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17th of Adar Quake

[Feb 28, 92 BCE]

by Jefferson Williams






Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes
Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes from Karcz (2004)

Introduction & Summary

An ancient Jewish festival on the 17th of Adar (February-March) commemorates a joyous day in Jewish history when enemies of the Jews in Lebanon and Syria may have been overcome by a violent earthquake and a tsunami. The veracity and year of this account are in question.

Textual Evidence

Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
Megillat Taanit and the Common Scholion Hebrew
Background

Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
Megillat Taanit and the Common Scholion

Background and Biography

Background

Excerpts

The Megillat Taanit lists a feast day celebrated on the 17th of Adar (February-March). The original Megillat Taanit text does not mention an earthquake. However, the Common Scholion1, which provides commentary on the Megillat Taanit, apparently does. It also appears to describe a tsunami. In the Common Scholion, zia has multiple meanings but may refer to an earthquake shock.
Footnotes

1 Karcz (2004:766) mentions 3 surviving versions

  • the Parma manuscript copied in the 14th century
  • the Oxford manuscript copied in the 15th century,
  • the Common (Vulgata) version which is the latest and apparently was still undergoing revision until it was printed in 1519 CE
The Common Scholion is thought to combine aspects of the Parma and Oxford scholions. The earliest Parma scholion does not mention an earthquake. The Oxford scholion appears to mention an earthquake and the Common scholion appears to mention an earthquake and a tsunami.

English translation of the Megillat Taanit from attalus.org

... on the 17th the natives attacked the remnant of scribes in the country of Belikos1 and Beit Zabdai2 and a salvation came to the House of Israel.
Footnotes and Map

1 Karcz (2004:767) places the country of Belikos in Chalcis - a common geographical designation in Antiquity. Two were located in Syria

  • Chalcis sub Libanum (thereafter Chalcis sL), present Anjar, Ayn al Jarr, was in the Beqaa in Lebanon, about 10 km SE of present Baalbek, near Zabadea, a narrow plain with present Zabadani, 25 km NNW of Damascus and ancient Kaprazabadion - present Qafr Zabad, 25 km SW of Chalcis sL (Dussaud, 1927; Millar, 1987). (Karcz, 2004:767)

  • It seems less probable, that the texts refer to Chalcis ad Belum (thereafter Chalcis aB), present Hadir and Kinnisrin in north Syria, less than 100 km SE of Antioch (e.g., Pauly and Wissowa, 1899, iii, c. 2078; Grainger, 1990, 1997; Barrington Atlas, 2000). (Karcz, 2004:767-768)
2 Karcz (2004:767) places Beit Zabdai in Zabadea in Lebanon-Syria.

Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes
Fig.3 - Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes - Karcz (2004)

English translation of the Common Scholion from Karcz (2004)

... and when Janaeus came down to kill the scribes they escaped from him and went to Syria and stayed in country of Koselikos and the gentiles there rose to kill them and they heziu them a great zia [shocked them a great shock, scared them great scare] and they struck them a great blow and left some survivors and they went to Bet Zabadi1. Rabbi Hidka [2nd century CE] says the day the natives wanted to kill the scribes of Israel the sea upwelled and destroyed a third in the settled land.
Footnotes and Map

1 Karcz (2004:767) reports that consensus scholarship ascribes Bet Zabadi to Zabadea in Lebanon-Syria.

Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes
Fig.3 - Orientation map for the 198-92 B.C. earthquakes - Karcz (2004)

Chronology

Karcz (2004) reports that the original quote in the Megillat Taanit may, according to some Judaic scholars, refer to something that occurred during the rule of the more favorably viewed Hasmonean King Jonathan Maccabeus (r. 160-142 BCE) while he was fighting King Demetrius Nicator and the Arabs in Lebanon and Syria rather than, as stated in the Common Scholion, during the rule of the notoriously cruel and oppressive Alexander Jannaeus (r. 103 - 76 BCE)2 while he was pursuing Jewish Pharisaic rebels into Syria at the end of the Judean Civil war. For this reason along with the apparent description of a tsunami, Karcz (2004) suggested the possibility that this description may refer to another earthquake such as the alleged Dead Fish and Soldiers Earthquake of ~142 BCE.
Footnotes

