Two earthquakes are proposed for Ez Zantur during the Byzantine period. The first, the 363 CE Cyril Quake, is widely accepted, while the second remains debated.
Stucky (1990:270–71) reported the discovery of two skeletons (a woman and child) buried beneath roof and masonry collapse in Room 1 (EZ I), alongside 65 bronze coins dated 336–361 CE. According to them, this strongly supports a seismic event coinciding with the 363 CE Cyril Quake. A similar destruction layer attributed to the same earthquake was identified in the Ez-Zantur domestic complex by Bedal et al. (2007), above 1st–4th century pottery deposits.
Kolb et al. (1998) described broken columns, and charred beam debris in Room 6 of EZ IV, which they interpreted as earthquake damage. They also described a cracked flagstone floor which they opine was “a witness to the violence with which the wood hit the floor” (JW: Cracked stairs may also be due to this same earthquake). Kolb et al. (1998) report that the dating evidence consists of fourth-century household items (including ceramics, glass, and personal objects) found beneath a thick collapse layer of stucco wall and ceiling decorations and that this destruction layer seals the occupation and confirms, along with coin evidence from a nearby room, that the final phase of habitation ended with the 363 CE Cyril earthquake.
Kolb and Keller (2002:286) found an ash layer in Square 86/AN sealing the final occupation layer with datable finds pointing again to a 363 CE terminus. This includes stratigraphically constrained lamps and glassware.
Kolb and Keller (2000:366–368) report that glass lamp fragments from Ez Zantur provide secure chronological markers for two key destruction phases. Early beaker-shaped glass lamps with flaring rims and three handles were found just above the floors in rooms 11 and 19 of EZ IV, in debris sealed by the 363 CE earthquake. These vessels were associated with Constantinian coins, late Roman ceramics, and early glassware, indicating that “the destruction of the building was caused by the earthquake of 363 AD” and that these are “among the earliest examples of a type of lighting which became common during Byzantine and Islamic times.”
Kolb and Keller (2000:366–368) also report that fragments with wick holders appear in upper layers of rooms 11–14 and 16 of EZ IV, and in rooms 2, 8, and 28 of EZ I, were all associated with destruction from a second earthquake, “most probably in 419” CE. A tubular wick holder from Room 2 at EZ I “is unquestionably from the latest occupation… disrupted by a second earthquake in the early fifth century.” Lamps with outfolded rims and wick holders become dominant after this event, marking a typological shift confirmed in shops along the Colonnaded Street, abandoned in the 5th c., and in 6th-century layers elsewhere in Petra.
Kolb and Keller (2000:366–368) conclude that “glass lamps with outfolded rims, three handles and wick holders were common in the Petra region from the early fifth century onwards,” with no evidence for wick-holder lamps predating the 5th century in secure contexts.
Jones (2021), however, disputes the final occupation and destruction date of Bauphase Spätromisch II and challenges the attribution to the 419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake presented in Kolb ( 1996: 51, 89; 2000: 238, 244; 2007: 157). Jones (2021) suggests that the region-wide decline in 5th-century coin circulation cannot serve as reliable post-419 CE abandonment evidence and a single Marcianus bronze (450–457 CE) from Room 28, dismissed by excavators as intrusive, might rather be valid. Jones (2021) also notes “the presence of 25 unidentifiable small bronze coins, 15 of which could be dated to the 4th–5th century ( Peter 1996: 98–100, nos 89–113)” and “at least some” of which “are likely to be issues of the 5th century.”
Jones (2021) argues that al-Zantur I Spätromisch II ceramics, rather than dating from 363–419 CE, should date to at least a century later. African Red Slip (ARS) Forms 91C and 93B, found in Spätromisch II, are now known to date no earlier than the mid-5th century in their Tunisian production zones. Local wares at the site include Aqaba amphorae (early 5th century or later), Arched-Rim Basin Form 2 (6th–7th century), and local ARS analogs from the 5th–6th centuries. These forms are inconsistent with a pre-419 CE destruction layer and instead align with late contexts such as those at the Petra Church.
Jones (2021) concludes that the most plausible destruction event is the Areopolis earthquake of c. 597 CE, known from an inscription recording post-earthquake repairs at al-Rabba. This, according to Jones (2021), fits the ceramic evidence and matches other 6th-century destruction layers in Petra better than earlier candidates. Jones stresses that the 363 CE destruction layer is valid, but occupation at ez-Zantur continued into the 6th century before being terminated by a later quake.
