Editing Atil (section)

==The search for archaeological remains==

As of 2024, the archaeological remains of Atil have not been positively identified. An accepted hypothesis is that they were washed away by the rising level of the [[Caspian Sea]].

===Samosdelka site===
{{main|Samosdelka}}In September 2008, Russian archaeologists excavating in the Volga Delta fishing village of [[Samosdelka]] announced their discovery of what they claimed were the remains of Atil.<ref>{{cite web | last =  Vasilyev | first =  D.| title = Итиль-мечта (The Itil Dream) | url = http://www.lechaim.ru/ARHIV/174/VZR/a02.htm | access-date = 2008-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-09-21 |title=Scholar claims to find medieval Jewish capital |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26809309 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> A 2020 assessment by the [[Russian Geographic Society]] concluded that Atil had not been found in Samosdelka, and announced that new excavations were underway at another site.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-06-15 |title=On the Threshold of the Great Discovery: Archaeologists Begin Excavations of the Legendary Capital of the Khazar Khaganate |url=https://www.rgo.ru/en/article/threshold-great-discovery-archaeologists-begin-excavations-legendary-capital-khazar |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Russian Geographical Society |language=en}}</ref>

===Semibugry site===
The archaeological remains of a settlement from the Khazar period near the village of [[Semibugry]] (Russian: Семибугры) in the central part of the Volga Delta were discovered after Samosdelka and as of 2020 were being excavated in the hopes that the settlement was Atil.<ref name=":0" /> According to historian Alex Feldman, "it remains impossible to archaeologically prove" the location of Atil.<ref>{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Alex Mesibov |date=2023 |editor-last=Raffensperger |editor-first=Christian |title=How Medieval Europe was Ruled |publisher=Routledge |pages=48 |chapter=Chapter 4: Khazaria: The Exception Which Proves the Rules |doi=10.4324/9781003213239-4 |isbn=978-1032100166}}</ref>