Louis Felicien de Saulcy was searching for ancient coins. It was 1863 and the prominent French numismatist was excavating an area in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, not far from where the U.S. consulate is situated today.
On the third day of the dig, which required a permit from the Ottoman authorities, one of the workers stepped on a tile in the floor of a structure. The tile moved, revealing a hidden alcove beneath it.
When De Saulcy and his crew made their way inside the chamber, they found something far more significant than ancient monies. There lay a beautiful sarcophagus weighing more than a ton, about 1,200 kilograms. A pair of inscriptions were written on the stone coffin—in Estrangelo (an old version of Syriac, a dialect of Eastern Aramaic) and Aramaic respectively—that read “Tzeran Malka” and “Tzaddan Malkata.” Both mean Queen Sarah.
The formal “door” of the tomb, the archeologists discovered, was covered with a large rolling stone. Back in the first century, the entrance was likely opened with a “secret mechanism” that involved water pressure and a system of weights.
In De Saulcy’s day, most people believed that the magnificent tomb—which is generally regarded as the largest and most beautiful in Jerusalem—housed members of the Davidic dynasty. Indeed, it was called the “Tomb of the Kings,” a name that has remained to this day. Because of this widespread speculation, De Saulcy concluded that the bones inside the sarcophagus, which were wrapped in shrouds with golden embroidery, belonged to the wife of one of the kings of Judea from the First Bais Hamikdash. Yet most of his contemporaries disagreed, surmising that they belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, a famous giyores who changed her name to Sarah after converting.
Once word spread that excavators were digging up human bones—which is against halacha—the dig was suspended. The Jewish community even asked philanthropist Moses Montefiore and members of the Rothschild family to intervene and rescue the bones. Despite their efforts, the sarcophagus and the bones inside were sent to Paris, France, where they remain to this very day.
As to the true identity of the woman in the sarcophagus, all archeologists and historians agree today that it was Queen Helene of Adiabene. They also believe that the “Tomb of the Kings” didn’t actually house members of the Davidic dynasty, but rather other members of Queen Helene’s royal family.
The queen’s coffin remained in storage in the basement of the Louvre Museum until 1982 when it was brought up for an exhibition marking the centenary of the death of its discoverer De Saulcy. Afterwards, the sarcophagus was sent back into storage.
All in the Family
Searching for details about a woman who lived and died nearly 2,000 years ago usually leads you to history books. And, indeed, you’ll find stories about Queen Helene’s life in the work of first-century Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who wrote in Greek. But Queen Helene also has the distinction of being mentioned in the Mishna, Talmud Yerushalmi, and Talmud Bavli.
Queen Helene was married to the wealthy King Monabaz I, who ruled in the kingdom of Adiabene (see sidebar), a province in Mesopotamia (see map). The capital was Arbela, today the fourth largest city of Iraq.
The queen’s initial interest in Yiddishkeit reveals the power of being a kiddush Hashem. During her reign, she had many interactions with Jewish merchants of high moral character. She was so impressed by their upright behavior that she decided to learn more about Judaism. Her pursuit of emes clearly ran in the family: the Gemorrah relates that Queen Helene had seven sons, all of whom eventually became Shomrei Torah and mitzvoth. The youngest one was named Izates.
Although King Monabaz I had many sons—from Queen Helene and his other wives—he adored Izates the most, perhaps because he had dreamt that his youngest was to be favored by G-d. The king’s favoritism eventually spurred jealousy among the siblings, so much so that the king feared for Izates’s safety. To keep him out of harm’s way, he sent Izates away during his youth to the kingdom of King Abinergaos I of Characene, in Charax Spasinu, which is a port on the Persian Gulf.
In King Abinergaos I, Izates found not only a guardian, but a future father-in-law. Indeed, the king was so impressed by Izates that in addition to giving him his daughter Symmacho’s hand in marriage, he also bestowed on Izates vast areas of land, from which the newlywed was able to earn high revenues.
Like Queen Helene, Symmacho was also a truth seeker. She had been converted to Judaism by a Jewish merchant named Chananiah, who served as an advisor to her father the king. When Izates became exposed to all the Jewish mitzvohs, he, too, expressed interest in converting to Judaism.
Another possible motive for Izates may have been economic, as is noted by Professor Louis H. Feldman, an orthodox Jewish Greek Scholar who is the world’s authority on Judaism and Hellenism. He explains that, as a converted Jew, Izates wouldn’t have had to pay interest on loans from Jews and would have access to international Jewish funding.
Despite Izates’s interest in Judaism, he was talked out of performing the final step to conversion—becoming circumcised—by Chananiah. Professor Lawrence Schiffman, a noted orthodox Jewish scholar and professor who has written much about the period in which Queen Adiabene lived, makes the claim that Chananiah (otherwise known as Ananias) tried to dissuade Izates from becoming circumcised and remain a semi-proselyte because the Jewish merchant feared that if his role in the conversion would be discovered, his life would be in danger.
