749 CE Sabbatical Year Quakes

Sabbatical Year Quakes

South Araba Quakes

Karcz (2004) notes that the following authors fail to mention either earthquake;

• Chronicles of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th century)
• Michael Glykas (12th century)
• Leo Grammaticus (13th century)

Notes on these accounts

• Partial translations of Eutychius of Alexandria on RogerPearse.com here (scroll to bottom paragraph) don't show any earthquakes during the reign of Marwan II. All of Roger Pearse's Eutychius translations are here
• Karcz (2004) appears to be technically incorrect about Michael Glykas as Glykas does mention the Mesopotamian Earth Fissure along with the Talking Mule from the Talking Mule Quake. However, Glykas does not mention anything else or even the fact that there was an earthquake. According to Glykas, the Talking Mule apparently appeared after a spontaneous opening of the earth.
• There is mention of an earthquake which appears to have struck northern Anatolia during the reign of Copronymous in Chronographia by Leonis Grammatici here

• Ibn Taghri Birdi, i. 311
• Abu Bakr
• Grumel 1954, 128 and passim
• Anast. 1376; 143; 1499/909
• Baethgen 1884, 126
• Papadopoulos-Kerameus 1898, iii. 4
• Syriac fragments (Brooks 1900)
• Chronicon 813, 247/188
• Muralt 1855, 352, 353, 357
• Eutych. ii. 192 - no mention of the earthquake in an English translation at Roger Pearse in Chapter 18i or Chapter 19a - just reporting on the history at that time
• Le Strange 1905, 131 - mentions a mosque in Mopseustia destroyed by an earthquake in A.H. 139 (756 CE)
• Muqad. 173
• Brice 1981, 19
• Dussaud 1927, 90, 94–95

Even less definite are reports such as that of the 10th century Mukadassi (Le Strange, 1887) who writes that «earthquake in the days of the Abbasids threw down the sanctuary except the part round the mihrab», which may refer to the 750 A.D. event (i.e. after Marwan’s death and ascent of Abbasides) but also to one of the later earthquakes, or the statement in «Commemoratorium de Casis Dei» (808: Tobler and Mollinier, 1880) that the Church of Maria Nea is still in ruins after having been damaged by an earthquake, but it is not clear which earthquake of the 8th century it was.

Karcz (2004) also supplied the following about later reports including al-Makin who is listed under Textual Evidence.

The 13th century compilers al Makin (Erpenius, 1625) and Petrus Ibn Rahib (Cheiko, 1903) report a widespread destruction of cities and loss of life under the ruins and flooding along the coast, but do not mention any specific localities. The day and month date of 21 Tuba follows Severus [aka al-Muqaffa], but the year appears to have been misrepresented. The text suggests that rather than the year of the earthquake, AH 120, 460th year of Diocletianus (two incompatible dates of 737/738 A.D. and 744/745 A.D.) refers not to the earthquake but to the year of ascent of Patriarch Abnachajil (Kail, Michael), in course of whose 23 year long tenure the earthquake took place. While the Diocletianus year agrees with the official chronology of Patriarchs of Alexandria, the Hejira dates of al Makin and Erpenius do not. Indeed Michael’s ascent is given as AH 120 (737/738 A.D.) rather than the now known date of 743 CE and the ascent of the preceding Patriarchs Cosmas and Theodoros is respectively AH 108 (726/727 A.D.) instead of 729 A.D. and AH 109 (727/728 A.D.) instead of 730. In view of al Makin’s Coptic background this may seem strange, but similar apparent inconsistencies appear also in Ibn Rahib chronicle, who tabulates the succession of patriarchs using the Alexandrine-Africanus era. The dates of ascent and duration of service, differ from both al Makin and from the official chronology of the patriarchs and chronological calibration of the dates is inconsistent.

Finally the Mekhitar d’Airavanq chronicle (Brosset, 1869) mentions an earthquake in 751 A.D., in times of Constantine Copronymus. This later date is supported also by lack of reference to the day and month date of 18 January, which is the day on which the Armenians in the Holy Land celebrate Christmas (12 days later than elsewhere).

Hebrew version of Wikipedia has links to poem Seventh Noise - Wikipedia (google translated to English)

Links

HaMizrachi | Yom HaAtzmaut 5781 by mizrachiuk - Issuu

Digital Library for International Research Archive | The date of an earthquake at Tiberias

A NEW DOCUMENT ON THE FAST OF THE EARTHQUAKE / JUSTOR

On The Date of the 'Sabbatical Year Earthquake' / On the Question of the 'Seventh Noise' on JSTOR

Further Comments on the 'Sabbatical Year' Earthquake / on the date 'The Seventh Noise' and its meaning on JSTOR

Tsafrir and Foerster (1992b) relate the following:

on the other traditions, from al-Wasiti onwards, see Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Wasiti, al-Bays al Muqaddas, (ed.) I. Hasson (Jerusalem, 1979), 84.

AD 746 Jan 18 Palestine

Considerable confusion surrounds the dating of earthquakes in the Middle East during the middle of the eighth century, a period during which a series of major earthquakes occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean region and in the Middle East. On 26 October 740 a large earthquake on the eastern coast of the Marmara Sea caused widespread damage in Constantinople and to the southeast of the city (Ambraseys and Finkel 1991). In 742 there was an earthquake in the Yemen; and in the spring of 743 there was another large earthquake in north-central Iran (Ambraseys and Melville (1982).

Then, on 18 January, some time between 746 and 749 AD, there followed what modern writers consider to be a major earthquake in the Jordan Valley, the effects of which extended over an enormous area, from Egypt across to Turkey and from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River in Iraq (Sieberg 1932a, 802; Russell 1985, 48; Ben-Menahem 1991; Guidoboni 1989; Guidoboni et al. 1994, 366–370; Tsafrir and Foerster 1992, 231, 234, pl. iii).

Finally, in 763, there was another destructive earthquake in Khorassan (Ambraseys and Melville 1982).

The question we ask here is that of whether the earthquake of 18 January 746–749 was responsible for all the effects described in the sources, or whether these effects could have been cumulative from more than one event occurring months or years apart with different epicentres in Syria and Palestine. If the historical sources do indeed refer to a single earthquake, such an event should have been of unprecedented magnitude and deserves reappraisal insofar as it would affect the earthquake hazard in the region.

Information on the effects of earthquakes during this period is available from Byzantine, Syrian, Arabic and Jewish sources. The period is a little too early for contemporary Arabic literary and archival sources of information, and the region is rather removed for Byzantine chronographers.

The most-contemporary author who mentions these earthquakes in Syria and Palestine in the middle of the eighth century is Theophanes. The dating in Annus Mundi used by Theophanes follows the Alexandrian system (AM_a), which in relation to our era has a starting point of 25 March 5492 BC, and differs from the Byzantine Annus Mundi (A.M._Byz.), which was used by other Byzantine chroniclers, which starts from 1 September 5509 BC. In consequence, a year in AM_a has two indictions, being one year behind. For the problems arising from the conversion of Theophanes’s AM_a dates to our Dionysian era, see Grumel (1934, 407).

There is little doubt that, in common with later Syrian sources, such as Denys of Tel-Mahre (Chabot 1894; Chronicle, 72/63), Chronicon 1234 (325–327/254– 255), Michael the Syrian (xi. 22/ii. 509–511; Arm. 258), and other sources which are now extinct, Theophanes had access to earlier Syrian writers. It is obvious that the dates he assigned to events he should have converted to (AM_a) from the dating systems in his sources, e.g. from the Seleucid (ASG) and Chaldean (ASC) dating systems, the former starting from 1 October 312 BC and the latter from 1 April 311 BC. In such cases the presumption must be that the dates in Theophanes’s text have been borrowed from these sources and that they are more likely to be correct than the AM_a dates, the latter being simply the result of Theophanes’s own calculation.

For the decade AM_a 6238–6248 or AD 746–757, Theophanes mentions three earthquakes in Syria, Palestine and along the Jordan. The first earthquake he puts in AM_a 6238, during the sixth year of Constantine Copronymous; and he says

. . . that in that year there was a great earthquake in Palestine, along the Jordan and the whole of Syria on 18th January, at the 4th hour, and many thousands, countless people, were killed; and churches and monasteries fell, especially in the desert of the Holy City . . .

Note that Theophanes employs Byzantine location names, so that the Jordan should be the Jordan River or the region along it, rather than Jund Urdun of the Arabs, and that Syria of his time extended from the Moab in the south to the Euphrates in the north, with Mesopotamia bordering on the east. Note also that the desert of the Holy City should not be confused with the wilderness of Judah or the desert of Sabba. In the ninth century AD the territory of Jerusalem was considered to include everything within a radius of 40 miles (the Arab ‘mil’ was borrowed from the Byzantines, who had borrowed it from the Persians, who reckoned a mile at about 1.8 km) or 70 km from the city, and its desert part must be sought east of Sughar, extending to the east up to Madaba into Jund Urdun (Muqad. 173). It would appear therefore that what Theophanes implies here is that damage was more serious in this part rather in Jerusalem itself.

Theophanes places the second earthquake two to three years later, in AMa 6241, of the third indiction, in the ninth year of Constantine Copronymous. He says that

. . . on 26th January of the same 3rd indiction a son was born to the Emperor Constantine. At that time an earthquake and a great and terrible collapse occurred in Syria, as a result of which some cities were completely destroyed, others perhaps half-demolished, and others in their entirety, with their walls and houses, were moved intact from the mountains to the plains beneath, some six miles [11 km] distance or more [sic.]. And eyewitnesses said that the land of Mesopotamia was rent over a length of two miles [3.6 km], and from its depths rose up (?) a different sort of earth, very white and sandy . . . (Theoph. 657).

