ROTWELSCH, Hebrew Loanwords in 431 ——

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS Volume 3 P–Z

General Editor Geoffrey Khan

Associate Editors Shmuel Bolokzy Steven E. Fassberg Gary A. Rendsburg Aaron D. Rubin Ora R. Schwarzwald Tamar Zewi

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 Table of Contents

Volume One

Introduction ...... vii List of Contributors ...... ix Transcription Tables ...... xiii Articles A-F ...... 1

Volume Two

Transcription Tables ...... vii Articles G-O ...... 1

Volume Three

Transcription Tables ...... vii Articles P-Z ...... 1

Volume Four

Transcription Tables ...... vii Index ...... 1

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 ROTWELSCH, hebrew loanwords in 431 ——. 2003. “The fate of the consonantal root and Rotwelsch, Hebrew Loanwords in the binyan in optimality theory”. Recherches lin- guistiques de Vincennes 32:31–60. Bolozky, Shmuel. 2002. “The ‘roots’ of denomina- Rotwelsch (or Gaunersprache, i.e., German tive Hebrew verbs”. Language processing and for ‘language of swindlers’) is the term used acquisition in languages of Semitic, root-based for the argot employed by crooks, thieves, and morphology, ed. by Joseph Shimron, 131–146. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. vagabonds in the German-speaking portions of del Olmo Lete, Gregorio. 2008. Questions of central Europe, with its home in southwestern Semitic linguistics: Root and lexeme, the history Germany especially. The latter portion of the of research. Trans. by Wilfred G. E. Watson. term, Welsch, suggests any foreign and unintel- Bethesda, Maryland: CDL. Faust, Noam and Ya’ar Hever. 2010. “Empirical and ligible speech (as a comparison, note Yiddish theoretical arguments in favor of the discontinu- Wellisch ‘Italian’); while the former portion of ous root in Semitic languages”. Brill’s Annual of the term, Rot derives either from Rotwelsch Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics 2:80–118. Rot ‘beggar’ (perhaps ultimately from German Goldenberg, Gideon. 1994. “Principles of Semitic word-structure”. Semitic and Cushitic studies, ed. rot ‘red’ > ‘false, faithless’), German Rotte by Gideon Goldenberg and Shlomo Raz, 29–64. ‘gang, band’, or Middle Dutch rot ‘foul, dirty’ Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (= idem. 1998. Studies (see further Girtler 2010:21–22). This socio- in Semitic linguistics. Jerusalem: Magnes, 10–45). ——. 2005. “Semitic triradicalism and the biradical lect originated in the Middle Ages (the term question”. Semitic studies in honor of Edward Rotwalsch [sic] is first attested about 1250), Ullendorff, ed. by Geoffrey Khan, 7–25. Leiden: though the most abundant sources for the cant Brill. derive from lexicons and word lists from the Goldenberg, Gideon and Ariel Shisha-Halevy. 2009. Egyptian, Semitic and general grammar: Studies in early modern period through the 19th cen- memory of H. J. Polotsky. Jerusalem: The Israel tury. Among the most important sources is the Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Rotwelsch vocabulary that appears in Liber Greenberg, Joseph Harold. 1950. “The patterning of Vagatorum (1510), a work which also provides root morphemes in Semitic”. Word 6:162–181. Izre’el, Shlomo. 2009. “Constructive constructions: key insights into the lifestyle and customs of the Semitic verbal morphology and beyond”. Golden- vagabonds, including their tricks and strategies berg and Shisha-Halevy 2009, 106–130. (cf. Jütte 1988:106). Moscati, Sabatino. 1964. An introduction to the While the base of Rotwelsch is German(ic), comparative grammar of the Semitic languages: Phonology and morphology. Wiesbaden: Harras- its lexis includes an exceedingly high percent- sowitz. age of Hebraisms, derived either from Hebrew Schwarzwald (Rodrigue), Ora. 2000. “Verbal roots directly (with typical Ashkenazi pronunciation) and their links to nouns (in Hebrew)”. Raphael or via the intermediary of (Western) Yiddish. Nir jubilee book: Studies in communication, lin- guistics and language teaching, ed. by Ora (Rodri- According to one estimate, fully twenty-two gue) Schwarzwald, Shoshana Blum-Kulka, and percent of the Rotwelsch lexis revealed in the Elite Olshtain, 426–438. Jerusalem: Carmel. aforementioned Liber Vagatorum derives from ——. 2002a. Studies in Hebrew morphology I: Unit 2, basic concepts (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: The Open Hebrew (Jütte 1987:136). The presence of so University of Israel. many Hebraisms reflects the fact that Jews were ——. 2002b. Studies in Hebrew morphology III: involved in the relevant livelihoods. Officially Unit 9, roots and patterns a (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: excluded from the guilds and civic enterprises The Open University of Israel. ——. 2009. “Three related analyses in Modern during the Middle Ages and beyond, Jews Hebrew morphology”. Goldenberg and Shisha- resorted to such occupations as hucksters, itin- Halevy 2009, 277–301. erant merchants, conveyers of movable goods, Ussishkin, Adam. 1999. “The inadequacy of the con- and the like (and were often joined in these sonantal root: Modern Hebrew denominal verbs and output-output correspondence”. Phonology endeavors by the ‘gypsies’, whose Sinti-Romani 16:401–442. dialect thus also contributes heavily to the Zaborski, Andrzej. 1991. “Biconsonantal roots and Rotwelsch lexicon). As typically happens, such triconsonantal root variation in Semitic: Solutions business ventures frequently entailed less-than- and prospects”. Semitic studies in honor of Wolf Leslau on the occasion of his eighty-fifth birthday, honest, if not illegal and fraudulent, deals that November 14th, 1999, ed. by Alan S. Kaye, vol. 2, required a secret language or coded argot. In 1675–1703. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. such fashion, one can understand how numer- ous Hebraisms entered Rotwelsch, even when Tamar Zewi spoken by non-Jews who partnered with Jews (University of Haifa) in these deceitful and criminal activities. © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 432 ROTWELSCH, hebrew loanwords in

