Izates II (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

: Ἰζάτης, he, זוטוס בן מונבז; ca. 1-54 CE) was king of the Parthian

client kingdom A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

Adiabene Adiabene 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 eventually gained control of N ...

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

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. He was the son of Queen

Helena of Adiabene Helena of Adiabene ( he, ''Hellēnī''; d. ca. 50–56 CE) was a queen mother of the Parthian vassal state of Adiabene (modern-day Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan). With her husband and brother Monobaz I, she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. ...

and

Monobaz I Monobaz I (also known as Bazeus or Monobazus; he, ''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 fathere ...

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

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city ('' polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroen ...

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. Whe ...

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 ( ...

Charax Spasinu Charax Spasinu, also called Charax Spasinou, Charax Pasinu, Spasinu Charax ( grc, Σπασίνου Χάραξ), Alexandria (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια) or Antiochia in Susiana (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Σουσιανῆς), was an anc ...

. While in Charax Izates became acquainted with a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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. Topic ...

. 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 (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...

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 The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...

king, to declare war against him. Izates defeated his enemy, who in despair committed suicide. The nobles then conspired with Vologases,

King of Parthia The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conqueri ...

, 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 Monobazus II was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene and King Monobazus I. He is known as Monobaz in the Babylonian Talmud. Like his younger brother Izates bar Monobazus and his mother, Monobazus became a convert to Judaism. He ruled as king of A ...

, who sent Izates' remains and those of Queen Helena to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

for burial.

References

Sources

Gottheil, Richard and Isaac Broydé. "Izates".
''

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 th ...

''. 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= BRILL, 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 Vassal rulers of the Parthian Empire