Jason's Tomb in Jerusalem Jason's Tomb in Rehavia, Jerusalem

Click on Image for high resolution magnifiable image

Wikipedia - Neta

The copyright holder (Neta - Elef Millim project) of this file allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted.


Introduction

Jason's Tomb, located west of the Old City, was discovered in 1956 in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. Based on finds found inside the tomb, it's initial construction is dated to the beginning of the first century BCE and it's use continued until the 1st century CE until it was sealed in 30/31 CE (Rahmani, 1964:99). Based on charcoal drawings and inscriptions, it is presumed to be the the tomb of a previously unknown personage named Jason. (Stern et al, 1993)

Chronology
31 BCE Earthquake and/or 31 CE Earthquake

Rahmani(1964:98-99) interpreted the collapse of “structured parts” of Jason’s Tomb in Jerusalem to be due to the 31 BCE earthquake. He noted the presence of Herodian remains (mainly oil lamps) on a plaster floor beneath earthquake debris. Since Herod conquered Jerusalem in 37 BCE and Rahmani (1964) dates sealing of the tomb to 30/31 CE, it was presumed that the responsible earthquake was the only one that Rahmani (1964) was aware of at that time – the Josephus Quake of 31 BCE. However, since then evidence for the Jerusalem Quake of 26-36 CE has come to light making the Jerusalem Quake another possible candidate for the collapse debris. If the Jerusalem Quake did cause archeoseismic damage to Jason’s Tomb, it may have added additional debris rather than being responsible for the original debris.

Seismic Effects
31 BCE Earthquake and/or 31 CE Earthquake

Rahmani(1964:98-99) interpreted the collapse of “structured parts” of Jason’s Tomb in Jerusalem.

Intensity Estimates
31 BCE Earthquake and/or 31 CE Earthquake

Effect Description Intensity
Collapsed Walls collapse of “structured parts” of Jason’s Tomb VIII +
The archeoseismic evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VIII (8) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224).

Notes and Further Reading
References

Rahmani, L. Y. (1964). Jason’s Tomb. Atiqot 4 (Hebrew Services). Jerusalem, Hebrew Services. Atiqot 4: 30.