The purpose of this project is to provide an overview and discussion of the available sources regarding the royal family of Adiabene, which lived and converted to Judaism in the 1st century CE. The conversion of the royal house of Adiabene was once called by Emil Schürer “the greatest triumph of Jewish proselytising” and as such has always attracted the attention of scholars dealing with the literature and history of the Roman Period. What is more, the story of this family made the first pages of archaeological news in Israel in 2007 due to the discovery of a palace in the lower City of David, which, according to the excavators, might have been one of several palaces belonging to the royal family of Adiabene. Again, the new excavation undertaken in 2008 in the Tomb of the Kings by archaeologists from the École Biblique et Archéologique Française aptly illustrates a revival of interest in the history of this family. The revival of interest should not surprise anyone due to the importance of this topic which lies in the fact that this event is not only documented by the most elaborate textual passage about a conversion to Judaism from ancient literature at all (Josephus, Antiquities 20,17-96), but also that many other topics (theological debates about righteous kingship or God’s providence, stereotypes about conversion to Judaism and Judaism in general, as well as fundamental historical, archaeological, political and cultural implications) are connected to the topic of the conversion of the royal house of Adiabene. Consequently, the topic requires a many-sided and interdisciplinary approach. First, the aim is to conduct a thorough analysis of the available literary sources following acknowledged philological methods; secondly, the study focuses on archaeological traces of this family critically reviewing methods of identifying archaeological finds with events related in ancient literature; thirdly, we will focus on the socio-historical context of Ant. XX, 17-96 using methods of social-historical reflection applied in Ancient History; and finally, based on previous analyses of relevant sources, we will aim to reconstruct the history of the Adiabene royalty in 1st c. CE. 

Period: 2008-2012
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. K. Zangenberg
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. E. Dabrowa 

Contact: michal.marciak@gmail.com