The Ideology Of The Ninth And Tenth Centuries 59
The later works of R. Kovalev are of particular significance for the clarifica-
tion of the time of Khazaria’s official Judaization. A contributing factor is a
special series of coins minted in Khazaria in 837/838. They are distinguished
by the inscriptions on them. One of them reads: “Moses is the prophet of God”
and another: “Ard al-Khazar” (“The Land of the Khazars”), while a third type of
coins do not have inscriptions on them, but a tamga instead, a trident. Royal
family symbols (tamgas) are found on coins of the rulers of the Turks, Uyghurs,
Turgesh and Karluks and are typical for the steppes. The trident is a widely
used symbol in Khazaria and is part of the Eurasian Steppe world tradition
and especially that of the Sarmatians. On Khazar coins, the trident is placed
where Muslim rulers usually wrote the names and titles denoting their power
over their lands.177 According to R. Kovalev, this series of coins is a manifesta-
tion of the politico-religious ideology of the Khazar nobility, associated with a
Judaic, Khazar and Turkic (steppe) identity.178 The coins thus support the view
of D. Shapira that Judaism in Khazaria, combined with steppe traditions, was
an important part of the local (Khazar) political consciousness.
In R. Kovalev’s opinion, the reason these coins were minted lies in the
change of the politico-religious leadership of the state or of its system. They
reflect both Khazaria’s Judaization and the seizure of the khagan’s politi-
cal and military functions by the bek (the sacralization of the khagan). The
scholar assumes that between 838 and 843 the bek gained full control over the
khagan’s secular affairs. He bases his assumption on a letter by the Abbasid
Caliph Al-Wathiq (842–847) from 843, which is addressed not to the khagan,
but the bek (actually, to the “Tarkhan, king of the Khazars”).179
The prevailing view in science is that the bek title refers to the khagan’s vice-
gerent in Khazaria during the tenth century. Prior to this, his title had been
shad. This theory is based on the chronicle of Ibn Rustah on the Khazar dual
kingship from the early tenth century. There, the shad (Isha) title is used instead
of bek, well known from later sources. It is presumed that the Arab author was
depicting an earlier period in Khazaria’s history. For reasons unknown, the
177 Kovalev 2005a.
178 Kovalev 2005a, 230.
179 Kovalev 2005a, 231. Without accepting the link between Khazaria’s Judaization and the
establishment of the dual kingship, Golden 2007b, 156–162 agrees that the coins indicate
the time of the Judaization of the Khazar ruling elite. The scholar believes that Khazaria’s
Judaization occurred in stages and by 861 (the year of St. Cyril the Philosopher’s mission
to Khazaria) “the Qağan may have still been willing to entertain other religious systems
or at least appear to do so”. According to P. Golden, Judaism became more widespread by
the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century.