Note that it need not be supposed that the earthquake happened, as Theophanes says, ‘at that time’, which was the birth of Constantine V Copronym’s son Leo on 26 January 750. In Greek, the words he uses have alternative meanings, meaning also during that period, or during that year.

The third earthquake, which Theophanes (663) says ‘was not small’, occurred again in Syria and Palestine, ten years after the first event, on 9 March AMa 6248, during the 16th year of Constantine Copronymous; Mesopotamia is not mentioned.

It is interesting that, contrary to the habit of chroniclers, before and after Theophanes, of amalgamating earthquakes into one event, he not only keeps these events separate but dates two of them fully.

There are no earlier Byzantine writers who mention these events. Megas Chronographos does not seem to be an eighth-century work, as it was once supposed to be, but rather a post-ninth-century or later compilation of extracts concerning various disasters from the last quarter of the fifth to that of the eighth century, added in an eleventh-century hand on a manuscript. This derivative work draws from Theophanes and borrows from later Byzantine writers.

It is not clear how Schreiner (1975, 44; 1977, 87) dates the event to 18 January 747 or 6255 AMa, of the 15th indiction.

The Byzantine chroniclers who noticed two earthquakes during this period are Anastasius (1376; 143; 1499/909), Cedrinus (462A/ii. 7; 463A/ii. 9) and Glycas (284C/515, 527). Nicephorus (sub ann.), George Hamart (sub ann.) and Zonaras (i. 1139) largely replicate Theophanes and only in passing mention the first earthquake, adding no new details. Other near-contemporary and later writers ignore these earthquakes altogether.

In the narratives of these chroniclers information concerning the earthquakes is intercalated between other notices about other unassociated events with no chronological order. This practice is also followed by Syriac writers, making it impossible to reckon the year of an earthquake from the years of events that preceded and followed it. A typical example is in the Analecta, where, if the year of the first earthquake in Theophanes (8 January 746) is calculated from the chronological sequence of the events preceding and following it, it should have occurred in AD 741 (Papadopoulos-Kerameus 1898, iii. 4).

Syrian chroniclers are geographically closer to the AD 746–757 earthquakes in Syria and Palestine and naturally present a broader view, providing the most information, although they are no more consistent about dates than the Byzantine chroniclers.

Setting aside Byzantine sources, which are to some extent derivative but nonetheless useful, there are only two Syrian chroniclers whose information comes from primary sources, the works of Denys (Chabot 1894; Chronicle, 72/63) and the Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysius (191/146). Both writers, who draw from the same extinct sources, mention two separate events: one in the morning, sometime in ASG 1059 (September 747 to August 748), which was preceded by a foreshock the previous night, and another earthquake in the middle of the night of Thursday, 3 Adar ASG 1067 (3 March 756). These shocks, they say, were felt in Mabug and in the region to the west of the town, as well as in Khabura on the Euphrates River.

Later Syrian sources combine this information, attributing it to a single earthquake and reporting only one earthquake. An extensive description of the effects of all three earthquakes in Theophanes and of other earthquakes put together is given by Michael the Syrian (xi. 22/ii. 509–511; Arm. 258), who was writing late in the twelfth century, and also by the derivative chronicle Chronicon 1234. Michael says

. . . In the middle of these matters [portentous occurrences] there was an earthquake at Damascus which lasted for days and shook the city . . . At Beit Qoubaye there was a fortress which . . . was completely overturned and more than 80 people suffocated there; even in the city, many perished. In Ghutah and at Daraiya many thousands of people died. Bosra, Nawa, Derat and Baalbek were completely swallowed up. The springs of water in the last-mentioned town were turned into blood . . ., the waters returned to their natural state. There was also an extraordinary storm in the sea, such that the waves rose up to the sky, . . . Also it flooded and overran its limits, destroying many coastal towns and villages. In the region of Balqa, that is, Moab, there was a fortress built on the seacoast . . . when the waves dashed against it, they tore it from its foundations, and hurled it three miles. This earthquake destroyed Tiberias, with the exception of a house . . . It overturned thirty Jewish synagogues there . . . The baths . . . were overturned and collapsed. There used to be a purgative spring there . . . and edifices above; and all around hostelries. . . all these things and buildings disappeared. Near Mt Tabor, a village moved four miles, with its houses and [other] buildings, without any stone . . . falling from the buildings . . . The spring of water which was by Jericho moved six miles. At Mabug, the earthquake happened at the moment of the Liturgy; men and beasts were killed, while great churches were overturned together with the walls. At Constantinople the statues of the emperors collapsed together with most of the buildings. It was the same in Nicaea and in other towns . . .

Throughout his narrative Michael uses the word earthquake in the singular form and gives the impression that what he describes was the result of single earthquake.

Michael’s chronicle, like the Chronicon 1234, which was derived partly from Denys (Chabot 1894; Chronicle, 72/63) and probably also partly from Elias (Bar Sinaia) mentions, without any detail and without naming Syria or Palestine, an earthquake in ASG 1059 (October 747 to September 748) west of Khabura in Mesopotamia.

Those of the Muslim writers who mention the earthquakes, mostly not contemporary or even nearcontemporary, are brief, almost telegraphic, and name only Egypt, Mt Tabor, Damascus, Misis and Mabug. The exception is Jerusalem, for which they give a long description of the effects of the earthquake on the Aksa mosque. (One element of interest here, apart from the problem of dating and possible amalgamation of events, is the damage reported to the Aksa mosque in Jerusalem. Later Muslim authors refer to a second shock, in the reign of al Mahdi, which damaged the restorations carried out after the first earthquake.)

Muqaffa says that an earthquake happened across the East, from the city of Gaza to the furthest extremity of Persia (Theoph. 418; Cedr. 805–806/i. 884), where 600 cities and villages were destroyed. He adds that no religious buildings of his own faith were damaged (Sev. ibn-al Muqadd. f. 987/139–140). His reference to Persia obviously betrays an amalgamation with the coeval earthquake of AD 743 at the Caspian Gates.

Of the other Muslim writers that are known, there are only four who expressly mention two separate earthquakes: Dhahabi (al-Dhah. Tar. Islam v. 39–40), who mentions one in Jerusalem during Ramadan a.H. 130 (4 May to 2 June 748), which was also felt in Damascus the same year, al-Suyuti (17–19/9–10), Mujir (Mujir alDin 59–60) and al-’Ulaimi (i. 237–238). A second earthquake in a.H. 131 (31 August 748 to 19 August 749), which was felt in Jerusalem, is mentioned by the same authors.

If it is assumed that the damage caused by earthquakes during the decade AD 746–757 was important enough for Syrian and even for the more-removed Byzantine chroniclers to record, it is difficult to explain why Muslim writers say so little about it when the earthquakes happened in their own territory.

An eighth- or ninth-century piyyut, a medieval Jewish liturgical poem, refers to the disastrous earthquake effects on Tiberias and Shephelah and the ‘flooding’ (In fact the text says . . . in anger plunged the people in the Sharon Valley’) of the Valley of Sharon in a Sabbatical year, which was commemorated by the Fast of the Seventh Year Earthquake on 23 Shevat (Gil 1983 sub ann.; 1992, 89ff.). It is not known, however, whether the ‘flooding’ of the Sharon Valley was caused by the earthquake or whether the Valley of Sharon is the coastal Plain of Sharon or the valleys of Jezreel and Esdraelon, west and southwest of Tiberias. No mention is made of Jerusalem, or of any other location.

It can be shown (Tsafrir and Foerster 1992, 233), that 23 Shevat fell on 18 January, which is the date in Theophanes for his first earthquake, which is a remarkable coincidence. This does not solve the dating problem, however, since this happened only in AD 749, which was not a sabbatical year (Margaliot 1959; 1960).

Another document adds some evidence for placing the ‘Sabbatical Earthquake’ in the 679th year since the Destruction of the Temple, i.e. AD 748–749 (Margalioth 1959). However, a complication is added to this by the existence of three different dates for the Sabbatical Year in which the Temple is believed to have been destroyed, namely 69–70 (Hananeel’s date), 67–68 (Rashi) and 68–69 (Maimonides). A sixteenth-century rabbinical conference decided in favour of Maimonides’ date, which would place this event in AD 747–748. However, if Rashi’s system were used, the year would be AD 746–747, while according to Hananeel’s system it would be AD 748–749 (Russell 1985, 28).

More recently, Elitzur (2004) tried to establish the time of the poet Pinkhas using as reference the earthquake, to which she assigned, solely on the basis of Jewish sources, the rather questionable date AD 749.

Excavations of a collapsed commercial street of the Byzantine and early Arab period in Scythopolis (Bet Shean) unearthed a small coin hoard. The earliest coin dates from a.H. 78 (AD 697–698), the latest, which has survived in mint condition (Tsafrir and Foerster 1992, 231, 234, pl. II), from a.H. 131. Since, by virtue of its location, it is possible that Bet Shean could not have escaped damage, this numismatic evidence suggested a terminus post quem of 31 August 748 to 19 August 749.

There is also some numismatic evidence for the destruction of Gerasa (Jerash), Pella, Ramat Rahel and Khirbet al-Karak. In the case of the Ramat Rahel, the town was already impoverished and dilapidated owing to its destruction in AD 659. The walls of Khirbet al-Karak had been severely damaged by the AD 659 earthquake, and the remains were levelled. In addition, the construction of Khirbet al-Mefjer seems to have been abandoned as a result of the AD 747–749 earthquake event: this destruction has been dated from ceramics found there. A note of caution regarding pottery as a means of dating is sounded in the case of Philadelphia (Amman): only preAbassid (i.e. pre-AD 747) glazed ware is found there, but regional variation could mean that this type of pottery was in fact in use later than it appears elsewhere (Russell 1985, 52ff.).

