Helena of Adiabene

Helena, queen of Adiabene, embraced Judaism and helped feed people in Jerusalem during a severe famine.

Helena belonged to the royal house of Adiabene, a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. Josephus describes how she and her son Izates adopted Jewish religious practices after instruction from Jewish teachers. Helena traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. During a severe famine she purchased grain in Egypt and dried figs in Cyprus and arranged for food to reach those in need. Her generosity made a lasting impression in Jewish historical memory. Josephus also describes elaborate burial monuments built by Helena near Jerusalem. She should not be confused with Helena Augusta, the mother of Constantine, who lived nearly three centuries later.

Helena demonstrates the reach of Judaism beyond Judea and the importance of royal patronage, pilgrimage, and relief efforts in first-century Jerusalem.

Mid-first century AD: Adopted Jewish religious practices. Traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Purchased grain and dried figs to relieve famine. Commissioned monumental tombs near Jerusalem.

Died after her son Izates, probably in the mid-first century AD. Josephus reports that their remains were brought to Jerusalem for burial near the monuments Helena had built.

Helena is not named in the New Testament. The famine relief described by Josephus provides historical context for the famine and aid to Judea mentioned in Acts 11:27–30, without proving the accounts describe the same relief effort.