Pesakh (Khazar)
Encyclopedia
A Khazar Jewish general mentioned in the Schechter Letter
. Pesakh was military commander of the region around the Strait of Kerch
who defeated the armies of the Rus' prince "HLGW" (most likely Oleg of Novgorod
) around the year 941 in the Taman region. His title is given as Baliqchi
which translates roughly as "Fisherman" (or, in alternate translation "Fish-Lord"); scholars have hypothesized that this was a naval rank within the Khazar military.
Schechter Letter
The "Schechter Letter" was discovered in the Cairo Geniza by Solomon Schechter.-The Letter:The Schechter Letter is a communique from an unnamed Khazar author to an unidentified Jewish dignitary...
. Pesakh was military commander of the region around the Strait of Kerch
Strait of Kerch
The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula in the west from the Taman Peninsula in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep....
who defeated the armies of the Rus' prince "HLGW" (most likely Oleg of Novgorod
Oleg of Novgorod
Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus' people during the early 10th century....
) around the year 941 in the Taman region. His title is given as Baliqchi
Baliqchi
A title in the Khazar Khaganate. The term Baliqchi means "Fisherman." In the Schechter Letter, the Khazar warlord Pesakh is described with this title. An earlier figure in Khazar history, Balgitzin, was governor of Phanagoria during Justinian II's soujourn there in 705 CE...
which translates roughly as "Fisherman" (or, in alternate translation "Fish-Lord"); scholars have hypothesized that this was a naval rank within the Khazar military.
External links and Sources
- Kevin Alan Brook. The Jews of Khazaria. 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006.
- Dunlop, Douglas M. The History of the Jewish Khazars, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954.
- Golb, Norman and Omeljan Pritsak. Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1982.
- Zuckerman, Constantine. "On the Date of the Khazar’s Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus OlegOlegOleg , Oleh , or Aleh is a Slavic given name. It derives from the Old Norse Helgi , meaning "holy", "sacred", or "blessed"...
and IgorIgor, Grand Prince of KievIgor was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus' from 912 to 945.-Biography:...
." Revue des Etudes Byzantines 53 (1995): 237-270.