As discussed above, Michael gives the impression that what he describes was the result of a single earthquake, which of course cannot be true, since to the places damaged he adds Mabug, Constantinople and Nicaea, more than 600 km from Tiberias. It is also known that the damage in Constantinople was from the earlier earthquake of 26 October 740 (Theoph. 412–413; Cedr. 801/880), which Michael (xi. 22/ii. 504; xi. 23/ii. 511; Arm. 259) mentions here for the second time.

Michael does not date the events he describes. He inserts the notice between others, which are not arranged in a chronological order: the accession of al-Walid II in AD 743, the earthquake in the Yemen in AD 742, the partial eclipse of the sun in AD 743 and the accession of Theophilactus in AD 721. What is important is that the year of the earthquake, i.e. ASG 1059, is not given by Michael but by the editor of his work, J. B. Chabot.

The separation and identification of the events responsible for the damage described by some writers, such as by Michael, would have been easier if they were less general in their narratives and more specific with dates and damage information. The sources, however, survive only in an abbreviated form, so it is not possible to disentangle the chronology of Michael’s narrative to identify individual events. Almost all the notices that exist today are fragmentary abridgements of the primary source, making certainty of interpretation virtually impossible. Once the discrepancies in the sources are seen to be due to muddle, which is the rule with sources of that period, they no longer require a comprehensive explanation.

Some historical events are clearly distinct owing to the geographical separation of the places affected. It is less clear, however, when more than one earthquake is transformed into a single sizable event. This is understandable, in view of the tendency of early writers to amalgamate or duplicate seismic events, often synchronised with significant political or military events. Sites may have been damaged or destroyed by separate earthquakes, which occurred during the same week, month or year, and, for the early period, even during the same century, but these are not differentiated in the sources.

It has been shown that Syrian writers mention an earthquake in ASG 1059 (October 747 to September 748) west of Khabura in Mesopotamia. Tsafrir and Foerster (1992) assume that this is the same earthquake as that which affected Palestine, but Denys (Chronicle, 72/63) also mentions a second earthquake, near Khabura, at midnight on Tuesday on 3 Adar ASG 1067 (3 March 756), which makes the year ASG 1059, which Tsafrir and Foerster assume to be very tenuous. Tsafrir and Foerster (1992) also notice that Elias dates one of the earthquakes in two calendars: to ASG 1059 and also to a.H. 131. From the overlapping parts of these years they conclude that the earthquake described by Michael must have occurred on 18 October 749. However, they do not notice that Chronicon 1234, which, for all practical purposes, is identical with Michael’s, dates the event in two calendars, e.g. in ASG 1060 and a.H. 134, which do not overlap, suggesting that, where dates are muddled in the sources, agreement is likely to be fortuitous.

Confusion and inconsistencies of various kinds do occur and some sources, other than Theophanes, also give two events, frequently in different calendars, with incompatible years, most probably due to miscalculation from the primary source, copyists’ errors, or deliberately, to emphasise the significance of the earthquake by relating it to another important religious or political happening.

Archaeological evidence in this case hardly helps. A strong case against the date deduced from archaeological excavation at Bet Shean is that the destruction layer discovered might, in fact, belong to the earthquakes of 9 March 6248 AMa (757) or to those during AD 768–775. Tsafrir and Foerster (1992) mention neither and give the impression that they treat all the sources from this period as referring to a single earthquake. Thus the numismatic evidence cannot exclude the destruction of Bet Shean in one or other of these later events as well as in an AD 747–749 earthquake.

Although there is uncertainty in all the dates derived from texts, coins and ceramics it is obvious that the distinct descriptions in Theophanes, imply three distinctly different events. Whatever the exact dates might have been, the conspicuous duality of accounts in many of the independent sources textually reflects more than one earthquake, particularly in Theophanes, who was contemporary with these events (AD 752–818), which fact cannot be ignored.

It seems that the reason why some modern writers argue in favour of a single event is that they have dismissed dating inconsistencies in Byzantine, Syrian Arabic and Hebrew sources as a mere artefact of the different systems of dating used by individual writers. Also there is the fact that Michael’s chronicle seems to imply that there was only one major earthquake in ASG 1059 (Russell 1985, 48).

Our chief interest is in deciding whether what we have here refers to one or more earthquakes. We ought to explain, however, why one is inclined to think that, regardless of whether the dates of the events are exact, there should have been at least three sizable earthquakes, if not more, during the period AD 746–757.

First, let us assume that there was only one earthquake responsible for the effects described by Michael. He enumerates the places affected as Damascus, Ghouta, Daraiya, Bosra, Nawa, Darat, Baalbek, Balqa, Tiberias, Mt Tabor, Constantinople and Nicaea. Later authors add Cairo, Damietta, Gaza, Jerusalem, Khabura and Mabug. The assumption of a single earthquake, the damaging effects of which extended from Egypt to Turkey and from the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, Iraq and Persia, over an area of radius about 500 km, is simply not tenable purely on seismological grounds. If the epicentral region of such a large earthquake were placed on the Jordan Rift Valley, near Lake Tiberias, there is no doubt that the shock would have been felt in Khabura and Mabug 600 km away, but at such distances it would have caused no damage.

Second, if this single earthquake, as our authors attest, also ruined Khabura and Mabug, the earthquake must have been of unprecedented size. Such an event should have obliterated the whole of Syria, Palestine and modern Jordan, for which there is absolutely no evidence in the texts, and it should have caused very serious damage to towns on the Mediterranean coast as well as further inland, particularly to the urban areas of Hims, Antioch and Aleppo. Yet, no document suggests the slightest effect on these and other urban sites west of the Rift Valley, which are more important than those mentioned in the texts.

One further consideration is worth mentioning. It is very likely that, in borrowing from earlier sources and in amalgamating the effects of distinct earthquakes into one or more events, authors are likely to have kept the names of the localities affected in the same order or groups in their narrative as they found them in their sources. Setting aside the uncertainty that exists regarding the dates, the texts may be arranged in groups according to the sequence in which they name the localities affected in order to test the hypothesis that the number of consistent groups is equivalent to the number of separate earthquakes.

In the first group Theophanes mentions Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Jerusalem. Then Agapius mentions Palestine and Tiberias, while Michael and Chronicon 1234 give Tiberias, Tabor and Damascus. Abu Bakr and Dahabi name only Jerusalem. Elias and Khawarizmi mention Tabor and al-Suyuti names Jerusalem and Damascus. With the exception of Michael, who does not date the event, all place the earthquake in AMa 6238, a.H. 130 or ASG 1059–60.

The second group is formed by Theophanes, who gives Syria and here introduces Mesopotamia, the Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysius, which repeats Mesopotamia and adds Mabug, and Khawarizmi, who gives only Mabug, a locality given also by Elias, Michael and Chronicon 1234. Again, with the exception of Michael, all date the event to AMa 6241, a.H. 131, or ASG 1059–60. The Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysius adds Khabura in Mesopotamia, with inconsistent dates AMa 6248 and ASG 1067.

In the third group Theophanes omits Mesopotamia and gives only Palestine and Syria. Dahabi and al-Suyuti mention only Jerusalem. No details of this shock have been recovered in other sources and there is little evidence to help assess its location.

These groupings confirm that there were at least three events as mentioned by Theophanes.

It is concluded that the first earthquake, on 18 January 746, affected Palestine, Jordan and Syria. Starting from the north, some parts of Baalbek collapsed, and the spring there temporarily turned red.

Further south in Damascus, although the earthquake was strong, creating panic and causing some of the inhabitants to flee the city, the only evidence for damage in the city itself is the collapse of the Dajaj suq (poultry market), which fell from the ‘Great Rocks’. However, in the surrounding, well-watered and fertile plain of Ghautah damage and loss of life was considerable, particularly at Daraiya. It is said that, further south, Nawa and Deraat were destroyed and even Bosra was ruined, but details are lacking.

A fortress at Beit Qoubaya was completely destroyed and more than 80 people were killed, in addition to those who perished in the town. The location of Beit Qoubaya is uncertain. There is a site in northern Lebanon called al-Qubayyat (35.57◦ N, 36.29◦ E) southwest of Homs. However, damage to Homs, an important urban centre, is not mentioned.

West of Daraat, Tiberias was almost totally destroyed, including 30 Jewish synagogues, the baths of Solomon and the edifice of a purgative spring; all these buildings disappeared. (This was first suggested by Margaliot (1941).) It is said that at Tiberias, more than 100 000 (sic.) men died (Agap. 521/261), which is obviously a grossly exaggerated estimate.

Tentatively, it is possible to consider sites close to the southernmost limit of the epicentral area for which there is some archaeological evidence for coeval damage, i.e. Khirbet al Karak, near the south coast of Lake Tiberias, and also Bet Shean, which should have been affected. For the site at Kinneret, just north of Khirbet al Karak, there is also coeval palaeoseismological evidence of surface faulting (Marco et al. 2003).

Near Mt Tabor the earthquake triggered a landslide, as a result of which a village situated on it moved four miles (sic.), with its houses and people undamaged (Elias Bar Sinaia). Landslides are not uncommon in this area, even without the help of earthquakes. We are told that the people of the Sharon Valley were ‘plunged’. It is not clear whether this means that the valley was flooded as a result of the earthquake or due to some other cause. Also, it is not known whether this was the Plain of Sharon, near the Mediterranean coast, or the inland valley of Jezreel, southwest of Tiberias. A plausible explanation would be that this description refers to the effects of widespread liquefaction of a low-lying plain, probably around Tiberias and to the south of it along the Jordan Valley (Margaliot 1941).

