QUEEN HELENE'S MANSION?

Israeli archaeologists find 2,000-year-old mansion linked to historic queen

Remains of mansion archaeologists believe likely belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene unearthed during dig in east Jerusalem parking lot; building by far the largest and most elaborate structure discovered in the City of David area

Associated Press
Published: 12.06.07, 10:56 / Israel News

Israeli archaeologists digging in an east Jerusalem parking lot have uncovered a 2,000-year-old mansion they believe likely belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, a minor but exceptional character in the city's history.

The remains of the building were unearthed just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, underneath layers of later settlement that were themselves hidden until recently under the asphalt of a small parking lot. The dig site is in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan, built on a slope that houses the most ancient remnants of settlement in Jerusalem and is known to scholars as the City of David.

The building, which includes storerooms, living quarters and ritual baths, is by far the largest and most elaborate structure discovered by archaeologists in the City of David area, which was home 2,000 years ago almost exclusively to the city's poor. The contemporary Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who penned detailed descriptions of Jerusalem, mentions only one wealthy family that lived there - the family of Queen Helene.

According to Josephus and Jewish texts, Helene was from a royal clan that ruled Adiabene, a region now in northern Iraq. Along with her family, she converted to Judaism and came to Jerusalem in the first half of the first century A.D.

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UPDATE: Joseph I. Lauer notes that Arutz Sheva has more info, a map, and photos here.