Mandgelis Document

The Mandgelis Document or Mandgelis Letter was a letter in Hebrew dated AM 4746 (985–986). It refers to "our lord David, the Khazar prince" who lived in Taman.^[1] The letter said that this David was visited by envoys from Kievan Rus to ask about religious matters. This consultation may have been connected to the conversion of Vladimir I of Kiev which took place during roughly the same time period.^[1] Taman was a principality of Kievan Rus around 988, so this successor state (if that is what it was) may have been conquered altogether. The authenticity of this letter has however been questioned by such scholars as D. M. Dunlop,^[1] Dan Shapira,^[2] Malachi Beit-Arié,^[3] Kevin Brook,^[4] and Michael Toch^[5] as it passed through the hands of Abraham Firkovich, who is known to have forged documents and inscriptions on occasion.

Notes

1. Dunlop 1954, p. 251.
2. Shapira 2006, p. 131.
3. Beit-Arié, Malachi (2020). "Supplement: The Forgery of Colophons and Ownership of Hebrew Codices and Scrolls by Abraham Firkowicz". In Michel, Cécile; Friedrich, Michael (eds.). Fakes and Forgeries of Written Artefacts from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern China. De Gruyter. p. 198. ISBN 9783110714333.
4. Brook 2018, p. 292.
5. Toch, Michael (2013). The Economic History of European Jews: Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages. Brill. p. 162. ISBN 9789004235397.

References

• Brook, Kevin Alan (2018). The Jews of Khazaria (3rd ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1538103425.
• Dunlop, Douglas M. (1954). The History of the Jewish Khazars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Shapira, Dan D. Y. (2006). "Remarks on Avraham Firkowicz and the Hebrew Mejelis 'Document'". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 59 (2): 131–180. doi:10.1556/AOrient.59.2006.2.1.