’ganna∫); Jerid ‘fair, market, exhibition ַגּ ָנּב .Rotwelsch was used into the 20th century (cf keseƒ); Kies ֶכּ ֶסף .yerid); Kesef ‘silver’ (cf ְיִריד .and still survives to some extent as an ele- (cf ’kis ‘pocket’); Kippe ‘box, coffer ִכּיס .ment of folklore in the villages of Schopfloch ‘money’ (cf ,quppa); Macker ‘acquaintance, partner ֻק ָפּה .and Schillingsfürst (both situated in the Fran- (cf ;(’makkir ‘acquaintance ַמ ִכּיר .conian part of Bavaria). The language may fellow swindler’ (cf ma™ane); Malbusch ַמ ֲח ֶנה .also be heard as an entertainment component Machne ‘camp’ (cf ’malbuš); Mammon ‘wealth ַמ ְלבּוּשׁ .from showmen at popular fairs. In addition, ‘clothing’ (cf ma≠al ַמ ַﬠל .mamon); maul ‘cheater’ (cf ָממוֹן .occasional words entered various local dialects (cf ִמוֹביל .Siewert 2003:45–61; ¤ Germanic Languages, ‘betrayal’); mebeln ‘to bring, buy’ (cf) Hebrew Loanwords in). mo∫il ‘carrier, conveyer’); meloche ‘work’ (cf. .melaúa); meramme sein ‘to betray’ (cf ְמ ָל ָאכה As intimated above, the number of Hebrew r-m-y ‘to deceive, betray’ + German sein רמ"י elements in the Rotwelsch vocabulary is truly merka∫a ֶמְר ָכּ ָבה .staggering. What follows is merely a sampling. ‘to be’); Merkof ‘wagon’ (cf ְמ ִצ ָיאה .In the examples listed, if the Rotwelsch term ‘chariot’); Mezie ‘find, good buy’ (cf connotes the same as its Hebrew derivation, meßi±a ‘find’); schachern ‘to conduct business’ .(s-™-r סח"ר .then the gloss for the latter is not presented. (cf Only in cases where the semantic connection is But even the basic vocabulary of ordinary less obvious, or if the part of speech is differ- items includes words of Hebrew origin (some ent (e.g., Rotwelsch verb derived from Hebrew of these, of course, may relate to the business ;(bayiμ ַבּ ִית .adjective), is a gloss included for the Hebrew ventures as well): Bais ‘house’ (cf ַי ַﬠר .egel); Jaar ‘forest’ (cf≠ ֵﬠ ֶגל .source as well. In all instances, the spelling of Egel ‘calf ’ (cf ’yayin); Kelef ‘dog ַי ִין .the Rotwelsch lexemes is taken from the head ya≠ar); Jajin ‘wine’ (cf ken); Lechem ֵכּן .kele∫); ken ‘yes’ (cf ֶכּ ֶלב .words listed in Wolf’s (1956) standard diction- (cf ’le™em); Mockum ‘city, place ֶל ֶחם .ary (though spelling is highly variable, natu- ‘bread’ (cf ָנוֹצה .maqom ‘place’); Nuze ‘feather’ (cf ָמקוֹם .rally). The transcription of the Hebrew terms (cf par≠oš); Peger ַפְּרעֹשׁ .is a simplified version of the Masoretic real- noßa); Parosch ‘flea’ (cf ;(par ַפּר .peger); Por ‘ox, steer’ (cf ֶפּ ֶגר .ization; the Ashkenazi pronunciation, which ‘corpse’ (cf y-m ‘to put, give’); Sackin-» שׂי"ם .yielded the Rotwelsch form, would have been Saam ‘gift’ (cf ַשׁ ַﬠר .sakkin); Schaar ‘gate’ (cf ַס ִכּין .different, e.g., /μ/ was realized as [s]. ‘knife’ (cf šemen); Schemesh ֶשׁ ֶמן .Many basic Rotwelsch verbs derive from ša≠ar); Schemen ‘oil’ (cf ָשׁחוֹר .