There is no literary evidence that the earthquake caused damage worth reporting to the south of Lake Tiberias all the way to Jericho, where the only effect reported is of a spring of water which moved six miles, most probably the drying up of a spring and the appearing of a new spring at another place. Although it is possible that Jerusalem sustained some damage, the sources do not refer to it. They do describe at some length the repairable and irreparable damage caused to the Aksa mosque around its mihrab, but details about damage to other buildings and houses in Jerusalem are lacking (Theoph. 422; al-Dhah. Tar. Islam v. 39–40).

There is some evidence that the shock was felt in Gaza and in Misr (Egypt), in Damietta and at Fustat (Cairo), where the shock caused some concern (Sev. ibnal Muqadd. f. 987/139–140).

Aftershocks continued to be felt for days (alSuyuti 17–19/9–10).

There remain two more points worth considering regarding this earthquake.

The first is that in his narrative Michael talks also about the effects of an extraordinary storm at sea, as a result of which waves rose up (damaging waves in lakes, fjords and large reservoirs can be generated by submarine slumping of large masses of loose sediments triggered by an earthquake or by its aftershocks), flooding the land and destroying coastal towns and villages, including a fort in the region of Balqa, that is, in the Moab, a site probably somewhere near the northeastern coast of the Dead Sea. The storm he clearly does not associate with the earthquake and this event may be as exotic as the damage caused in Constantinople and Nicaea, which Michael inserts for the second time at the end of his narrative (Mich. Syr. xi. 22/ii. 504; xi. 23/ii. 511; Arm. 259).

The second point is the reference by Byzantine writers to another earthquake in AD 742 in the ‘desert of Sava’ or ‘Sava’ (Theoph. 349/641; Agap. 510/250; Cedr. 460/ii. 5). The latter may correspond to the monastery of Savva, southeast of Jerusalem. Michael, however, says that the earthquake occurred in the ‘desert of the Taiyeye’ (Arabs), which may be equated to Sava or Saba in the Yemen. A location in the Yemen is supported by the fact that this notice includes an account of another event in the Yemen during that year (Ambraseys et al. 1994, 25– 26). The shock caused landslides and many villages were overwhelmed by collapsing mountain sides (Mich. Syr. xi. 22/ii. 507).

The exact location of the epicentral region is not supported by clear evidence but can be inferred from the association of its long and narrow shape aligning with the Jordan Rift. It is interesting that the earthquake affected the region to the east of the Jordan Rift more than it did that to the west. For instance, there is no evidence of damage in towns and trading ports along the Mediterranean coast and hardly any evidence from further inland, west of the River Jordan. It seems that much of the damage was done to towns lying east of the river along the trade route that ran from Palmyra via Damascus to Maan and Tabuk, towns far less important than those in the west.

With so few details at this stage of the study, it is clearly not possible to assess intensities with objectivity or to suggest either an epicentral location or an area of perceptibility, except to say that the fact that chroniclers so widely record the earthquake suggests that it must have been a relatively large event.

The only indication that the earthquake was perhaps associated with surface faulting is the palaeoseismological evidence at Kinneret (Marco et al. 2003). This is supported by the location and the north–south extent of the damaged region. Clearly the data do not clarify how far the rupture would have extended, but suggest that perhaps the rupture to the north reached a point halfway between Tiberias and Baalbek and that to the south went halfway to Jerusalem, a length of about 100 km to a first approximation.

The second earthquake, which occurred in AD 749 or early in AD 750, affected only Mesopotamia and presumably the adjacent part of northern Syria, where towns, which are not named, were destroyed or halfdemolished. In Mabug, and in the region west of the town, it is said that many people died and the earth was rent for two miles (Theoph. 422; Khawarizmi sub ann.).

At Mabug, preceded by a foreshock a few hours earlier, the earthquake happened at the moment of the Liturgy, destroying the Great Church, in which all perished (Chron. Ps.Dion. 191/146; Elias Bar Sinaia). Three villages near Khabura on the Euphrates River also collapsed and many people perished, together with others in the many other places that the earthquake destroyed (Chron. Ps.Dion. 191/146).

Little is known about the third earthquake on 9 March 757. It is described as of some size, affecting Palestine and Syria, and the second earthquake to occur in Jerusalem, where it destroyed the repairs that had just been made to the Aksa mosque after the first earthquake. It was said that at the time of the third earthquake the platform of the mosque opened, allowing the sky to be seen. Another earthquake following after this one closed the gap up again (al-Suyuti 17–19/9–10). References

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

〈049〉 749 January 18

(It seems to be that there are two earthquakes, the first is in Southern Syria while the second is in the northern part and Mesopotamia that Manbej could be affected).

• Mount Tabor: VII-IX
• Baalbak: VIII
• Bosra: VII
• Nawa: VIII
• Balqa: VIII
• Al-Quds: VII
• Beit Qubayeh: VII-VIII
• Tabaryya: VII
• AlGhouta and Manbej: VII
• Darayya: VI
• Damascus and Daraa: V-VI
• Ariha

• Surface faulting and liquefaction in Mesopotamia
• Landslide at Mount Tabor

Sources

• Al-Suyuti: In the year of 130 A.H. (started from 747 September 11) a shock occurred in Damascus causing panic and the Hens Souk fell down. In the year 131 A.H. (started from 748 August 31) a great shock occurred in Damascus, fracturing the roof of the Mosque.


• Al-Mansouri: In the year 132 A.H. (started from 749 August 20) there was an earthquake at Al-Sham


• Theophanes: 749 January 18, a violent earthquake occurred in Palestine, Jordan and in all of Syria, many tens of thousands of casualties, churches and monasteries fell down especially near Jerusalem. Some cities were completely destroyed and some partly. In Mesopotamia, the land was opened for 2 miles where the eyewitness saw an ancient statue. Landslide for one city completely


• Michael the Syrian: 749 January 18, an earthquake was in Damascus for some days; one fortress was completely destroyed and 800 casualties in the city. In Ghouta and Daraya, many casualties. Bosra, Nawa, Dar’a, Baalbak were completely swallowed up. In the region of Balqa (Mu’ab), a fortress was taken and thrown 3 miles away. City of Tiberias destroyed. Near the mount of Thabor, a village was moved for 4 miles without damage. A source of water near Ariha was moved 6 miles. In Maboug, the earthquake was during the prayer time.


• Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysus of Tell-Mahre: 749 January 18, in Manbej, and during the time of prayer, the church fell down.


• Chronicle of 1234: 749 January 18, there was an earthquake for some days in Damascus, a fortress at Beit Cubaya was destroyed, 800 casualties, the same in Ghuotah and Daraya, many casualties were heavily damaged, Bosra, Nawa and Baalbak fell down partially, a fortress in Mo’ab was thrown for 3 miles. The city of Tabaria was destroyed and a village near Thabor Mountain was shifted without damage. Mabboug was destroyed.


• Elias of Nisibis: 749 January 18, many earthquakes occurred and many places fell down. A village near Tabor Mountain was shifted for 4 miles. The church of Mabboug fell down over the people.


• Agapius of Menbij: 749 January 18, a violent earthquake hit the coast of Palestine, many villages were hit and many casualties in Tiberias more than 100000 casualties


• Georgius Cedrenus: 749 January 18, a big earthquake took place in Palestine, Jordan and all of Syria. There were many thousands of casualties. Monasteries and temples fell down.


• Nicephorus of Costantinopolis: 749 January 18, a violent earthquake hit Syria, the cities were swallowed up and some buildings were shifted for 7 miles. In Mesopotamia, a deep hollow was formed.


• Georgius Monachus: 749 January 18, a big earthquake destroyed the cities, some completely and other partially, the tall buildings fell down or shifted. In Mesopotamia, a deep hollow was formed for three miles.


• Al-Dhahabi: A strong earthquake in Syria. It was the strongest in Jerusalem, causing many casualties.


• Ibn Tagri Birdi: A violent earthquake in Syria destroyed Jerusalem.

Parametric Catalogs

• Plassard and Kogoj (1981): They considered that there were two events, the first was on 746 January 18 (I=V) in Palestine with destruction (Anastase; Perrey; Sieberg) and the second was in 748 (I=VII) at Damascus with destruction (AlSuyuti).


• Ben-Menahem (1979): 746, January 18, wednesday evening after 16 h, 32.0N, 35.5E, fault extended northwards over 120 km, I0=XI, Ml=7.3, felt in Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Mesopotamia. Great damage in Tiberias (30 synagogues destroyed), Jerusalem, led, Arad and to monasteries north of the Dead Sea. About 600 settlements in Judea, Samaria and Galilee were hit and many casualties reported. Destruction of Hisham palace near Jerico and the city of Gerasa. Tsunami in the Dead Sea and possible flooding of Dead Sea southern basin (Al-Sinawi and Ghalib; Amiran; Avi-Yonaha; Bahat et al.; Michel the Syrian; Neev and Emery; Plassard and Kogoj; Sieberg; Willis).

