90 CHAPTER 1
this position came to be filled by a Jew. However, he was one of the Jews who,
over time, adhered less and less to the tenets of faith. Watching him, the Lord
decided that the commander-in-chief must be returned to Judaism. The influ-
ence of his wife (!) Sarah (and that of her father as well) was of help in this
matter. Subsequently, a religious dispute was held in the Khazar state. Since
the Greeks (Byzantines) and the Arabs could not reach a consensus, “the lead-
ers of Khazaria” announced that somewhere in the Tizul River Valley there was
a cave with books and requested those to be interpreted. It turned out that the
books contained the Torah of Moses and they were explained by the sages of
Israel. Thus, Judaism was adopted in Khazaria, which caused an influx of Jews
from Baghdad, Khorasan and “the land of Greece” (Byzantium). Then “one of
the Jewish sages who had engaged in the disputation thereafter was chosen by
the people of Khazaria to be their chief judge. The Khazars had always held
that the Khazarian personal name of this sage was KGN (Khagan—Author’s
note); for which reason all subsequent chief judges of the Khazars bore the
same official name once appointed to office (also in the mid-tenth century—
Author’s note). At the same time the proselytized Khazars changed the name of
their warrior chief to Sabriel, [.. .] naming him as their first king”.329
According to D. Dunlop, the military commander Sabriel was actually Bulan
that Joseph mentioned, only with a Judaic name. The Cambridge Document
presents not only the establishment of the dual kingdom, but also the cre-
ation of the khaganate itself (the selection of the judge KGN). The position of
Sabriel is identical to that of the bek, as seen in the Eastern sources. Thus, the
Cambridge Document shows that “after the conversion the Khazars appointed
a Khagan as judge, subordinate, apparently, to Sabriel, who became king. This
reverses the historical relationship, and as it stands is quite incredible [.. .]
According to the Document, the first Khagan was one of the wise men, these
presumably being the “wise men of Israel” mentioned just before. But that a
Jewish rabbi was ever Khagan of Khazaria, as seems to be said, is beyond the
bounds of possibility. It is quite possible that Jewish judges were appointed
after the conversion, but of a constitutional change on the scale indicated at
this time there can be no question. The Document gives the story of Bulan,
from a different angle and under a Hebrew name. To say that he was of Jewish
origin may be right, but it is more likely that he belonged to the Turkish house
from which earlier Khagans of Khazaria had sprung [.. .] The misinformation
about the Khaganate could be explained by the impression which the writer
329 Golb and Pritsak 1997, 138–140. Shapira 2005a, 507 draws attention to the fact that the
dream motif is not present in the Cambridge Document.