Atil

It is known historically to have been situated along the Silk Road, on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, in the Volga Delta region of modern Southern Russia.

In 2008 a Russian archaeologist claimed to have discovered the remains of Atil in Samosdelka, a village in the Volga Delta approximately 30 km southwest of the city of Astrakhan.

The Volga is known as İdel ( Идел) in Tatar, as Atăl (Атӑл) in Chuvash, as Iźelin in Bashkir, as Edıl in Kazakh, and as İdil in Turkish.

The eastern part of the city was built later and acted as the commercial center of the Atil, and had many public baths and shops.

Atil was a multi-ethnic and religiously diverse city, inhabited by Jews, Christians, Muslims, Shamanists, and Pagans, many of them traders from foreign countries.

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.

[10][11] 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.

Khazaria and Eurasian trade routes in the 8th–11th centuries. Atil was the commercial hub from which routes extended into "Deep Asia" . The Varangian ( Viking ) trade route on the Volga is shown in red; other routes are in orange. The Varangian-Greek route is in purple.
Miniature depicting payment of tribute to the Varangians and the Khazars, Radziwiłł Chronicle
The Rus' trading slaves with the Khazars: Trade in the East Slavic Camp by Sergei Ivanov (1913)
The eastern campaign of Prince Svtoslav in 965, in which he captured the White Tower and defeated the Khazar Khaganate, Radziwiłł Chronicle