Stratum IV ended in fire and destruction. Rast and Schaub (2003:129) report that "in most of the areas where Stratum IV structures were found, the remains of these structures were accompanied by a thick layer of dark ash." Because "plant remains were absent in the examination of many samples taken from the ash," the "burned debris in the Stratum IV structures appears not to have been occupational" – i.e. it wasn't due to a kitchen fire. Something external appears to have burned the site. In Area F, demolished brick structures were found along with a "thick ashy burn layer," 25 cm thick in some places (Rast and Schaub, 2003:102–103). In Area F4, bricks from the Stratum IV buildings were found settled into the ash, indicating that fire preceded collapse. In Area XII, the ashy deposit was widespread, as thick as 50 cm, and accompanied by mud-brick debris and pottery sherds (Rast and Schaub, 2003:115–116). Rast and Schaub (2003:155) suggested a date range for Stratum IV, based on pottery, between 3200 and 3100 BCE in Early Bronze IB. This date assessment was found to be compatible with three Stratum IV ¹⁴C dates.

Rast and Schaub (2003:130) suggested that the cause of destruction may have been an Egyptian attack – an explanation they found "preferable to other explanations such as a natural calamity or local conflict." That said, Rast and Schaub (2003:130) noted that "if an Egyptian attack against the Stratum IV village had been carried out, the former left no evidence of having taken over the site, which seems to have been resettled in Stratum III, at least in part, by people from the previous village" as "following EB I, the artifactual and architectural data speak for some measure of continuity in the population."