2 See Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Book XIII Ch 13 Paragraph 5 and and Ch 14 Paragraph 2

English Translation by Whiston (1737) of Jewish Antiquities Book XIII - Embedded

  • Book XIII - see Ch 13 Paragraph 5 and and Ch 14 Paragraph 2
  • from Whiston (1737)


Seismic Effects Locations Online Versions and Further Reading
References

Archeoseismic Evidence

Tsunamogenic Evidence

Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Sidon missing evidence ? Marinner et al (2006) and Carayon et al (2011) reported on 15 cores taken around the northern harbor and four around the cirque ronde. There is no mention of tsunamogenic evidence in the cores. Marinner et al (2006:1521) noted that in Unit B2 (Closed Phoenician to Roman harbours) persistent age-depth anomalies concur analogous data in Tyre’s ancient harbour where strong chronostratigraphic evidence for dredging has been detailed from the Roman period onwards. This may indicate that, like at Tyre, any evidence of a 1st millennium BCE tsunami may have been removed by dredging.
Tyre missing evidence Marriner et al (2005) undertook a litho and biostratigraphical study of four core sequences from the landward edge of the current harbor. AMS radiocarbon dating was performed on dateable material found in the cores. They attributed missing 1st millennium BCE strata to dredging activity undertaken in the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Sidon



Tyre



Paleoseismic Evidence

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Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Dinar Trenches possible - indeterminate ≥ 7 Altunel et al (1999) claim evidence for a ~80 BCE Apamea Earthquake in Event 2 from their trenches but only two useful radiocarbon dates were obtained in their paleoseismic study. The date constraints from these two samples are large (~1550 BCE - 1360 ± 50 CE) and their historical earthquake assignment is speculative - based on consulting earthquake catalogs during that time span.
Tekieh Trenches possible ≥ 7 Gomez et. al. (2003:15) may have seen evidence for an earthquake in the 1st or 2nd century BCE in Event B. Event B is estimated to have created ~ 2 meters of left lateral strike slip displacement which translates to an estimated Magnitude between 7.0 and 7.3 (7.0 and 7.2 according to Gomez et al, 2003:16-17). In terms of dating, an upper bound for Event B is 170 BCE - 20 CE while a lower bound for Events B and and the older Event C is from 1690 - 1400 BCE.
Tabarja Benches possible Mw = ~7.5 Elias et al (2007) examined uplifted benches on the Lebanese coast between Sarafand and Tripolis; some in the vicinity of Tabarja (~20 km. NE of Beirut). They identified four uplifts from 3 or more [sizeable Mw = ~7.5] earthquakes in the past ca. 6-7 ka. They attributed the latest uplift (B1) to the 551 CE Beirut Quake while the earlier events (B2, B3, and B4) were no more precisely dated than between ~5000 BCE and 551 CE. Bench uplift on the earlier events (B2, B3, and B4) would likely have been due to uplift on the Mount Lebanon Thrust system - as was surmised for Event B1 and the 551 CE Beirut Quake.
Bet Zayda possible to unlikely ≥ 7 Wechsler at al. (2014) records event CH4-E6 with a modeled age of 392 BCE – 91 CE.
Dead Sea - Seismite Types n/a n/a If this earthquake occurred, it appears to have been located in Syria-Lebanon with distances to the Dead Sea Paleoseismic Sites varying from ~300-650 km. For a M = 7.0 earthquake, This results in estimated PGAs varying from 0.04 - 0.11 g - below the 0.23 g threshold calculated by Williams (2004) or the 0.13 g threshold assumed in Lu et al (2020a) that one needs to break the Dead Sea sediments. If one assumes M = 7.5 and the closest distance of ~300 km., PGA gets as high as 0.19 g.

Calculator
Seismic Attenuation

Variable Input Units Notes
Magnitude
km. Distance to earthquake producing fault
Variable Output - Site Effect not considered Units Notes
unitless
unitless Conversion from PGA to Intensity using Wald et al (1999)
  

