Photograph: Baniel Shaulov.

Mountain Jews

Caucasus, Kuban Oblast, Batalpashinsky department

1870-1880s

Albumen print

15,3 x 10,7

РЭМ 9956-1

Along the bottom edge of the photograph is a dark stripe with author’s numbering and text in pre-Revolutionary spelling: “8431. Baniel Shaulov, Mountain Jew. 714.” Baniel Shaulov is wearing a chokha (Circassian coat), with a dagger on the belt as an element of everyday costume, which was usually worn continuously. The surname Shaulov is derived from the male name Shaul; the ending “-ov” means affiliation with the father’s name, i.e. “Shaul’s son.” According to the Old Testament, Shaul (Saul, 1029-1005 BC) was the first king of Israel after the Jews’ return from Egypt. “Many auls themselves admit their recent affiliation with the Jewish religion. The people of those auls still give their children the names of their fathers and mothers taken from the Old Testament and born by Mountain Jews. (I. Sh. Anisimov, “Caucasian Jewish Mountaineers”, 1888.)