šemeš); Schocher ‘coffee’ (cf ֶשׁ ֶמשׁ .k-l); assern ‘sun’ (cf-± אכ"ל .Hebrew: acheln ‘to eat’ (cf ;([asur ‘prohibited’); dib- ša™or ‘black’ [see below for the color term± ָאסוּר .to prohibit’ (cf‘ tappua™); Tanner ַתּפּוּח .d-b-r); halchen ‘to go’ Tappuach ‘apple’ (cf דב"ר) ’bern ‘to speak .(tannur ַתּנּוּר .oven’ (cf‘ נת"ן .h-l-k); nassenen ‘to give’ (cf הל"ך .cf) niƒ†ar ‘to pass Similarly with certain body parts, e.g., Ammo ִנ ְפ ַטר .n-t-n); niftern ‘to die’ (cf ’amma); Enaim ‘eyes± ַא ָמּה .pa†ur ‘middle finger’ (cf ָפטוּר .away’); pattern ‘to allow, permit’ (cf ;(yad ָיד .enayim); Jad ‘hand’ (cf≠ ֵﬠ ַינ ִים .free from an obligation’); posseln ‘to cook’ (cf‘ ;(’parßuƒ ‘face, profile ַפְּרצוּף .Patzuf ‘face’ (cf שׁת"י .b-š-l); schasjenen ‘to drink’ (cf בשׁ"ל .cf) .panim); Rosch ‘head’ (cf ָפּ ִנים .š-y-r); schef- Ponim ‘face’ (cf שׁי"ר .š-t-y); schauren ‘to sing’ (cf -šen). An interest ֵשׁן .roš); Schen ‘tooth’ (cf ר ֹאשׁ y-š-b ‘to sit’; the ישׁ"ב .ften ‘to sit, lie’ (cf ™noúa ַנוֹכח .Rotwelsch verb also means ‘to do, work, go’, ing usage is Nuche ‘mouth, face’ (cf most likely through contamination with south- ‘one who is positioned before or opposite’). ern German schaffen ‘to work’ [cf. standard And likewise for family relations, e.g., Aches ָאחוֹת .a™); Achaß ‘sister’ (cf± ָאח .German Geschäft ‘ business’]); schmaien ‘to ‘brother’ (cf ;([bar [originally Aramaic ַבּר .š-m-≠). Occasion- ±a™ot), Bar ‘son’ (cf שׁמ"ע .hear, understand’ (cf bat). In the same general ַבּת .ally such verbs receive German prefixes to form Baß ‘daughter’ (cf ֶגּ ֶבר .a new word with a nuanced meaning, e.g., ver- semantic field, note also Gewer ‘man’ (cf .(mišpa™a ִמ ְשׁ ָפּ ָחה .schmaien ‘to examine, interrogate’ (cf. German ge∫er); Mischpoche ‘family (cf verhören with the same connotation). Special attention should be given to Nekef with Not surprisingly, words relevant to the work a wide range of meanings: ‘hole, gap’, ‘prison’, .(’neqe∫a ‘female ְנ ֵק ָבה .of the hucksters and swindlers occur in good ‘dame, woman’ (cf ֲא ִפילוּ .beged); chelk- Other items include: afilu ‘even’ (cf ֶבּ ֶגד .number: Beged ‘garment’ (cf ַא ְשֵׁרי .l-q); Gannew ‘thief ’ ±afilu); Aschre ‘good [n], blessedness’ (cf-™ חל"ק .enen ‘to divide’ (cf

