Sabbatical Year Earthquakes Open site page in a new tab Open text page for Michael the Syrian  in a new tab Open text page for Chronicon Ad Annum 1234 in a new tab Open text page in a new tab

Bosra is listed among the settlements devastated during the earthquake sequence of January 749 CE by two later Syriac chroniclers, Michael the Syrian and Chronicon Ad Annum 1234. These two accounts are not independent, as the Chronicon Ad Annum 1234 and Michael the Syrian are thought to have shared many sources, and their descriptions of the earthquake sequence are closely related. Both authors describe Bosra in terms of catastrophic structural destruction. Michael the Syrian states that Bosra was "swallowed up completely," whereas the Chronicon Ad Annum 1234 reports that Bosra was "razed to its foundations." The Holy Desert Quake North appears to be the most likely source of the reported damage.

By Jefferson Williams