Seismological compilations

• Guidoboni et al. (1994): 749 January 18, Baalbak, Beit Qubayeh, Bosrah, Damascus, Daraa, Darayya, Al-Ghouta, Jerico, Jerusalem, Mabbug, Nawa, Tiberias, Mt. Tabor, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Syria (Jerusalem and Mabbug IX ≤ I ≤ X), in the mid 8th century, a powerful earthquake struck Palestine, inflicting serious damage at Jerusalem and Tiberias, and causing a landslide at a village near Mt. Tabor. There are two problems relating date of this event and either it was a single earthquake or a series of tremors, however it dated back to 18 January 749 (Tsafrir and Foerster, 1992). A powerful earthquake dated back to 18 January 747 occurred in Palestine, along the Jordan River and throughout Syria, killing thousands of people and collapsing churches and monasteries, especially in the desert near Jerusalem (Theophanes). There was a strong earthquake in Syria during the year (11 September 747-30 August 748), where the strongest shocks occurred in Jerusalem, causing the death of many conquering troops and others (Al-Dhahabi). There was a strong earthquake in Syria which destroyed Jerusalem, during the year (31 August 748-19 August 749) (Ibn Tagri Birdi). A severe and powerful earthquake in the West, the temple of Mambej collapsed totally in the year 747-748 (Pseudo-Dionysius). During the year (30 August 748-19 August 749) there were many earthquakes and many places were reduced to ruins, a village near Mt. Tabor moved four miles from its original position and in that year a church in Mambej collapsed (Elias of Nisibis). A tremor at Damascus lasted for days, a fortress in Beit Qubayeh collapsed and many people were killed, many myriads of people perished in Al-Ghouta and Dareya, while Bosra, Nawa, Dar’a and Baalbak were completely swallowed up, changing the color of water spring in the city, sea waves destroyed most of the cities and villages along the coast, the fortress of Balqa on the coast was uprooted, Tiberias collapsed, a village near Mt. Tabor was moved four miles with its houses and other buildings without any destruction, a water spring near Jerico changed its original place for six miles, destruction of churches and deaths in Mambej, most the buildings in Constantinople, Nicea and other cities collapsed (Michael the Syrian). Regarding (Tsafrir and Foerster, 1992) chronological analysis, they considered the Babylonian dating instead of the Antiochene sys- tem, they dated this event back to 749 January, 18. An earthquake in Mesopotamia and Syria in the year of 749-750, causing various levels of destruction in many cities and large-scale surface faulting in Mesopotamia (Theophanes).


• Ambraseys et al. (1994): 747 January 18, morning, 31.8N-35.7E, I ≤ VI. In 747 January 18, a large earthquake centering the Dead Sea region was felt in Egypt, some damage was caused in Damietta, in Fustat the shock was strongly felt and caused fear but no damage. There is a considerable confusion over the dating of this event, which the Arabic sources put in 130 A.H. began 11 September 747 (Al-Dhahabi; Al-’Ulami; AlSuyuti; Caetani; Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi; Taher), and January 748 has recently been proposed as the correct date (Ben-Menahem; Gil; Russell; Sieberg), the effects of the earthquake are frequently confused with those of another event that affected parts of Syria two years later (AlKhwarazmi; Tsafrir and Foerster).


• Russell (1985): 748 January In January 18, 747, a great earthquake occurred in Palestine, around the Jordan, and in all of Syria, to such an extent that many innumerable and countless people perished in its power, and churches and monasteries collapsed (Theophanes). On 18th day of January at the 4th hour in the 6th year, there was a great earthquake in Palestine, and towards the Jordan, and throughout all of Syria. Many thousands of people perished, and churches and monasteries collapsed (Cedrenus). Russell evaluated the date to be from June 746 through May 747. That night there was a great earthquake in the land from the city of Gaza to the furthest extremity of Persia, many houses were ruined in all the cities, and none was saved from them. On the sea, many ships were sunk on that night. Six hundred cities and villages were wrecked with a vast destruction of men and beasts, but Egypt was uninjured, except Damietta. At Misr, there was only great fear without damage (Severus Ibn Al-Muqaff). There was an earthquake at Damascus which lasted for days, a fortress in Beit Qubayeh collapsed and many people were killed, many myriads of people perished in AlGhouta and Darayya, while Bosra, Nawa, Dar’a and Baalbak were completely swallowed up, sea waves destroyed most of the cities and villages along the coast, the fortress of Balqa on the coast was uprooted, Tiberias was destroyed except for a house, a village near Mt. Tabor was moved four miles with its houses and other buildings without any destruction, a water spring near Jericho changed its original place for six miles, destruction of churches and deaths in Mabbug (Michael the Syrian). Russell suggested a date between September 747 and August 748 for this event. There were many earthquakes where many regions gave way. A village near Mt. Tabor was displaced 4 miles along with houses and their possessions, but without damage. The church of the Jacobites in Mabbug collapsed on Sunday and many people perished in it (Elias of Nisibus). Russell also suggested that this event occurred between September 747 and August 748.

Monographs

• Tsafrir and Foerster (1992): A major earthquake occurred in 749 January 18 (according to Margaliot and archaeological evidences found in Bet Sheam), in Palestine and throughout Syria, destroying Jerusalem, Gerasa, Jericho, Pella, Capernaum, Sussita, Bet Sheam and many sites along the Jordan Valley, killing many tens of thousands of people (Cedrenus; Dionysus of Tellmahr; Ibn Tagri Birdi; Ibn Al-Muqaffa; Margaliot; Michael the Syrian; Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi; Theophanes).

References

Sbeinati, M. R., R. Darawcheh, and M. Monty (2005). "The historical earthquakes of Syria: An analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.", Ann. Geophys. 48(3): 347-435.

(249) the morning of 18 January 749

• Ba'albek
• Beit Qubayeh
• Bosrah
• Damascus
• Dar`at
• Darayya
• al-Ghouta
• Jericho
• Jerusalem
• Mabbug
• Nawa
• Tiberias
• Mt.Tabor,
• Palestine
• Mesopotamia
• Syria

• landslides
• surface faulting
• seismic sea-wave

sources 1

• Theoph. 422, 426
• [Dion. Tellmahr.] 2.191-2
• Elias Nisib. Syr.versio 171-2
• Mich. Syr. 466-7
• al-Dhahabi, Ta'rikh al-Islam 5.39
• Ibn Tagri Birdi, al-Nujum al-zahira 1.311

sources 2

• Georg. Mon. 2.760
• Niceph. 64-5
• Cedren. 807, 809
• Zon. 2.108

literature

• Margaliot (1960)
• Russell (1985)
• Tsafrir and Foerster (1992)

catalogues

• Manetti [1457]
• Ligorio [1574-7]
• Bonito (1691)
• von Hoff (1840)
• Mallet (1853)
• Willis (1928)
• Sieberg (1932 a)
• Amiran (1950-51)
• Grumel (1958)
• Ambraseys (1962 b)
• Ben-Menahem (1979)
• Guidoboni (1989)

In the mid-8th century, a powerful earthquake struck Palestine, inflicting serious damage at Jerusalem and Tiberias, and causing a landslide at a village near Mt.Tabor. The earthquake is recorded in a substantial group of Byzantine, Syriac and Arab sources. The date of the earthquake, however, has remained a much debated problem to this day. Because they use different dating styles, the sources themselves are in apparent disagreement over the matter, to the extent that one is tempted to suppose that there was a whole series of tremors rather than a single earthquake. Even the modern scholars who have tackled the problem from time to time are not in agreement. For example, the earliest compilers of Palestinian earthquake catalogues dated this earthquake to 746 A.D. (Willis 1928, p.80; Amiran 1951-2, p.226), whereas Russell (1985, pp.47-9) suggested 748, and Margaliot (1960) 749. During recent excavations at Beth-shan, Tsafrir and Foerster (1992) have discovered new archaeological and numismatic evidence concerning this earthquake, and their thorough examination of the very complex chronological problems involved has led them to the conclusion that it occurred on 18 January 749 A.D., thereby adding weight to the hypothesis put forward by Margaliot (1960).

The source nearest to the events being narrated is Theophanes. He records an earthquake on 18 January in the year of the world 6238 [747 A.D.]:

In this year, on 18 January, at the fourth hour [c.11 a.m.], there was a powerful earthquake in Palestine, along the river Jordan and throughout Syria, and countless thousands of people were killed, and churches and monasteries also collapsed, especially in the desert near the Holy City [Jerusalem]

Cedrenus and Zonaras take up the information provided by Theophanes. In examining the sequence of events related by Theophanes before the passage about the earthquake, Russell (1985, pp.47-8) concluded that Theophanes may have made a chronological error, and that the earthquake is to be dated to 748 A.D. rather than 747. The 13th-14th century Arab historian al-Dhahabi dates the earthquake to the year 130 of the Hegira and states that the worst damage occurred at Jerusalem:

[In that year] there was a strong earthquake in Syria [...]. When the Province of Syria was struck by earthquakes in the year 130 [of the Hegira = 11 September 747 - 30 August 748 AD ], the strongest shocks occurred in Jerusalem, causing the death of many conquering troops and others.

The 15th century Arab historian Ibn Tagri Birth supports a different chronological tradition, which dates the earthquake to the year 131 of the Hegira:

In that year, there was a strong earthquake in Syria which destroyed Jerusalem. The sons of Shaddad ibn Aws died there. The inhabitants were forced to take refuge in the desert, where they stayed for forty days. It is said to have happened in the year 131 [of the Hegira = 31 August 748 -19 August 749 A D.].

The Syriac sources also supply a certain amount of detail in describing this earthquake. Pseudo-Dionysius of Tellmahre reports that the temple at Mabbug collapsed while the people were gathering there, and dates the earthquake to the year 1059 of the Seleucid era which, by traditional calculations, corresponds to 747-748 A.D.:

In the year 1059 [of the Greeks; i.e. 747-748 AD.], there was a severe and powerful earthquake in the West [...]. There was a tremor at night, and from far away it sounded like the bellowing of a bull [...]. And everyone had gone out of the city to pray at the temple dedicated to the Mother of God outside the city, I mean at Mabbug, in the West [...]. When everybody had arrived and reached the temple and gone inside [...] there was a sudden tremor and the temple collapsed on top of them, and crushed them all with their bishop. All were killed, and nobody escaped alive.