Dead Sea - En Feshkapossible 7.9 - 8.8 Kagan et al (2011) identified several seismites whose time windows encompass 92 BCE.
Depth (cm.) Thickness (cm.) Seismite Type Modeled Age (± 1σ) Modeled Age (± 2σ) Quake Assignment (Kagan) Quake Assignment (Williams)
377 less than 1 4 (microbreccia) 69 BCE ± 28 67 BCE ± 65 64 BCE Pig on the Wall Quake not assigned
377.8 less than 1 4 (microbreccia) 72 BCE ± 30 70 BCE ± 64 not assigned not assigned
387 l 4 101 BCE ± 25 100 BCE ± 61 92 BCE Seventeenth of Adar Quake not assigned
393 l 4 121 BCE ± 25 119 BCE ± 58 mid 2nd century BCE possibly ~150 BCE southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake
402 l.5 4 151 BCE ± 21 150 BCE ± 55 mid 2nd century BCE possibly ~150 BCE southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake
Dead Sea - En Gedi possible 7.9 - 8.8 Migowski et. al. (2004) dated a 1 cm. thick Type 4 seismite at a depth of 294.93 cm. (2.9493 m) to 92 BCE.
Dead Sea - Nahal Ze 'elim possible 8.2 - 8.9 At site ZA-2, Kagan et al (2011) observed a 8 cm. thick Type 4 intraclast breccia seismite at a depth of 516 cm. with modeled ages of 103 BCE ± 37 (1σ) and 103 BCE ± 75 (2σ). They did not assign this seismite to any earthquake and suggested it struck in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. It may have formed during the southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake.
Araba - Introduction n/a n/a n/a
Araba - Taybeh Trench unlikely ≥ 7 LeFevre et al. (2018) did not observe any seismic events whose time window encompassed 92 BCE.
Araba - Qatar Trench unlikely ≥ 7 Klinger et. al. (2015) did not observe any seismic events whose time window encompassed 92 BCE.
Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Dinar Trenches



Altunel et al (1999) claim evidence for a ~80 BCE Apamea Earthquake in Event 2 from their trenches but only two useful radiocarbon dates were obtained in their paleoseismic study. The date constraints from these two samples are large (~1550 BCE - 1360 ± 50 CE) and their historical earthquake assignment is speculative - based on consulting earthquake catalogs during that time span.



Tekieh Trenches

Gomez et. al. (2003:15) may have seen evidence for an earthquake in the 1st or 2nd century BCE in Event B. Event B is estimated to have created ~ 2 meters of left lateral strike slip displacement which translates to an estimated Magnitude between 7.0 and 7.3 (7.0 and 7.2 according to Gomez et al, 2003:16-17). In terms of dating, an upper bound for Event B is 170 BCE - 20 CE while a lower bound for Events B and and the older Event C is from 1690 - 1400 BCE.



Tabarja Benches

Elias et al (2007) examined uplifted benches on the Lebanese coast between Sarafand and Tripolis; some in the vicinity of Tabarja (~20 km. NE of Beirut). They identified four uplifts from 3 or more [sizeable Mw = ~7.5] earthquakes in the past ca. 6-7 ka. They attributed the latest uplift (B1) to the 551 CE Beirut Quake while the earlier events (B2, B3, and B4) were no more precisely dated than between ~5000 BCE and 551 CE. Bench uplift on the earlier events (B2, B3, and B4) would likely have been due to uplift on the Mount Lebanon Thrust system - as was surmised for Event B1 and the 551 CE Beirut Quake.



Bet Zayda (aka Beteiha)

Wechsler at al. (2014) records event CH4-E6 with a modeled age of 392 BCE – 91 CE.



Dead Sea - Seismite Types



Dead Sea - En Feshka

Kagan et al (2011) identified several seismites whose time windows encompass 92 BCE.

Depth (cm.) Thickness (cm.) Seismite Type Modeled Age (± 1σ) Modeled Age (± 2σ) Quake Assignment (Kagan) Quake Assignment (Williams)
377 less than 1 4 (microbreccia) 69 BCE ± 28 67 BCE ± 65 64 BCE Pig on the Wall Quake not assigned
377.8 less than 1 4 (microbreccia) 72 BCE ± 30 70 BCE ± 64 not assigned not assigned
387 l 4 101 BCE ± 25 100 BCE ± 61 92 BCE Seventeenth of Adar Quake not assigned
393 l 4 121 BCE ± 25 119 BCE ± 58 mid 2nd century BCE possibly ~150 BCE southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake
402 l.5 4 151 BCE ± 21 150 BCE ± 55 mid 2nd century BCE possibly ~150 BCE southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake


Dead Sea - En Gedi

Migowski et. al. (2004) dated a 1 cm. thick Type 4 seismite at a depth of 294.93 cm. (2.9493 m) to 92 BCE.



