Excavations at the Church of Saint Theodore in Jerash revealed clear evidence of destruction attributed to the 749 CE Sabbatical Year Quakes. Crowfoot (1929:19) noted that the collapse coincided with the latest material culture found on the floor levels, consistent with a mid-8th-century date. In both his 1929 and 1938 reports, Crowfoot described the collapsed state of the basilica’s columns: all fourteen Corinthian columns had fallen—none remained standing or were removed—indicating a sudden and violent collapse. Their orientation was inwards in the west half, northwards in the east half. In addition, the west wall of the atrium, constructed of massive stone blocks, was severely dislocated ( Crowfoot in Kraeling, 1938:260). At the atrium entrance, upper blocks were displaced so violently that they reportedly “turned a somersault in the air,” conveying the force of the shock (Crowfoot, 1929:19; Crowfoot in Kraeling, 1938:223–224).

Crowfoot also noted activity in adjacent side chambers, where tiles and stones had been stacked for repairs just before the earthquake, later abandoned when the area was reoccupied by squatters (Crowfoot in Kraeling, 1938:224). It is plausible that a weakened or partially dismantled roof allowed ground motion to act directly on the columns in the eastern half of the church. With little structural restraint, the columns collapsed toward the north, a pattern consistent with an epicentral direction from that quadrant. A similar northeastward fall is visible in the Church of Bishop Isaiah, apparently caused by the same event. Comparable behavior is also seen in the northward collapse of the eastern carceres of the Hippodrome, which likewise lacked restraint and appears to have been affected during the same earthquake.

Walmsley (2007) lists the Church of Saint Theodore among several Jerash churches that contained thick deposits of destruction debris attributed to the 749 CE earthquake. He observed that although the damage was not universal throughout the city, multiple religious structures show earthquake collapse—including the churches of Saint George, Saint John the Baptist, and the Cathedral Terrace. He also reported 8th-century coins and a skeleton crushed under fallen architecture near the South Decumanus.

Deformation Map - Click on image to open in a new tab - Modified by JW from Fig. 1 of Moralee (2006)