Elias of Nisibis also records the collapse of the temple at Mabbug, as well as a geological phenomenon which seems to have been a massive landslide at a village near Mt. Tabor. It is interesting to note the double dating which he provides in this case: the year 131 of the Hegira [31 August 748 -19 August 749] — the same year as that given by Ibn Tagri Birth — is made to coincide with the year 1059 of the Seleucid era. But that makes the year 1059 coincide with 748-749 AD. instead of the traditional 747-748 A.D. Elias of Nisibis writes:

The year 131 [of the Hegira] began on Friday 30 August [748 A.D.] in the year 1059 of the Greeks. Kuwarazmi. Daniel the Jacobite. In that year there were many earthquakes, and many places were reduced to ruins. A village near Mt.Tabor moved 4 miles [c.6 km] from its original position, with all its houses and properties while no earth at all fell from the houses, and neither people nor animals lost their lives, not even a hen. And in that year, in the city of Mabbug, the church of the Jacobites collapsed on a Sunday at the time of the Mysteries [during Solemn Mass] and many people perished in it.

The late 12th century writer Michael the Syrian provides a long description of the effects of the earthquake. In addition to Mabbug and Mt.Tabor, he mentions many more localities than earlier authors. According to him, for example, Tiberias was almost completely destroyed, together with 30 synagogues in the area. No specific date is given for the earthquake, but it is reasonable to suppose that the year 1059 of the Seleucid era is intended, since some of the expressions he uses are so like those of the earlier Syriac chroniclers.

The information he provides has to be treated with caution, however, because he seems to associate earthquake effects in the region of Palestine with damage to buildings in Constantinople and Nicea, whereas the latter was almost certainly the result of a different earthquake, which is hard to identify in our present state of knowledge. Michael the Syrian writes:

Meanwhile, there was a tremor at Damascus and it lasted for days, shaking the city like leaves on a tree. And at Beit Qubayeh there was a fortress built by Hajaj Bar Yusef at great expense. It collapsed in ruins, and more than 80 people suffocated inside; and many people perished in the city. Many myriads of people perished in Gautah [al-Ghouta] and Dareya [Darayyd], while Bosrah, Nawa, Dar`at and Ba'albek were completely swallowed up. The water in the springs of the city turned into blood, but it returned to its natural state after the repentance of the inhabitants and continuous prayers.

In the sea, too, there was an extraordinary storm, so that the waves rose up to the sky; and, just as a cauldron is made to boil by the flames of a fire, so the waves surged with a horrible and terrifying noise. The sea boiled and overflowed, and it destroyed most of the cities and villages along the coast.

In the land of Balqa — that is to say, Moab — there was a fortress situated on the coast, inhabited by Yemenite Tayayes. When the flood of the sea struck, it was uprooted from its foundations and set down three miles away.

This tremor caused the collapse of the city of Tiberias, except for the house of a man called `Isa; and it destroyed thirty Jewish synagogues and natural marvels. And that wonderful building, the bath built by Solomon, the son of David, was destroyed and collapsed. There was a spring of purgative water in it, with amazing constructions above it, and all around were inns (?) for those who sought to be healed. There were skilfully made clay pots, on each of which was written how many times it moved the bowels of the person who drank from it, and each person chose a pot according to the quantity he wanted. All those constructions were blotted out.

A village near Mt.Tabor was moved four miles from its place with its houses and other buildings, while no stone or clod of earth fell from its buildings, nor did any person or animal die, not even a cock.

The spring of water near Jericho was moved six miles from its place. At Mabbug, the collapse took place at the time of the mass. Both men and animals were killed, because the great churches and the walls collapsed in ruins. In Constantinople, the statues of the emperors and most of the buildings collapsed. The same thing happened at Nicea and in other cities.

In order to solve the puzzle of the chronological information provided by the Syriac sources, Tsafrir and Foerster (1992, pp.234-5) suggest a calculation not according to the Antiochene system but by the Babylonian system common in the eastern parts of the Seleucid Empire. In this chronological system, the point of departure is not 1 October 312 B.C. but 2 April 311 B.C.: thus the year 1059 of the Seleucid era would fall between April 748 and April 749 A.D., which corresponds to the year 131 of the Hegira (31 August 748 - 19 August 749 A.D.), as Elias of Nisibis suggests. On this basis, the date 18 January — the day and month given by Theophanes — in the year 749 A.D. fits both eras, as Tsafrir and Foerster suggest.

This dating also fits very well with the discovery of 31 gold dinars during the recent archaeological excavations at Beth-shan which we mentioned above. The coins were found in the ruins of a building which collapsed towards the mid-8th century A.D., and, significantly enough, the latest coin was dated to the year 131 of the Hegira [31 August 748 -19 August 749 A.D.]. As Tsafrir and Foerster (1992, p.234) point out, this discovery supplies a clear terminus post quem for the earthquake no earlier than the end of August 748.

The above considerations make it seem likely that another passage in Theophanes may actually refer to the 749 A.D. earthquake, even though it is given a slightly different date. Theophanes describes an earthquake in Mesopotamia and Syria in the year of the world 6242 [749-750 A.D.], the year in which Leo IV was born, in the third indiction. He records the various levels of destruction caused in many cities, unfortunately without giving their names, as well as large-scale surface faulting:

In the same year, there was an earthquake in Syria which caused widespread and terrible destruction. Some cities were completely destroyed, others were only partly destroyed, and yet others moved 6 miles [c.10 km] or more from the mountains towards the plains below, remaining completely intact, with their houses and walls. Those who witnessed the earthquake say that the ground in Mesopotamia split open over a distance of 2 miles [c.3 km] and that there came out of the fissure a different kind of white and sandy earth, from which appeared, so they say, an animal like a mule, quite spotless. And speaking with a human voice, it predicted that a people from the desert would attack the Arabs; and that did indeed subsequently happen.

Georgius Monachus provides the same information.

References

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

746 01 18 morning: Tsunami, possibly on the Levant coasts ?

Guidoboni et al. (1994), after Michael the Syrian, describe:

In the sea, too, there was an extraordinary storm, so that the waves rose up to the sky; and, just as a cauldron is made to boil by the flames of fire, so the waves surged with a horrible and terrifying noise. The sea boiled and overflowed, and it destroyed most of the cities and villages along the coast.

This event is difficult to explain since this is the only source that deals with these waves and there is no mention of where the waves rose. Therefore, locating this tsunami is a matter of interpretation, and although the stormy waves and scope of damage (cities and villages) may suggest that the tsunami occurred in the Mediterranean, the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee cannot be ruled out. Ambraseys (2009), however, interprets the same information differently, and concludes that a storm hit at the northeastern coast of the Dead Sea and was not associated with the earthquake. This event is also mentioned by Karcz (2004) and Ambraseys (2005).

As for the probable tsunamigenic source, Guidoboni et al. (1994, after Theophanes), note that

… there was a powerful earthquake in Palestine, along the river Jordan and throughout Syria, and countless thousands of people were killed, and churches and monasteries also collapsed, especially in the desert near the Holy City (Jerusalem).

Paleoseismic evidence for this event was found along the Jericho segment of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) (Reches and Hoexter, 1981) and in Tiberias along the western coast of the Sea of Galilee (Marco et al., 2003). Additionally, seismogenic mixed layers at the Dead Sea basin (Migowski et al., 2004; Agnon et al., 2006) have been associated with this event. Ambraseys (2005) estimated M_S = 7.0 for this earthquake, which he concludes was not associated with the documented storm.

Several authors suggest different scenarios: Shalem (1956) suggests an earthquake and a tsunami on 746 01 18; Ambraseys (1962) lists a tsunami on 746 01 18; Ben-Menahem (1991) notes an earthquake on 746 01 18; Ambraseys et al. (1994) place the date of the earthquake on 747 01 18; Amiran et al. (1994) report an earthquake and a tsunami on 749 01 18; and Soloviev et al. (2000) mention an earthquake and possibly a tsunami in 746. Recent studies of Karcz (2004) and Ambraseys (2005, 2009), however, suggest the occurrence of at least three events: an earthquake and a sea storm in Israel on 746 01 18; another event in 749 or early in 750 that affected Mesopotamia and presumably the adjacent part of northern Syria; and an earthquake on March 9, 757, that affected Palestine and Syria.

References

Salamon, A., et al. (2011). "A critical evaluation of tsunami records reported for the Levant Coast from the second millennium bce to the present." Isr. J. Earth Sci. 58: 327-354.

130/747 : earthquake in Châm, in the month of Ramadan (month of May). Several seismic tremors; the most violent earthquake is in Jerusalem; the western and eastern parts of the Dome of the Rock were damaged; numerous victims including many transmitters of traditions of the Prophet (of Medinan origin). The caliph Abû Dja`far al-Mansûr removes the silver and gold plates which covered the doors of the Dome of the Rock since the caliphate of `Abd al-Malik b. Marwan. Dinars and dirhams are minted which will be used to finance the reconstructions⁶⁶.

140/757 : earthquakes in al-Massîsa ; the surrounding wall is weakened. The caliph al-Mansûr decrees the reconstruction of al-Massisa under the responsibility of Djibrayl b. Yahya . The inhabitants of this town were few in number. The wall was rebuilt and the city was called al- Ma`mûra . The construction manager builds a large mosque. He paid the wages of 1000 workers⁶⁷.

158/774 : second earthquake in Jerusalem under the caliphate of al-Mahdî; reconstruction of the Dome of the Rock; the architecture was modified: al-Mahdî had it rebuilt lower and wider⁶⁸.

References

TAHER, M.A. (1996) "Les grandes zones sismiques du monde musul-mans a travers l'histoire. I. L'Orient musulman," Annales Islamologiques 30 (1996): 79-104. - open access

Fig. 2.6 747 January 18, Dead Sea. (from Ambraseys et al, 1994)

747 January 18 Dead Sea

A large earthquake centring in the Dead Sea region was felt in Egypt (see Figure 2.6). Some damage was caused in Damietta; in Fustat the shock was strongly felt and caused fear but no damage.¹

There is considerable confusion over the dating of this event, which the Arabic sources put in 130 H (began 11 September 747),² and January 748 has recently been proposed as the correct date.³ The effects of the earthquake are frequently confused with those of another event that affected parts of Syria two years later.⁴

References

Ambraseys, N. N., et al. (1994). The seismicity of Egypt, Arabia, and the Red Sea : a historical review. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

References

Abou-Karaki, N. (1987). Synthèse et carte sismotectonique des pays de la bordure Orientale de la Méditerranée: sismicité du système de foilles du Jourdain – Mer Morte, University of Strasbourg, France. Ph.D. Diss.

