Everything about Ufut Qale totally explained
Çufut Qale ([tʃʊˈfʊtqaˈlæ],,,,
Karaim: Джуфт Къале,
Juft Qale) sometimes spelled as
Chufut Kale is a historic fortress in
Crimea, near
Bakhchisaray. Its name is
Crimean Tatar and
Turkish for "
Jewish Fortress" (
çufut/çıfıt - Jew,
qale/kale - fortress). Çufut Qale was historically a center for the
Crimean Karaite community. In the Middle Ages the fortress was known as
Qırq Yer (Place of Forty) and as Karaites to which sect the greater part of its inhabitants belong,
Sela' ha-Yehudim (The Rock of the Jews).
Legends
There are many legends concerning the place. According to one, it was called "Qırq Yer" because the khans
Meñli Giray and
Tokhtamysh, the founders of the city, brought with them forty
Karaite families, and in their honor called it the "Place of Forty".
Another legend, fostered by the Karaites to show the antiquity of their sect, says that Karaites were brought there from Persia at the time of the first Exile. The early settlers of the city exercised great influence upon their neighbors, the
Khazars. The
ḥakam Abraham Firkovich, who was very skilful in falsifying epitaphs and manuscripts, pretended to have unearthed at the cemetery of Çufut Qale tombstones dating from the year 6 of the common era, and to have discovered the tomb of Sangari, which is still shown by the Karaites. According to Harkavy, however, no epitaph earlier than 1203 can be seen at the cemetery of Çufut Qale, called "Vale of Jehoshaphat"; and the tombs don't belong to Karaites, but to the old Rabbinite settlers called
Krymchaks. Çufut Qale, however, existed as early as the seventh century.
Abu al-Fida mentions it under the name "Qırq Yer".
Gallery
Image:Chufut Kale 4.jpg|Close-up view of the kenassas
Image:Chufut Kale 11.jpg|A panorama of the caves and walls
Image:Chufut Kale 15.jpg|One of the kenassa buildings
Image:Chufut Kale 17.jpg|Mausoleum of Dzhanike-Khanym, daughter of Tokhtamysh
Further Information
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