Later, when Izates was informed that his father had passed away and that his mother wanted him to take over the empire, he returned to Adiabene. There, to his great surprise, he learned that his mother had also converted to Judaism. This discovery propelled him to go through with the circumcision, but Chananiah—along with Queen Helene—dissuaded him. They believed that the new king’s subjects would not tolerate being ruled by a Jew. This only delayed Izates; he—and his brother Monbaz II—were ultimately persuaded to be circumcised by another Jew, Elazar from the Gallil.
For some time, Izates enjoyed peace in his new kingdom. But when several of Izates’ relatives openly acknowledged their conversion to Judaism, some of the notables of Adiabene secretly induced an Arab king named Abia to declare war. Izates defeated King Abia, who later committed suicide.
Izates’s triumph didn’t deter the nobles of Adiabene from staging another plan of attack. This time, they tried to oust Izates by conspiring with Vologases, King of Parthia. Yet Volosgases also proved unsuccessful in carrying out his plans. After these failed attempts to usurp the throne, Izates reigned undisturbed for 24 years.
The Light of the Bais Hamikdash
During those tumultuous years when Izates was engaged in war, Queen Helene was so worried that her son might not come back alive from the battlefield that she made a neder (vow). She promised that if Hashem would protect Izates, she would live as a Nazira (someone who consecrates herself by abstaining from wine and refraining from getting haircuts, among other things). Izates did indeed return alive from the battlefield—and the queen kept her neder.
According to the Gemorrah, after Queen Helene had practiced Nezirus for seven years, she relocated to Judah in Eretz Yisroel. Bais Hillel then told her that she must observe her vow anew, continuing to live as a Nazira for seven more years. There is a view that she was actually a Nazira for a total of 21 years because she became impure at the end of the second set of seven years. Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi disagrees and claims that altogether she served only 14 years as a Nazira.
When Queen Adiabene came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Bais Hamikdash, she arrived in the midst of a drought and found many people starving. She devoted herself to feeding the hungry by spending enormous sums of money to buy large quantities of flour from Alexandria and figs from Cyprus.
When the royal family of Adiabene was criticized by some of their advisers for spending money on the poor, King Monabaz II, who ruled after his brother Izates, responded: “My ancestors amassed treasures in this world, while I gather treasures for the world to come. My ancestors placed their treasures in chambers and had to guard them against thieves; my treasures are far from the reach of any greedy hand, and will be safe forever. My ancestors’ treasures did not produce any fruits, but mine continue to bring more and more fruit.”
The Tosefta also recorded that King Monabaz II attached mezuzas to poles, which he took with his party when they traveled. He also placed mezuzas in the inns when staying over night.
Queen Helen’s generosity also extended to the Bais Hamikdash, which stood gloriously in her lifetime. One of her famous gifts to the temple was a “nivreshet,” a beautiful golden hanging lamp that was placed on the door of the sanctuary. When the sun’s rays would shine on it each morning, the lamp would light up with a dazzling flash that could be seen throughout Jerusalem. As a result, the time to say the daily shema was publicized simultaneously in all parts of the city.
(This was a particularly useful present because the temple was surrounded by high walls, which blocked the sun. As such, in order to check if the sun had risen, one of the Kohanim would have to be sent outside the doorway of the Bais Hamikdash on a daily basis. With the queen’s gift, this procedure was made obsolete.)
The queen also donated a golden plate to the Bais Hamikdash. Written on it was a passage from the Torah that was read with regard to mei sota. Because of this gift, it was no longer necessary to take out a Torah scroll to read the passage. The queen’s son King Monabaz II also donated golden handles for all the temple vessels used on Yom Kippur.
Queen Helene built palaces for herself in Jerusalem and in Lod. The Gemorah Bavli Suka 2b describes the very large sukkah in Lod that was frequented by many Rabbonim.
During an excavation in Jerusalem in 2007, the royal palace of Queen Helene was discovered by archaeologist Doron Ben-Ami. Those on the dig suspected that the massive stones of the second floor had likely toppled onto the arches of the first, causing the house to collapse. In the ruins, they found ceramic shards and coins dating to the first century CE, the time of the Jewish revolt against Rome. The basement level contained a mikveh.
For a 2010 exhibit in Jerusalem’s archeological museum, the Israeli government negotiated with France for nearly a year to receive permission from the Louvre to lend the sarcophagus of Queen Helene. At the insistence of the Jewish community of France, no bones were to be transferred, only the sarcophagus. Two French rabbonim were even stationed at the transport of the sarcophagus to ensure that the bones not be removed.
For four months, Queen Helene’s sarcophagus was on display in Jerusalem. Today, it is back in the basement of the Louvre museum in Paris. May the remains of this woman who gave so generously to her fellow Jews and the Bais Hamikdash be returned to its original burial place, in the holy city of Jerusalem.