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 ROTWELSCH, hebrew loanwords in 433 †mišpa ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט + ’ba≠al ‘master ַבּ ַﬠל > ’ba†ua™); istrate ָבּטוּח .ašre ‘happy’); betuach ‘certain’ (cf± ba≠al ַבּ ַﬠל > ’ole); Dalles ‘poverty’ ‘law, trial’; Balloch ‘sky, heaven™ ֶחוֹלה .chole ‘sick’ (cf ;’aleúa ‘over you, above you≠ ָﬠ ֶליָך + ’yašan); ‘master ָי ָשׁן .dallut); joschen ‘old’ (cf ַדּלּוּת .cf) šaw); ma ‘what? (cf. Balschochad ‘corrupt person, one who can ָשְׁוא .schaaf ‘false’ (cf šo™ad ַשׁוֹחד + ’ba≠al ‘master ַבּ ַﬠל > ’ma); Malches ‘kingdom, principality’ (cf. be bribed ַמה ’baμ ‘daughter ַבּת > ’bribe’; Basmeichl ‘vulva‘ ַמ ְמ ֵזר .malúut); Mamser ‘bastard’ (cf ַמ ְלכוּת -me™ila ‘forgiveness’, some ְמ ִח ָילה +(mazal ‘luck, (see above ָמ ָזל .mamzer); Masel ‘luck, fate’ (cf -medina); Melitz times shortened to simply michole; Morgen ְמ ִד ָינה .fate); Medine ‘land’ (cf še†ar ְשׁ ָטר + ’mora ‘fear ָמוֹרא > ’meliß ‘intercessor’); stern ‘prison ֵמ ִליץ .lawyer, advocate’ (cf‘ mišpa†); Schale ‘official document’; created as if equivalent to ִמ ְשׁ ָפּט .mischpot ‘law, trial’ (cf > ’še±ela); Schem ‘name’ German ‘morning star’ (!); Peizaddik ‘police ְש ֵא ָלה .question’ (cf‘ .’ßaddiq ‘righteous one ַצ ִדּיק + ’pe ‘mouth ֶפּה ִשׁבּוּשׁ .šem); Schibbusch ‘mistake’ (cf ֵשׁם .cf) šibbuš); schocher ‘black’ (see above for the Rotwelsch also employs an occasional Hebrew ša™or meaning ‘cof- phrase from the realm of ritual and religion ָשׁחוֹר nominalized form fee’). One notes in this list not only nouns (the with changed meaning. A good illustration is ma ništanna ‘how ַמה ִנּ ְשׁ ַתּ ָנּה .most common Hebraisms in other languages, Manischtanne (cf and indeed the most common borrowings from is this [night] different’, used in the Passover language to language), but also adverbs, adjec- Seder) to connote ‘overly clever, nit-picking’. A tives, and an interrogative pronoun. particularly felicitous usage is Achbrosch ‘ras- Days are indicated by recourse to Hebrew: cal, crook’, a byform of Ahasver(os), the name yom ±aleƒ); Jom attributed to ‘the wandering Jew’ figure in יוֹם א' .Jom olef ‘Sunday’ (cf yom bet); Jom gimel European lore (which in turn derives from the יוֹם ב' .bes ‘Monday’ (cf a™ašweroš ‘Ahasuerus’, king of± ֲא ַח ְשֵׁורוֹשׁ yom gimel); etc. Note also name יוֹם ג' .Tuesday’ (cf‘ -Persia in the Esther story)—though the Rotwel ַל ְי ָלה .yom); Laile ‘night’ (cf יוֹם .Jom ‘day’ (cf ַﬠ ְכ ָבּר ma™ar). sch term also evokes the combination of ָמ ָחר .layla); mocher ‘tomorrow’ (cf roš ‘head’, as a calque on ר ֹאשׁ + ’The former two are combined with the Ger- ≠aúbar ‘mouse man preposition to create adverbials bei Jom the German pejorative expression Mauskopf ‘by day’ and bei Laile ‘by night’. An interesting (Wolf 1956:31–32). While technically derived from Aramaic, one ְת ִח ָלּה usage is Techille ‘evening’, derived from te™illa ‘beginning’, since the Jewish day begins also should note Nafke ‘whore’ (cf. Aramaic naƒqaμ bar ‘one (f) who goes out in ַנ ְפ ַקת ָבּר .at sunset For numerals Rotwelsch occasionally the wild’, hence ‘whore, prostitute’). employs the Hebrew alphabet for counting, Other designations of Rotwelsch, or per- ,bet) ‘2’, haps slightly different dialects of the