Al-Mascūdī on the Slavs in Khazaria – a (not Quite) Forgotten Slavic Funerary Custom Through the Eyes of a Muslim Historian

Al-Mas‘ūdī, a 10th century Arab traveller and writer spoke of a pagan custom present among the Slavs and the Rūs living in the Khazar capital, Ātil. Namely the posthumous marriage of an unmarried man. Another Arab author, Ibn Fadlān, witnessed and described in detail a burial ceremony of a Rūs chieftain, which had many elements of a wedding ritual. The two testimonies can be easily associated together. The practice of posthumously marrying an unmarried person has been present in Slavic culture for centuries. Even now some of its aspects can still be observed among Slavs, including Poles, although their true significance has long been forgotten.