Josephus Was Right: Discovery Confirms Jerusalem Drought During Siege

Teresa Neumann : Jun 28, 2013
Staff – Jewish Press

"People went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots without anyone seeing them, and this is consistent with the account provided by Josephus." -Eli Shukrun

(Israel)—In his book "The Jewish War," Josephus described in detail the Roman siege of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Now, new discoveries unearthed near the Western Wall confirm his account. (Photo: Jewish Press)

Josephus wrote: "As the famine grew worse, the frenzy of the partisans increased with it… Nowhere was there corn to be seen, men broke into the houses and ransacked them. If they found some, they maltreated the occupants for saying there was none; if they did not, they suspected them of having hidden it more carefully and tortured them.

"Many secretly exchanged their possessions for one measure of corn-wheat if they happened to be rich, barley if they were poor. They shut themselves up in the darkest corners of the their houses, where some through extreme hunger ate their grain as it was, others made bread, necessity and fear being their only guides. Nowhere was a table laid…" (Image: Josephus)

The Jewish Press reports that excavations conducted in a drainage channel running from the Shiloah Pool to Robinson's Arch at the southern end of the Western Wall have produced three complete cooking pots and a small oil lamp.

The items discovered, said excavation director Eli Shukrun, "indicate that the people went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots without anyone seeing them, and this is consistent with the account provided by Josephus.