language ב .aleƒ) ‘1’, bes (cf± א .thus: oluf (cf -dalet) ‘4’, include two terms based on Hebrew expres ד .gimel) ‘3’, dolles (cf ג .gimel (cf sions: (a) Keimisch (attested in 1475), based ז .waw) ‘6’, sain (cf ו .he) ‘5’, fof (cf ה .he (cf ayyim ‘life’, but also the™ ַח ִיּים ,.et) on Keim, i.e† ט .et) ‘8’, dess (cf™ ח .zayin) ‘7’, aches (cf ;yod common Jewish personal name Chaim/Hayim יא .yod) ‘10’; juss oluf (cf י .jut/juss (cf ,’9‘ ,and (b) Lachoudisch/Lekoudesch (19th century ל .kaƒ) ‘20’, lames (cf כ .aleƒ) ‘11’, etc.; kaf (cf± -mem) ‘40’, etc. (Wolf especially Franconia), derived from Lochne מ .lamed) ‘30’; mem (cf lešon ha-qodeš ‘the ָלשׁוֹן ַה ֶקּוֹדשׁ ,.Oddly, mem is used for ‘100’ as Kodesch, i.e .(1956:352 me±a. It is not clear how holy tongue’, traditionally applied to Hebrew ֵמ ָאה well, based on Rotwelsch speakers distinguished ‘40’ from in Jewish sources ¤ Lekoudesch. ‘100’, a crucial issue, obviously, when engaged Finally, one should observe that, quite in business transactions. remarkably, many of these usages suggest a A creative use of the letters of the alphabet is relatively sophisticated knowledge of Hebrew seen in lametaleph ‘no’, comprised of the names among the speakers of Rotwelsch. One is not of the two letters that spell the Hebrew word: surprised to find Ponim ‘face’ in the language aleƒ. (the word is, after all, used in Yiddish), but± /±/ א l/ lamed and/ ל ,lo ‘no’, namely ל ֹא A special feature of Rotwelsch is its innova- it is rather striking to find also Patzuf used ַפְּרצוּף tive use of word combinations to create new for ‘face’. The latter word derives from lexemes. These include the following: Baldower parßuƒ ‘face, profile’ (see above), though this -da∫ar term is limited to learned Hebrew (it is a post ָדּ ָבר + ’ba≠al ‘master ַבּ ַﬠל > ’spy, scout‘ ‘word, matter’; Ballmischpet ‘examining mag- biblical Hebrew word, borrowed from Greek, © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 434 russia which appears only once in the Mishna, for existed throughout the northern Black and Azov noúa™ Sea coastal territories, including Crimea and the ַנוֹכח example). Similarly, words such as ‘one who is positioned before or opposite’, Caucasus, and extended beyond the Caspian whence Nuche ‘mouth, face’ (see above), and Sea along the Silk Road (present-day Turkmen- šibbuš ‘mistake’ (the root on which this istan and Uzbekistan). Linguistic reality in this ִשׁבּוּשׁ noun is based also occurs only once in the region reflected Jewish life to the south: Black Mishna), whence Schibbusch ‘mistake’ (again, Sea Jews from Greek poleis communicated see above), require quite an advanced knowl- primarily in Greek; those living farther east edge of Hebrew texts and sources. communicated in dialects of Persian (including Hebrew-influenced ‘hybrid’ languages, such as References Juhuri or Judeo-Tat and Bukhori or Judeo- Girtler, Roland. 2010. Rotwelsch: Die alte Sprache Persian) (Cohn-Sherbok 1996:36, 63, 67, 69; der Gauner, Dirnen und Vagabunden. 2nd edition. Altshuler 2002:17; Barnavi et al. 2002:29, 57, Vienna: Böhlau. Jütte, Robert. 