Izates I was king of Adiabene in the late 1st century BCE and father of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I.[1] As the custom of that time dictated, Helana and Monobaz were married
Adiabene (from the Ancient Greek ?d?aß???, Adiabene, itself derived from Classical Syriac: ??????, ?a?ya? or ??aya?, Old Persian: Nodshirakan,[1] Armenian: ??? ???????, Nor Shirakan) was an ancient kingdom in Assyria,[2][3][4][5] with its capital at Arbela (modern-day Arbil, Iraq). Its rulers converted to Judaism from Ashurism in the 1st century.[6] Queen Helena of Adiabene (known in Jewish sources as Heleni HaMalka) moved to Jerusalem where she built palaces for herself and her sons, Izates bar Monobaz and Monobaz II at the northern part of the city of David, south of the Temple Mount. According to the Talmud, both Helena and Monbaz donated large funds for the Temple of Jerusalem.
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Location
Adiabene occupied a district in Assyria between the Upper Zab (Lycus) and the Lower Zab (Caprus), though Ammianus speaks of Nineveh, Ecbatana, and Gaugamela as also belonging to it.[7] Although nominally a dependency of the Parthian Empire, for some centuries, beginning with the 1st century BC, it was independent. In the Talmudic writings the name occurs as ?????,????? and ?????, which is parallel to its Syriac form "Hadyab" or "Hedayab." Its chief city was Arbela (Arba-ilu), where Mar Uqba had a school, or the neighboring Hazzah, by which name the later Arabs also called Arbela.[8]
In Kiddushin 72a the Biblical Habor is identified with Adiabene (compare Yebamot 16b et seq., Yalqut Daniel 1064), but in Yerushalmi Megillah i. 71b with Riphath.[9] In the Targum to Jeremiah li. 27, Ararat, Mini, and Ashkenaz are paraphrased by Kordu, Harmini, and Hadayab, i.e., Corduene, Armenia, and Adiabene; while in Ezekiel xxvii. 23 Harran, Caneh, and Eden are interpreted by the Aramaic translator as "Harwan, Nisibis, and Adiabene."
Population
Adiabene had a mixed population. According to Pliny, four tribes inhabited the region of Adiabene: Orontes, Alani, Azones and Silices.[10] The account of Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews shows that there was a substantial Jewish population in the kingdom, which led to the establishment of a prominent rabbinic academy in Arbela.[citation needed] During the Sassanid era, Persians came to the fore politically.[citation needed] ]. The difficult mixing of cultures can be seen in the story of the martyrdom of Mahanu, a prominent Iranian Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity.[11] In later times Adiabene became an archbishopric, with the seat of the metropolitan at Arbela.[12]
Based on names of the Adiabene rulers, Ernst Herzfeld suggested a Saka/Scythian origin for the royal house of the kingdom;[13][14] however, later progress in Iranian linguistic studies showed that these names were common west middle Iranian names.[15] It has been suggested that the royal house of Adiabene after fleeing Trajan's invasion, established the later Amatuni dynasty who ruled the area between lakes Urmia and Van.[16][17]
Adiabene was a district in Mesopotamia between upper and lower Zab and was a part of the Neo Assyrian Empire and inhabited by Assyrians even after the fall of Nineveh It was an integral part of Achaemenid Assyria (Athura) and Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan).[18][19] The region was later made a part of the Roman province of Assyria after the invasion by Trajan in the year 116.[20]
According to Patricia Crone and Michael Cook. when the heartland of Assyria was back into focus in early Christianity (during the Parthian era and about six centuries after the fall of the Assyrian Empire), "it was with an Assyrian, not a Persian let alone Greek, self-identification: the temple of Ashur was restored, the city was rebuilt, and an Assyrian successor state that returned in the shape of the client kingdom of Adiabene." Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus states that the inhabitants of Adiabene were Assyrians[21][21]
(For subsequent history, see Arbil; Assyrian people, Roman Empire, Iraq).
History
In ancient times Adiabene was an integral part of Assyria. Under the Achamenid Persian kings Adiabene seems for a time to have been a vassal state of the Persian Empire. At times the throne of Adiabene was held by a member of the Achamenid house; Ardashir III (king from AD 628 to 630), before he came to the throne of Persia, had the title "King of Hadyab".[22] The Ten Thousand, an army of Greek mercenaries, retreated through Adiabene on their march to the Black Sea after the Battle of Cunaxa. The little kingdom may have had a series of native rulers nominally vassal to the Macedonian and later Seleucid empires. It later became one of the client kingdoms of the Parthian empire. During the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, it gained a certain prominence under a series of kings descended from Izates I and his son Monobaz I. Monobaz I is known to have been allied with king Abennerig of Characene, in whose court his son Izates bar Monobaz lived for a time and whose daughter Symacho Izates married, as well as the rulers of other small kingdoms on the periphery of the Parthian sphere of influence.
