The Ideology Of The Ninth And Tenth Centuries 67
dynasty by his side, but also to show him great respect. In the eyes of the peo-
ple, the khagans bore the hereditary halo of divine powers, inherent to their
ancestors [.. .] the same powers that the ignorant masses saw as a guarantee
for their own prosperity. Judaism not only did not hinder the growth of these
ideas, but actually sanctified them by analogy with the ancient Jewish judges”.215
This statement raises a few questions. Firstly, was sacral regicide indeed not
practiced during the examined period? Could it be defined as a ritual, associ-
ated solely with mythological concepts? And if not, could Judaism have put an
end to this practice in Khazaria? What was the approach of Judaism towards
the dual kingship tradition, given that its influence in Khazaria was prob-
ably limited? And could the Khazar nobility have been aware of the popula-
tion’s need for a sacral ruler, a need that could have required a sacral regicide?
Moreover, we have no reason to postulate that the nobility adhered strictly to
the tenets of its professed religion.216 And last but not least, how do the con-
current (i.e. from the ninth to tenth centuries) accounts of the Magyar and the
Rus’ dual kingship relate to the Khazar one?
The image on the silver vessel from Kotskii shows that even if ritual regi-
cide was not practiced in Khazaria, the notion of it nevertheless existed among
the Khazar population’s beliefs. Sacral regicide, along with some elements of
the dual kingship, was also practiced in Danube Bulgaria during the eighth
and ninth centuries.217 While there are quite a few differences between the
Bulgarian and the Khazar state models and Bulgaria did not reach a govern-
ment form similar to the Khazar dual kingship, the Bulgarian tradition is still
extremely important with regard to the development of the notions of power
in Khazaria. It is “a deeply rooted, traditional practice [.. .] the source of which
goes well back in time and is largely associated with some incomplete notions
of the magical nature of kingship”.218 The proximity between the Bulgars and
the Khazars turns the Khazar example into a valid argument in support of the
theory that sacral regicide was, in fact, practiced in Bulgaria,219 but the oppo-
site might also be true—that the Bulgarian example can be seen as evidence
of the existence of this custom in Khazaria. Contrary to V. Petrukhin’s opinion,
215 Artamonov 1962, 411.
216 In Dunlop’s opinion, the Khazar Judaism was quite deficient and superficial even in the
tenth century (Dunlop 1967, 143, 195, and 221).
217 Beshevliev 1939, 22–27 and 2008, 311–313; Stepanov 1999a, 85 and 142–143; Stepanov 2000,
183–184; Stepanov 2003a, 222; Stanilov 2003b, 11–12; see also Giuzelev 2007.
218 Stepanov 1999a, 143.
219 Stepanov 1999a; Minaeva 2003b, 53, while not accepting the interpretation of V. Petrukhin
and N. Foniakova of the image depicted on the silver vessel from Kotskii as the only pos-
sible one, nevertheless admits that the “the scene on the vessel from Kotskii could be used
for the reconstruction of the (Proto-)Bulgarian mythopoetic model”.