Izates II (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ἰζάτης, ; – 54) was king of the Parthian

client kingdom A client state in the context of international relations is a state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, associated state ...

Adiabene Adiabene ( Greek: Αδιαβηνή, ) was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it ...

from approximately 30 to 54. He is notable for converting to

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. He was the son of Queen

Helena of Adiabene Helena of Adiabene ( ''Hellēnī''; died c. 50–56 CE) was a queen mother of Adiabene, a vassal state of the Parthian Empire. With her husband-brother Monobaz I, she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. Helena became a convert to Judai ...

and

Monobaz I Monobaz I (also known as Bazeus or Monobazus; ''Munəbāz'') was king of the Parthian client state of Adiabene in the 20s and 30s of the 1st century AD. He was the husband ( and brother) of Queen Helena of Adiabene. With Helena he fathered Iz ...

of Adiabene. Queen Helena was also said to be the wife of King Abgarus of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

and thus the queen of Edessa too. During his youth Izates was sent by his father to the court of King

Abinergaos I Abinergaos I, also known as Abinerglus, was the king of Characene starting in the second decade of the Christian era. The years of his reign are not known beyond a few coins. The coins are dated to the years AD 10/11, 11/12, 13/14 and 22/23. When ...

Characene Characene (Ancient Greek: Χαρακηνή), also known as Mesene (Μεσσήνη) or Meshan, was a kingdom founded by the Iranian Hyspaosines located at the head of the Persian Gulf mostly within modern day Iraq. Its capital, Charax Spasinou (� ...

in Charax Spasinu. While in Charax Izates became acquainted with a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish merchant named Ananias, who familiarized him with the tenets of the Jewish religion, in which he became deeply interested. Izates married King Abinergaos' daughter Symacho who had been converted to Judaism through the efforts of Ananias. His mother had been previously won over to Judaism without his knowledge. On returning home and ascending the throne on the death of his father (c. 31 CE), Izates discovered the conversion of his mother; and he himself intended to adopt Judaism, and even to submit to

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

. He was, however, dissuaded from this step both by his teacher Ananias and by his mother, but was ultimately persuaded thereto by another Jew, Eleazar.

Genesis Rabba Genesis Rabbah (, also known as Bereshit Rabbah and abbreviated as GenR) is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is an expository midrash comprising a collection of ...

Parasha xlvi
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English translation
. This odd account may have been part of a ritual deterrence to conversion which is still practiced by mainstream Judaism. A convert is turned away three times and only accepted when he returns each time to ask to be converted. For some time Izates enjoyed peace; and he was so highly respected that he was chosen as arbitrator between the Parthian king Artabanus II and his rebellious nobles (c. 39 CE). But when several of Izates' relatives openly acknowledged their conversion to Judaism, some of the nobles of Adiabene secretly induced Abia, an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

king, to declare war against him. Izates defeated his enemy, who in despair committed suicide. The nobles then conspired with Vologases, King of Parthia, but the latter was at the last moment prevented from carrying out his plans, and Izates continued to reign undisturbed for a total of twenty-four years. Izates died around 54 CE. His mother Helena survived him for only a short time. He left twenty-four sons and twenty-four daughters. Izates was succeeded by his older brother Monobaz II, who sent Izates' remains and those of Queen Helena to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for burial.

References

Sources

Gottheil, Richard and Isaac Broydé. "Izates".
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Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

''. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906. * * * {{cite book, last=Marciak, first=Michał, title=Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West, date=2017, publisher=

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, isbn=9789004350724, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwEtDwAAQBAJ Kings of Adiabene Converts to Judaism from paganism Judaism in Adiabene AD 1 births 54 deaths Jewish royalty Cultural assimilation 1st-century monarchs in the Middle East Jewish monarchs 1st-century Jews 1st-century people Vassal rulers of the Parthian Empire