Izates, the son of Monobaz I and his wife Helena of Adiabene, became a Jew. His conversion to Judaism took place before he ascended the throne and while he lived in Charax Spasinu. At about the same time his mother, Helena, was also converted. The period was characterized by chaos in the Parthian empire, with a string of Parthian kings and counter-kings following each other in quick succession. Artabanus II of Parthia was king of Atropatene. He had succeeded Vonones I, who, having been educated entirely at Rome, was unsympathetic toward the Parthians. Artabanus soon had to flee to Hyrcania to escape from the rival king, Tiridates III. He returned, however, in 36, and, being afraid of a conspiracy, took refuge at the court of Izates, who was powerful enough to induce the Parthians to reinstate Artabanus. For this service certain kingly honors were granted Izates, and the city of Nisibis was added to his dominions. However, around 40, Gotarzes II, an adopted son of Artabanus, was raised to the throne by the nobles, in preference to Vardanes I, his half-brother. In 49 Meherdates Mithridates, a son of Vonones, was sent from Rome by Claudius to take possession of the throne of Parthia. Izates played a double game, though he secretly sided with Gotarzes. A few years later, Vologeses I set out with the intention of invading Adiabene and of punishing Izates; but a force of Dahae and Scythians had just entered Parthia, and Vologeses had to return home.
Izates was followed on the throne by his elder brother, Monobaz II. It is related that in the year 61 he sent a contingent of soldiers to Armenia to assist the Parthian candidate, Tiridates, against Tigranes, who had made an incursion into the territory of Adiabene. The troops of Monobaz, however, were beaten back at Tigranocerta. Monobaz was present when peace was concluded at Rhandea between Parthia and Rome in the year 63. He later sent assistance to the Jews in their rebellion against Rome in the late 60's and early 70's AD.
The "Tomb of the Kings", built outside the walls of Jerusalem by Queen Helena in the mid 1st century AD. From a lithograph by William Henry Bartlett.
The chief opponent of Trajan in Mesopotamia during the year 115 was the last king of independent Adiabene, Meharaspes. He had made common cause with Ma'nu (Mannus) of Singar (Singara). Trajan invaded Adiabene, and made it part of the Roman province of Assyria; under Hadrian in 117,[2] however, Rome gave up possession of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia.[citation needed] In the summer of 195 Septimius Severus was again warring in Mesopotamia, and in 196 three divisions of the Roman army fell upon Adiabene. According to Dio Cassius, Caracalla took Arbela in the year 216, and searched all the graves there, wishing to ascertain whether the Arsacid kings were buried there. Many of the ancient royal tombs were destroyed.
As a province of Sassanid Persia
Despite the overthrow of the Parthians by the Sassanids, the feudatory dynasties remained loyal to the Parthians, and resisted Sassanid advance into Adiabene and Atropatene. Due to this, and religious differences, Adiabene was never regarded as an integral part of Iran, even though the Sassanids controlled it for several centuries. After the Roman Empire declared Christianity as its official religion, the inhabitants of Adiabene, who were Assyrian Christians, sided with Christian Rome rather than the Zoroastrian Sassanids. The Byzantine Empire sent armies to the region during the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, but this did nothing to change the territorial boundaries. Adiabene remained a province of the Sassanid Empire until the Islamic conquests of Persia
Adiabene bezeichnet ein Territorium in Vorderasien. Zuerst wurde damit das Gebiet zwischen Oberem und Unterer Zab (= Großer und Kleiner Zab) bezeichnet, später auch die vor allem im Norden (Hadjab genannt) direkt angrenzenden Regionen. Weil es später politisch den größten Teil Assyriens umfasste, wurde der Name dann auch für ganz Assyrien verwendet. Bedeutendste Stadt war Arbela.
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Geschichte
Im ersten nachchristlichen Jahrhundert wurde Adiabene von mehreren, von den Parthern abhängigen, Königen einer lokalen Dynastie regiert, die sich zum Judentum bekannte. Dabei wurden diese mehrfach in innerparthische Thronstreitigkeiten und parthisch-römische Konflikte verwickelt. Vor allem während der Regentschaft des Königs Izates II. (ca. 3659/60) war der Einfluss im parthischen Reich beträchtlich. Eben jener Izates war es auch, der mit seiner Mutter Helena aus politischen Gründen (Proselytenwerbung) den Übertritt zum Judentum vollzog. Das Königshaus unterstützte die palästinischen Juden finanziell und entsandte während des Römischen Krieges sogar Truppen. Monobazos und Helena finden in der Mischna daher häufig Erwähnung und werden ihrer Frömmigkeit wegen gerühmt.
Als die Römer unter Trajan 116 Mesopotamien erobert hatten, wurde Adiabene unter dem Namen Assyria römische Provinz. Jedoch wurden die mesopotamischen Kolonien unter Trajans Nachfolger Hadrian wieder aufgegeben. Erst Septimius Severus eroberte 195 erneut kurzfristig Adiabene und nahm daraufhin den Beinamen Adiabenus an. Unter Caracalla marschierten die Römer 216 noch einmal in Adiabene ein.
Später verbündeten sich die Herrscher von Adiabene und der Herrscher von Kerkuk laut der Chronik von Arbela mit dem Sassaniden Ardaschir I. gegen den parthischen Herrscher Artabanos IV. Während der Herrschaft der Sassaniden gab es in Adiabene viele christlich-nestorianische Gemeinden.
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