Dead Sea - Nahal Ze 'elim

At site ZA-2, Kagan et al (2011) observed a 8 cm. thick Type 4 intraclast breccia seismite at a depth of 516 cm. with modeled ages of 103 BCE ± 37 (1σ) and 103 BCE ± 75 (2σ). They did not assign this seismite to any earthquake and suggested it struck in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. It may have formed during the southern Dead Fish and Soldiers Quake.



Araba - Introduction



Araba - Taybeh Trench

LeFevre et al. (2018) did not observe any seismic events whose time window encompassed 92 BCE.



Araba - Qatar Trench

Klinger et. al. (2015) did not observe any seismic events whose time window encompassed 92 BCE.



Notes

Earthquake from around this time in Apamea

Ambraseys (2009)

90 BC Apameia

A destructive earthquake in Phrygia, Asia Minor. The earthquake happened before the expedition of Mithridates VI (89–87 BC), who, when he arrived at Apameia (Kibotos) during his invasion of Phrygia, found the city ruined by an earthquake. Besides destroying Apameia the earthquake caused ground deformations, the appearance of new lakes and the disappearance of rivers and springs. Mithridates gave funds for reconstruction to Apameia and to other towns, which had been damaged by the earthquake. In places water gushed out and spread over the country, carrying to the surface sea fish and shells (sic.).

From palaeoseismicity data Altunel et al. (1999) suggest that the event, which they date 80 BC, was associated with surface faulting of the Dinar zone.

Notes

‘Nicolaos of Damascus, in the one hundred and fourth book of his Histories says that “near the Phrygian Apamea, during the Mithridatic wars, earthquakes occurred which brought to light in that country lakes never existent before; rivers also and springs besides were opened by the earthquake, while many, again, disappeared; and such quantity of other water, of a brackish and blue sort, gushed forth in their land, that in spite of its being a great distance from the sea, the neighbouring region was filled with shellfish and all the other fishes which the sea nurtures.”’ (Ath. Deipnos. VIII. 332/LCL. iv. 10).
‘And, among the other cities [of Phrygia], Apameia was often shaken by earthquakes before the expedition of King Mithridates, who, when he went over to that country and saw that the city was in ruins, gave a hundred talents for its restoration; and it is said that the same thing took place in the time of Alexander.’ (Str. XII. viii. 18/LCL. v. 514–516).

References

Ambraseys, N. N. (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: a multidisciplinary study of seismicity up to 1900.

Guidoboni et al (1994)

(057) before 88 B.C. Apamea (Phrygia)

Sources

  • Nic. Dam. FGrHist 90 F 74
  • Strabo 12.8.18
Literature
  • Robert (1962)
  • McGing (1986)
Catalogues
  • Guidoboni (1989
Nicolaus Damascenus writes:
At the time of the war of Mithridates, after some earthquakes, there appeared near Apamea in Phrygia some lakes which did not previously exist, as well as some rivers and some new springs, which came into being as a result of the movement of the earth, while many others disappeared; and in the area when they were, there came to the surface such a quantity of pale blue salt water that, it spite of the great distance from the sea, the surrounding area filled with shells an the other fish which live in the sea.
For the identification of Apamea and the lake, see Robert (1962, pp.338ff.). Strabo's evidence provides a better dating:
Amongst other cities, Apamea was ofter struck by earthquakes before the expedition of Mithridates; and when he went there and saw the damage, he gave one hundred talents for rebuilding.
This passage does not refer to a series of earthquakes, but merely points to earlier seismic events in the history of Apamea. See entry (028) above. The entry of Mithridates into Apamea is one of the first episodes of his first war (89-5 B.c.). An ex. amination of the sources suggests a dating of 88 B.C. — the year in which he entered Phrygia and expelled the Roman garrison from Apamea (see McGing 1986, p.109). It is not possible to give an exact date for the earthquake, but it must have occurred in the years immediately preceding this. Historians of Mithridates were concerned to emphasise his commitment to rebuilding, and did so by pointing out that the city had been helped in similar circumstances by Alexander the Great (see entry (028)), whom Mithridates was evidently emulating. (In this connection, see App. Mithr. 101; McGing 1986, p.101).

References

Guidoboni, E., et al. (1994). Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century. Rome, Istituto nazionale di geofisica.

Wikipedia



Paleoclimate - Droughts

References