Drought and food shortage strike Judea and Syria
About this date: Josephus places the onset in Herod's 13th year and describes two failed seasons. Modern conversions vary; Whiston prints 24–23 BCE. 25–23 is a broad navigation window.
Josephus describes drought, crop failure, exhausted reserves, and disease during a severe regional food crisis under Herod.
Historical context
The narrative traces shortages across more than one growing season. It gives background for comparing later famine and relief accounts without conflating them.
Key points
- Stored food is depleted after harvest failure.
- The second failed season deepens the emergency.
- Illness and lack of supplies intensify the hardship.
People
- Herod the Great
Sources and further reading
- Jewish Antiquities, Book XV
Drought, food shortage, disease, and the second failed season.