the Arabs; but Russcl states {Natural Uist. of Aleppo, Lond. 1794, i, 80) that but little wine is made there, and lliat the white wines especially are poor and thin, and difhcult to keep ; nor has this place ever obtained any celeljrity for its vintages. Hence Prof. Ilackett is in- clined to adopt the suggestion made to him while visit- ing this region in 1852 by Dr. Paidding, one of the American missionaries there, that the Biblical Helbon shoiUd rather be sought in one of the principal villages of the same name lying in the wady Ilelbnn, on the eastern slope of Auti-Lebanon, north of the Barrada. He was informed by those who had visited the place that the grapes produced there are remarkable for their tine quality, and that the wine obtained from them is regarded as the choice wine of that part of Sj'ria {Illus- trations of Sc7-ipture, N. York, 1855, p. 214) . Dr. Kobin- son, to whom lie mentioned this suggestion, visited the place in his last journey to Palestine, and fully accords with the identification. He thus describes the valley and town : " Wady Helbon is a valley an hour or more in length, shut in by high and rugged sides. The bot- tom is a strip of level ground, everywhere well culti- vated. Throughout the ^vhole extent of the valley there are well-lvcpt vineyards. Even places so steep that the vine-dresser can approach them with difficulty are made to produce an abinidance of grajjcs. In Da- mascus the grapes are chiefly esteemed for their fine fla- vor, and from them is made the best and most highly- prized wine of the country'. The village of Helbon is nearly midway up the vallej'. There are many ruins in and aromid it, but mostly dilapidated; and hewn stones, capitals, friezes, and broken columns are built into the walls of the modem dwellings. On the west of the village is an extensive ruin, supposed to have once been a temple. On some of the blocks are frag- ments of Greek inscriptions no longer legible" (new ed. o{ Researches, iii, 471, 472).
Helchi'ah (XiXkIoq, 1 Esd. viii, 1) or Helchi'as (Ilelcias, 2 Esd. i, 1), the Greek and Latin forms of the name of the high-priest Hilkiah (q. v.).
Hel'dai (Heb. Cheldaif, "inpn, icorldly ; Sept. Xo\- ^ai, but o'l upxovTtQ in Zccli. vi, 10; Yulg. Iloldai), the name of two men.
1. A Netophathite and descendant of Othniel, chief of the twelfth division (24,000) of David's forces (1 Chron. xxvii. 15). B.C. 1014. In 1 Chron. xi, 30 (where he is called Heled) his father's name is said to be Baanah ; and in the parallel passage (2 Sam. xxiii, 29) he is call- ed Heleb.
2. One of those lately returned from the Captivity whom the prophet Zechariah was directed to take with him when he went to crown the high-priest Joshua, as a symbol of the future Blessiah's advent (Zech. vi, 10). B.C. 620. In ver. 14 the name is written Heleji.
Heldua, the first station mentioned in the Jerusa- lem Itinerary south of Berytus and north of Porphyreon; now probably khan el-Khulda (Robinson, Bib. Res. ii, 435).— Yan cle Yelde, Memoir, p. 320.
He'leb (Heb. Che'leb, ■ihr}, fatness, as often; Sept. 'EXd^, Yulg. Heled), son of IBaanah the Netophathite, and one of Da^■id's warriors (2 Sam. xxiii, 29); else- where more correctly called Heled (1 Chron. xi, SO), or, still better, Heldai (1 Chron. xxvi, 15).
He'led (Heb. Che'led, l^n, this icorld, as transito- ry ; Sept. 'EXo J, Yulg. Heled), son of Baanah, a Kc toph- athite, and one of David's warriors (1 Chron. xi, 30) ; called in the parallel passage (2 Sara, xxiii, 29) Heleb, but more accurately Heldai in 1 Chron. xxvii, 15.
He'lek (Heb. Che'lel; p^n, a. portion, as often; Sept. XeMx and XeXf^-Vulg. Ilelec), the second son of Gilead of the tribe of Manasseh (Josh, xvii, 2), whose descendants were called Helekites (Hebrew Chelki', '^pbn, Xumb. xxvi, 30; Sept. XtXtK,). B.C. cir. 1612.
He'lekite (Xumb. xxvi, 30). See Helek.
HELEM
164
HELFFERICH
He'lem, the name of one or two men, variously tirilten in the Hebrew.
1. He'lem (abn, a stroke; Sept. 'E\a/(, A'ulg. He- Zt>?»), abrotlier of Shamer (or Shomer) and great-grand- son of Asher, several of whose sons are enumerated in 1 Chron. vii, 35 ; perhaps the same with Hotham, ver. 32. B.C. prob. cir. 1G58.
2. CiiE'LEM (C?n, in Chaldee a dream, as often in Dan.-, or roJi/s<; Sept. oi vTrofikvovng aiiroi/, Vulg. Ilelem), one of those associated with Zechariah in the typical crowning of the high-priest, or, as it appears, himself also crowned (Zech. vi, 14, "Ileled," prob. by erroneous transcription for Heled or HELDAi,ver.lO).
Helena, St., mother of Constantine the Great. She was born about 274; Gloucester, Triers, and Bithv^^ia dis- pute the honor of being her birthplace. Some consider her as of noble family, whUe the older authorities state that she was daughter of a shepherd or innkeeper. Constantius Chlorus is said to have married her for her beauty. She is also said to have at first been only his concubine, but this, perhaps, is a mistake, arising from the fact that the Roman law applied to women marrj'ing above their station a name which had also this mean- ing. When Constantius became emperor he repudiated her, and she resided, perhaps, in the neighborhood of Triers until her son Constantine called her back with the title of Augusta. She did much towards softening the naturally tyrannical disposition of her son. She un- dertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about 325, where, by so-called miraculous agencies, she is said to have dis- covered, under the ruins of a heathen temple, the sepul- chre and cross of Christ, the latter of which was " proved genuine by the miracles it wrought!" She built a church on the site, which remains to this day in part. All this gave a great impulse to pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and indirectly to the Crusades. She left Pales- tine in 327, returned to her son, and died probably soon after. The Komans claim to have her remains in the church of Ara Coeli. The monks of Hautvilliers, near Eheims (France), claim, on the other hand, that one of their order, as early as in the 9th century, brought the body of the saint from thence to their convent. Un- fortunately, the Venetians state, on the other side, that the saint was buried at Constantinople, and that her re- mains were thence transferred to their city. So devotees kneel in three different places, on the 18th of August, before the remains of the daughter of a shepherd or inn- keeper, who subsequently became a sainted empress. Monographs on St. Helena and her history are enumer- ated in Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 125, See Eusebius, Life of Constantine ; Herzog, Real-Enq/Uop. ; and the articles Ckoss ; Jerusaleji.