1987. “Rotwelsch: Die Sprache der 118). Yet one also finds evidence of Hebrew Bettler und Gauner”. Das Buch der Vaganten. usage. In Chersonesus Taurica (southwest- Spieler—Huren—Leutbetrüger, ed. by Heiner ern Crimea), inscriptions bear witness to the Boehncke and Rolf Johannsmeier, 133–144. Cologne: Prometh. presence of Jews or Jewish-Christians with a ——. 1988. Abbild und soziale Wirklichkeit des Bet- knowledge of Hebrew ca. 2nd–4th centuries tler- und Gaunertums zu Beginn der Neuzeit. Soz- C.E. Ancient gravestones with Jewish symbols ial-, mentalitäts- und sprachgeschichtliche Studien (menorah, shofar, lulav, etrog) have been dis- zum Liber Vagatorum (1510). Cologne: Böhlau. Siewert, Klaus. 2003. Grundlagen und Methoden der covered in the Crimean and Taman peninsulas Sondersprachenforschung. Mit einem Wörterbuch and in Georgia; several include Hebrew epi- der Masematte aus Sprecherbefragungen und den taphs (Garkavi 1865; Dubnow 1916:1.13–18; schriftlichen Quellen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Brook 2006:88–90; Shapira 2010a:13–16, 33 Wolf, Siegmund A. 1956. Wörterbuch des Rotwel- schen: Deutsche Gaunersprache. Mannheim: Bib- n. 1, 34 n. 7). Part of the inscription on an liographisches Institut. ancient sarcophagus found near Merv reads: yoseƒ bar ya≠aqo∫ ‘Joseph son of יוסף בר יעקב Gary A. Rendsburg Jacob’. The Old Georgian Bible appears to have (Rutgers University) Robert Jütte been edited with reference to a Hebrew text; (Institut für Geschichte der Medizin der arguably some portions may have been trans- Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart) lated directly from Hebrew. Loan words also entered from Hebrew into classical Armenian (Shapira 2010c; Lerner 2010) (→ Armenian, Russia Hebrew Loanwords in). In the 8th–10th centuries, the Khazar khagan- This entry treats Jewish and Christian use of ate dominated most of the northern Black Hebrew in areas of Eurasia loosely and some- and Caspian Sea region (Gilbert 1993:24–25; times anachronistically termed ‘Russian’ due to Cohn-Sherbok 1996:75, 92). Its Turkic ruling the modern expansion of political boundaries. class and an indeterminate subset of the popu- As throughout the world, Jews in Russia utilized lation converted to Judaism; immigrants flee- Hebrew for prayer, study, and correspondence, ing Christian persecution in Byzantium further while also adopting local languages. Medieval supplemented the region’s pre-existent Jewish translations from Hebrew to Slavic influenced communities. Khazaria nonetheless remained Russian Orthodox Christians and arguably the ethnically and religiously quite diverse: its heretical ‘Judaizers’. Monks compiled Hebrew- legal system included Jewish, Muslim, Chris- Russian glossaries. In modern times, the renais- tian, and pagan judges in a set proportion sance of Hebrew emanated largely from within (Dubnow 1916:1.19–29; Noonan 2001). Golb the Russian Empire. (2005:483) has noted: “The only internal (writ- ten) sources concerning the Khazars . . . are texts 1. From Antiquity to 1772 preserved in Hebrew”. This is currently true with the exception of a few Turkic runes Beginning in the late centuries B.C.E., Jews within Hebrew documents and some coins settled along the southern fringes of the future with Arabic inscriptions. The most famous Russian Empire. Ancient Jewish communities of the Hebrew sources is the 10th-century © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3