The Earthquake of January 748

[JW: Warning - Russell (1985) made a litany of chronological errors and omissions some of which are commented on below]

An account of this earthquake in Theophanes' Chronographia reads:

This year, on the 18th day of the month of January at the 4th hour, a great earthquake occurred in Palestine, around the Jordan, and in all of Syria, to such an extent that many innumerable and countless people perished in its power. and churches and monasteries collapsed, and all around the greatest of holy places there were deserted cities" (1839: 651).

The date given was A.M. 6238, dating this earthquake to January 18, 747. However. Theophanes noted the initial Abbasid revolt against Marwan prior to presenting his earthquake narrative, dating the revolt to 745/6 (A.M. 6237; 1838: 650). The commonly accepted date is June 747 as derived from Arabic sources (Hitti 1951: 530), which suggests the possibility of an error in Theophanes' dating.

Cedrenus also recorded this earthquake, largely replicating the previous account and dating of Theophanes.

In the 6th year there was a great earthquake in Palestine, and towards the Jordan, and throughout all of Syria, on the 18th day of January at the 4th hour. Many thousands of people perished, and churches and monasteries collapsed, from the greatest of holy places through deserted cities (1839: 7)

The sixth year of the reign of Constantine V would have been from June, 746 through May, 747, but this dating is ultimately derived from Theophanes (1839: 635). [JW: Theophanes and Cedrenus wrote about two earthquakes which Theophanes dated to AM_a 6238 and 6241]

Another account of this earthquake exists in a 10th century Arabic manuscript on the history of the patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria by Severus Ibn al-Muqaffa, bishop of Ashmunein (fl. ca. 955-987). Evett translates the relevant passage:

And that night there came great wrath from God, for there was a great earthquake in the land, and many houses were ruined in all the cities; and none was saved from them, not a single soul; and likewise on the sea many ships were sunk on that night. This happened all over the East, from the city of Gaza to the furthest extremity of Persia. And they counted the cities that were wrecked that night, and they were six hundred cities and villages, with a vast destruction of men and beasts. But the land of Egypt was uninjured, except only Damietta. And at Misr there was only great fear, without any death or ruin of houses; for though the beams in the doorways and walls were moved out of their places, they went back again to their places after two hours (Severus ibn-al-Muqaffa 1910: 139-40).

Al-Muqaffa presented this narrative while recounting events in the life of the patriarch Michael 1 (744-768). However, according to his account, this earthquake occurred on the 21st of Tuba (1910: 139), the Arabic name for the Egyptian month of Tybi. Since this month began on the 27th of December (see Bickerman 1974: 50), the 21st of Tuba would have been the 16th of January [JW:Except during Coptic Leap years when it is 17 January - which was the case in 748 CE]. Al-Muqaffa also noted the initial Abbasid revolt against Marwan (1910: 134) prior to his presentation of the earthquake narrative, thereby suggesting that this earthquake occurred on January 16, 748 according to the accepted date of the initial Abbasid revolt.

Two other accounts further support a 748 date. The first is given in the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian. This is also the most regionally detailed account of this earthquake. Chabot's French translation of the relevant Syriac text reads:

Au milieu de ces choses, i1 y eut a Damas un tremblement de terre qui dura des jours et qui la secoua comme la feuille des arbres. Il y avait a Beit Qoubaye (?) une fortresse qui avait ete bate par Hadidjad], fils de Yousef et pour laquelle it avait fait de grandes depenses. Elle fut renversee de fond en comble et plus de 80 personnes y furent suffoquees; dans la ville meme, beaucoup perirent. Dans la Ghautah et a Dareiya plusieurs mvriades de gens perirent. Bocra, Nawa, Der at. Ba'albek furent totalement englouties.

Dans la region de Balqa, c'est-a-dire de Mo'ab, y avait une fortresse situee sur le rivage de la mer, dans la-quelle habitaient des Taiyave yemenites: quand les flocs de la mer se heurterent contre elle, ils l'arracherent de ses fondements. et la projetereint a trois milles.

Ce tremblement de terre detruisit la ville de Tiberiade, a l'exception de la maison d'un hommc nomme Isa. Il y renversa trente synagogues des Juifs, et de merveilleuses chases naturelles. Les thermes, edifice admirable, bati par Solomon, fils de David, furent renverses et s'ecroulerent.

Pres du mont Thabor, un village se desplaca de quatre milles, avec ses maisons et ses constructions, sans qu'une pierre ou un peu de pise tomhat de ses batisses; et pas un homme n'y peril, ni aucun animal, pas meme une poule.

La source d'eau qui etait a cote de Jericho s'eloigna de sa place de six milles.

A Mabboug, le tremblement survint au moment de l'oblation; les hommes et les betes furent tues, car les grandes eglises furent renversees ainsi qu les murs (1901: 509-10).

Since Michael recorded these events for the year A.G. 1059, a date between September 747 and August 748 is suggested. [JW: Michael did not supply a date and his chronology is mangled in this part of his book] The second supportive account comes from the 11th century Chronographia of Elias of Nisibus.

Further, there were many earthquakes and regions gave way. And miraculously. a sillag adjacent to Mount Thabor was displaced four miles away from its own location along with houses and their possessions, and not one piece of wall plaster fell from those houses, and not a single person perished in it, nor animal nor cock. And further, the church of the Jacobites in the city of Mabbug collapsed on Sunday at the time of the Eucharist, and many people perished in it (1954: 82).

The date of A.G. 1059 given in Elias' text would again place the occurrence of this earthquake between September 747 and August 748 [JW: Elias did not date it to A.G. 1059. He dated it to A.H. 131 and used a date in the A.G. calendar - 30 Ab A.G. 1059 to reference, more or less correctly, the start of A.H. 131]. Finally, a 748 date agrees with that given by the 16th century Egyptian polygrapher As-Soyuti for a severe earthquake in Damascus (A.H. 130 = September 747 through August 748; Ambraseys 1962: 78) [JW: As-Soyuti provided dates of A.H. 130 and A.H. 131], as well as the "quake in the sabbatical year" apparently recorded in Talmudic literature (Ben-Dov 1976: 101; Mazar 1975: 269).

While a final resolution of this temporal problem cannot yet be offered, a 748 date is probable and has been adopted here. However, regardless of whether a 747 or 748 date is ultimately determined to be correct, only one earthquake occurred in the study area during this period.

As suggested for the earthquake of July 9, 551, the region affected by that of 748 apparently stretched from northeastern Egypt through northern Mesopotamia. The 748 earthquake has been correlated with destruction evidence at Khirbet al-Mefjer (Baramki 1942), Pella (Smith 1973: 166), and Jerusalem (Ben-Dov 1976: 101; Mazar 1975: 269). The final destruction of the basilica at Mt. Nebo also appears to correlate with this earthquake (Schneider 1950: 2-3), as do the collapsed Omayyad structures uncovered in 1949 on the Amman citadel (Harding 1951). At Jerash, this earthquake apparently brought an end to the impoverished "squatter" occupation in the Church of St. Theodore (Crowfoot 1929: 25. 1938: 221) and parts of the churches of St. John the Baptist, St. George, and SS. Cosmas and Damianus (Crowfoot 1938: 242, 244). Finally, Umm al-Jamal apparently suffered damage at this time and was subsequently abandoned (de Vries 1981: 65, 71).

References

Russell, K. W. (1985). "The Earthquake Chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd through the Mid-8th Century A.D." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 260: 37-59.

Russell, K. W. (1981). The earthquake chronology of ancient Palestine and Arabia from the 2nd to the 8th century A.D. Anthropology. Salt Lake City, UT, University of Utah. MS.

Williams, J. (2024). "Mid-8th Century CE Seismic Sequences Along the Dead Sea Transform." Annals of Geophysics 67(1): SE101.

Supplemental Appendices for Williams, J. (2024). "Mid-8th Century CE Seismic Sequences Along the Dead Sea Transform." Annals of Geophysics 67(1): SE101.

Contextualising the earthquake of 749 CE From high definition archaeology to global history - abstracts

Contextualising the earthquake of 749 CE From high definition archaeology to global history - Event

Abou-Karaki, N. (1987). Synthise et carte sismotectonique des pays de la bordure Orientale de la Mediterranae: sismicite du systeme de foilles du Jourdain a Mer Morte, University of Strasbourg, France. Ph.D. Diss.

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

ANTONOPOULOS, J. (1980). "Data from investigation on seismic Sea-waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D." Annals of Geophysics.

Begin, Z. B. (2005). Destructive earthquakes in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea and their re-occurrence interval and the probability of their occurrence. Geol. Surv. Isr. Rep. GSI/12/2005. Jerusalem: 51.

Ben-Menahem, A. (1979). "Earthquake catalogue for the Middle East (92 BC-AD 1980) " Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica e Applicata 21: 245-313.

Ben-Menahem, A. (1981). "Variation of slip and creep along the Levant rift over the past 4000 years." Tectonophys. 80(null): 183.

Ben-Menahem, A. (1991). "Four Thousand Years of Seismicity along the Dead Sea rift." Journal of Geophysical Research 96((no. B12), 20): 195-120, 216.

