Izates and Helena of Adiabene : a study on literary traditions and history

Marciak, M.W. (2012)

Doctoral Thesis

The aim of this study was to deliver the first ever monographic study on the family of royal converts from Adiabene in the broader perspective of the material and political environment of Hellenistic and Parthian Adiabene. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to collect, arrange and discuss all available sources on the topic. Our discussion of sources has been arranged into three parts. The aim of part 1 (chapters 1-5) was to read Ant. 20:17-96, the most comprehensive account on the Adiabene royalty in ancient literature, as a consciously planned literary product. The aim of part 2 (chapters 6-7) was to analyse the sources that convey the picture of the Adiabene dynasty as good royalty for the Jewish people. The aim of part 3 (chapters 8-13) was to gain insight into the material and political environment of Adiabene from the 3rd c. BCE to the 3rd c. CE, and this has been achieved through collecting, arranging and discussing a number of available sources: geographical and ethnographical texts, archaeological data, numismatic, epigraphic, and onomastic evidence.

• Parthia
• Judea
• Palestine
• Jerusalem
• Adiabene
• Josephus
• Israel

• All authors: Marciak, M.W.
• Supervisor: Zangenberg, J.K.
• Co-supervisor: Dąbrowa, E.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden Institute for Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2012-11-20
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden