Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene · Converts to Judaism
Queen of Adiabene who converted to Judaism in the first century, moved to Jerusalem and fed the city through a famine at her own expense; her tomb still stands in Jerusalem
premier siècle, Adiabène (nord de l'Irak actuel) — vers 50-56 de notre ère, Adiabène ; ensevelie à Jérusalem
Adiabène et Jérusalem
Helena of Adiabene is recognized among Jewish contributors to Converts to Judaism — Queen of Adiabene who converted to Judaism in the first century, moved to Jerusalem and fed the city through a famine at her own expense; her tomb still stands in Jerusalem
Origins and early life
Helena was queen mother of Adiabene, a vassal kingdom of the Parthian empire in what is now northern Iraq, wife of Monobaz I and mother of Izates II and Monobaz II; about the year 30 of our era she converted to Judaism, and her sons followed her.
Work and career
What is known of her comes from Josephus, who lived in Jerusalem in her lifetime, from the Talmud and from Armenian chroniclers. During the famine that struck Jerusalem in 45–46 she sent to Alexandria for grain and to Cyprus for dried figs and had them distributed to the starving — the act for which she is remembered above all. The Talmud records her gifts to the Temple: a golden candlestick set over its door, whose reflected light at sunrise told the city it was time to read the Shema, and a golden plate inscribed with a passage of the Torah; it also mentions the sukkah she put up at Lydda, higher than twenty cubits, which the rabbis entered without objection.
Later years
She moved to Jerusalem and was buried there; the sarcophagus attributed to her was uncovered in the nineteenth century by Louis Félicien de Saulcy and taken to the Louvre, and a monumental building in the City of David, with a ritual bath in its basement, is thought to be her palace.
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Source: Wikipedia — Helena of Adiabene
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Queen of Adiabene who converted to Judaism in the first century, moved to Jerusalem and fed the city through a famine at her own expense; her tomb still stands in Jerusalem
Source: Wikipedia — Helena of Adiabene
