2018/10/22 by Wolfgang Schulze · 7 citations
Social Sciences · #Balkans: History, Politics, Society #Ethnic group #Linguistics #Geography #History #Anthropology #Sociology #Philosophy
paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/9783110601268-008
openalex publication_date 2018/10/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Superficially, a relatively broad array of relevant data is available for statements concerning features of ethnicity with respect to the so-called 'Caucasian Albanians'. Since antiquity, this exonymic term has been used to label both a distinct tribal group and the members of the later-on Christianized 'Albanian kingdom' that has existed in the northern and central parts of present-day Azerbaijan from the 2 nd to the 7 th century AD. However, little is known about the ethnic background of these Albanians. In my paper, I will pose the question to which extent the available sources allow us to make corresponding statements at all. In this context, the discovery of Bible passages written in a particular script (the so-called Caucasian Albanian palimpsests) and representing a language akin to present-day Udi (a small East Caucasian minority language in Azerbaijan) plays a crucial role in determining the relevance of language in the context of the reconstruction of possible ethnic patterns underlying ancient denominations of peoples. I will argue that it is far from being self-evident to assume the existence of an ethnic unit because of a distinct language, just as a distinct language does not necessarily hint at a distinct ethnic unit.