Ferrario, M. F., et al. (2020). The mid-8th century CE surface faulting along the Dead Sea Fault at Tiberias (Sea of Galilee, Israel).

Guidoboni, E., et al. (1994). Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century. Rome, Istituto nazionale di geofisica.

Kagan, E. J. (2011). Multi Site Quaternary Paleoseismology Along the Dead Sea Rift: Independent Recording by Lake and Cave Sediments, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Kagan, E., et al. (2011). "Intrabasin paleoearthquake and quiescence correlation of the late Holocene Dead Sea." Journal of Geophysical Research 116(B4): B04311.

Karcz, I. (2004). "Implications of some early Jewish sources for estimates of earthquake hazard in the Holy Land." Ann. Geophys. 47: 759-792.

Ken-Tor, R., Agnon, A., Enzel, Y., and Stein, M. (2001). "High Resolution Geological Record of Historic Earthquakes in the Dead Sea Basin." Journal of Geophysical Research 106(B2): 2221-2234.

Magness, Jodi, 1997, Synagogue Typology and Earthquake Chronology at Khirbet Shema, Israel, Journal of Field Archeology, Volume 24 Issue 2 (01 January 1997), pp. 211-220

Klinger, Y., et al. (2015). "5000 yr of paleoseismicity along the southern Dead Sea fault." Geophysical Journal International 202(1): 313-327.

Marco, S., et al. (2003). "Archaeology, history, and geology of the A.D. 749 earthquake, Dead Sea transform." Geology 31(8): 665-668.

Migowski, C., et al. (2004). "Recurrence pattern of Holocene earthquakes along the Dead Sea transform revealed by varve-counting and radiocarbon dating of lacustrine sediments." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222(1): 301-314.

Meghraoui, M., et al. (2003). "Evidence for 830 years of seismic quiescence from palaeoseismology, archaeoseismology and historical seismicity along the Dead Sea fault in Syria." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 210(12): 35-52.

Reches, Z. a. H., D. F. (1981). "Holocene Seismic and Tectonic Activity in the Dead Sea Area." Tectonophysics 95: 75-89.

Russell, K. W. (1985). "The Earthquake Chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd through the Mid-8th Century A.D." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 260: 37-59.

Rutenberg,Avigdor and Levy, Robert, DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: Some Comments on Seismicity in Israel, Performance Assessment & Damage to Historic Monuments in Jerusalem PROHITECH WP2 (Leader G. Altay). Haifa, Israel, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Schiller, E. (1978). The al Aqsa Mosque (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Ariel Publishing.

Salamon, A., et al. (2011). "A critical evaluation of tsunami records reported for the Levant Coast from the second millennium bce to the present." Isr. J. Earth Sci. 58: 327-354.

Tsafrir, Y. and G. Foerster (1992). "The dating of the Earthquake of the Sabbatical Year of 749 C.E. in Palestine." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 55(02): 231-235.

Wechsler, N., et al. (2009). "Estimating location and size of historical earthquake by combining archaeology and geology in Umm-El-Qanatir, Dead Sea Transform." Natural Hazards 50(1): 27-43.

Wechsler, N., et al. (2014). "A Paleoseismic Record of Earthquakes for the Dead Sea Transform Fault between the First and Seventh Centuries C.E.: Nonperiodic Behavior of a Plate Boundary Fault." Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

Wells, D. L. and K. J. Coppersmith (1994). "New empirical relationships among magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface displacement." Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 84(4)

Zilberman, et al (2004). Neotectonic and paleoseismic study : Bet She'an Valley. Jerusalem, Geological Survey of Israel.

Zohar, M., et al. (2016). "Reappraised list of historical earthquakes that affected Israel and its close surroundings." Journal of Seismology: 1-15.

Zohar et al (2019) - updated catalog





Ancient Texts

Anastasius Bibliothecarius. PL 129. J.-P. Migne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasius_Bibliothecarius
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16002b.htm

Cedrenus, G., et al. (1838). Georgius Cedrenus, Ioannis Scylitzae ope, E. Weber.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WM0GAAAAQAAJ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kedrenos
https://archive.org/details/georgiuscedrenu00scylgoog

Anonymous "Chronicle of 1234."

http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/resources/syriac/chronicles#section-21
https://archive.org/details/AnonymiAuctorisChroniconAdAnnumChristi1234PertinensIVersioCSCO109OCR
https://archive.org/details/ChroniconAdAnnumChristi1234PertinensVolume2
https://archive.org/details/chroniconanonymi01chab
http://archive.org/stream/ChroniconAdAnnumChristi1234PertinensVolume2/Chronicon1234ChabotVol2#page/n123/mode/1up
http://archive.org/stream/chroniconanonymi01chab#page/n327/mode/1up
http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/resources/syriac/chronicles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicle_of_1234
http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-the-medieval-chronicle/chronicle-of-1234-SIM_00201?s.num=76&s.rows=100

Chabot, J. B. (2010). Chronique de Denys de Tell-Mahre, Part, Kessinger Publishing.

http://books.google.com/books?id=VXzVYgEACAAJ
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronique_du_Pseudo-Denys_de_Tell-Mahr%C3%A9
https://archive.org/details/chroniquededeny00chabgoog

Elias, B. o. N. "Opus Chronologicum."

https://archive.org/details/OpusChronologicumByEliasBishopOfNisibis

Glykas, M. "Chronicle of events from the creation of the world to the death of Alexius I Comnenus."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Glycas
https://archive.org/details/michaelisglycae00leungoog

Gil, M. (1992). A History of Palestine, 634-1099, Cambridge University Press

Moshe Gil on Wikipedia

MichaelTheSyrian Chronicle.

https://archive.org/details/ChronicleOfMichaelTheGreatPatriarchOfTheSyrians
http://rbedrosian.com/Msyr/msyrtoc.html

Syrian, Michael the (1963). Chronique 4 volumes N. Chabot. Brussels.

https://archive.org/details/ChroniqueDeMichelLeGrand
https://archive.org/details/ChroniqueDeMichelLeSyrienT.1Fasc.1translation
https://archive.org/details/MichelLeSyrien2
https://archive.org/details/MichelLeSyrien3
http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2009/02/26/michael-the-syrian-preface-to-his-history/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_the_Syrian

Gregoras, N., et al. (2012). Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina historia: Graece et Latine, Cambridge University Press.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vfMb_RdGufUC
https://archive.org/details/byzantinahistor00bekkgoog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicephorus_Gregoras

Pseudo-Dionysus Works.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/dionysius
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/dionysius/works.html

Mango, C. A., et al. (1997). The chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern history, AD 284-813, Clarendon Press.

http://books.google.com/books?id=6BIMAQAAMAAJ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophanes_the_Confessor
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14623a.htm
https://archive.org/details/TheChronologyOfTheophanes607-775
http://www.scribd.com/doc/202355147/The-Chronicle-of-Theophanes-Confessor-Byzantine-and-Near-Eastern-History-AD-284-813-Oxford-1997

Zonaras, J., et al. (2011). Ioannou Tou Zonara Epitome Historion Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum Cum Caroli Ducangii Suisque Annotationibus Edidit Ludovicus Dindorfius, BiblioBazaar.

http://books.google.com/books?id=8d0gywAACAAJ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zonaras
https://archive.org/details/ioannoutouzonara03zonauoft





Ancient Arabic Texts

Dahab. Tarikh: al-Dahabii, Tarikh al-Islam, MS BL Or. 49 and 50; Paris MS Ar. 1581; Kitab al-'ibar fi khabar man ghabara, 5 volumes, ed. S. Munajjid, Kuwait, 1960-66; Kitab duwa al-Islam al-kabir, MS BM Or. 48-50, with Dhail ed. al-Sakhawi, Hyderabad, 1919; trans. A. Negre, Damascus 1979, p. 13.

(Sawirus), M. I. a.-M. (1943). History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church. A. a.-M. and and Burmester. Cairo.

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/severus_hermopolis_hist_alex_patr_00_eintro.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Patriarchs_of_Alexandria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severus_ibn_al-Mukaffa
http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/severus_hermopolis_hist_alex_patr_00_intro.htm

al-Suyuti, J. a.-D. K. (1971). Kashf al-salsala 'an wasf al-zalzala. A. a.-L. Sa'adan. Fez.

http://makashfa.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/works-books-of-imam-jalaluddin-suyuti/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Suyuti

al-'Ulaimi (1866 (A.H. 1283)). al-Uns al-jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds. wa'l-Khalil. Cairo.



Judaic Texts

Margalioth, M. (1941), ‘Dating the Seventh-year earthquake’, Bull. Israel Explor. Soc., 8, 97–104 (in Hebrew).

Margalioth, M. (1959), ‘A new document on the Seventh-year earthquake’, Tarbiz, 29, 339–344 (in Hebrew).

Tsafrir, Y., Foerster, G. (1992), ‘The dating of the ‘earthquake of the Sabbatical year’ of 749 C.E. in Palestine’, Bull. SOAS, 55, 231–235.

Gil, M. (1983), Palestine during the First Muslim Period 634–1099, 3 volumes, Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defence

Elitzur (2004) in Hebrew

Elizer (2005) in Hebrew



Samaritan Texts

Stenhouse, P. (1980). "The Kitāb al-Tarīkh of Abu'l Fath: a new edition."

"The Samaritan Chronicle of Abu '1 Fatch, the Arabic text from the MS in the Bodleian Library", DVJ, 2 (1863), pp. 304-335, 430-459.

The Kitab al-Ta'rikh of Abu 'l-Fath, Ph. D Thesis, Sydney University (1980).

The Kitab al-Ta'rikh of Abu 'l-Fath, Translated with Notes (The Mandelbaum Trust, Sydney, University Press 1985).

Crown, A. D. (1989). The Samaritans. Tübingen, J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).