Zayadine (1971) published a dedicatory inscription from Areopolis, discovered in 1968 out of context in a villager’s home. He argued that the inscription provides evidence for a previously undocumented earthquake that struck the city shortly before 597 CE. The text records that during the incumbency of the most holy Bishop John [this building] has been restored in the year 492, after the earthquake. “year 492” follows the Era of the Province of Arabia, corresponding to 22 March 597–21 March 598 CE (as calculated with CHRONOS). Both Zayadine (1971) and Gysens (2003) attribute the inscription to the church situated between the Roman temple and the colonnaded street in Areopolis. In published literature, this building is variously designated as Church 2 or the West Church.