Tilted Gate Earthquake (?) - Iron IIB-C
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) and
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b) used
radiocarbon to produce
an
absolute chronology for the so-called
Early Fortress of Stratum VIII and
the so-called
Middle Fortress of Stratum VII.
Stratum VIII ended in ~950 BCE, while both phases of Stratum VII (A and B)
were dated between ~950 and ~900 BCE.
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) and
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b) assigned
Stratum VIII to Iron Age I and
both phases of Stratum VII to Iron Age IIA – which appears to follow
Finkelstein’s
Low Chronology.
The date ranges of
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) and
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b) were supplemented with pottery, cross-checked
with radiocarbon dates from nearby sites, compared to architectural
styles of the time, and evaluated against regional historical trends.
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) argue that during Iron Age IIA
(Stratum VII), " 'En Ḥaṣeva was associated with copper trade from
Khirbet en-Naḥas in
Wadi Faynan". They also concluded that
abandonment at the end of Stratum VII (~900 BCE) was not caused by
Pharaoh Shoshenq I’s ~925 BCE campaign in southern
Canaan. After this abandonment, the site remained deserted
"for nearly a couple of centuries showing no trace of later
occupation activity", until the "immense fortress established at
ʿEn Ḥaṣeva over the abandoned building (Stratum VI) opened a new
chapter in the site’s history, dating to the Iron Age IIB–C".
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b) dates
occupation of the Stratum VI fortress to the 8th to early 6th centuries BCE.
Cohen and Yisrael (1995) suggested that the
so-called Middle Fortress of Stratum VII was damaged by one of the
~760 BCE Amos Quakes.
If one accepts the revised chronology proposed by
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) and
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b), which redates Stratum VII to approximately
950–900 BCE, this proposed association becomes chronologically untenable.
In contrast,
Austin et al. (2000) and others
argued that a tilted wall in the
Casemate Gate
was deformed during one of the
~760 BCE Amos Quakes.
Doron Ben-Ami (pers. comm., 2024) reports that the relevant
pier of this gate belongs to Stratum VI.
Ben-Ami et al. (2024) and
Ben-Ami et al. (2026b) date this stratum to the
8th to early 6th centuries BCE, making attribution of the
tilting to one of the
~760 BCE Amos Quakes
chronologically plausible.
Although attribution of the tilted
Casemate Gate
pier to one of the
~760 BCE Amos Quakes
is chronologically plausible, other walls at the site do not exhibit comparable deformation.
Ben-Ami (pers. comm., 2024) notes that the tilted pier is underlain by
layered sediment similar to that beneath Building 3011 (see
Ben-Ami et al. 2024),
while Roberts (2012:187–189)
observed that floors were absent beneath the casemate walls.
Together, these observations indicate a weak and uneven foundation, suggesting that
differential settlement,
rather than seismic deformation, is the more likely explanation for the tilt.
In its current post-excavation state, the wall rests partly
on an earlier stone foundation and partly on stratified sediment.
The tilt, accompanied by a fresh fracture line, occurs precisely
at the interface between these two substrates, a pattern that
is again more consistent with
differential settlement
than earthquake-induced tilting.
