more reliable than having the parcel delivered to my door in Spain. The book is exactly what I read about it and looking for. In very good condition.
A**E
Mind blowing
I really enjoyed the journey taken on reading this book. Why we were never taught these things would make a huge tome on its own. It’s not a long read but it’s very profound and written by one of their own.
S**A
Excellent book
A must read
C**N
A non Semetic Empire who converted to the Jewish faith and later migrated to the west.
A well researched study of the old Khazar Empire and where they went later. I have only started to read the book but it is easy to read with good sized print.
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