Uscatescu and Marot (2000) report that the Macellum at Jerash had a long period of use, from its date of construction in the first part of the second century, to its final abandonment sometime in the second half of the eighth century.

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Uscatescu and Marot (2000:283) dated seismic destruction of the Macellum to at the latest to the second quarter of the seventh century based on pottery and coins¹. The seismic destruction layer was found in a sealed and undisturbed context and is well-dated. Uscatescu and Marot (2000:281) discussed a dating revision as follows:

This destruction was previously dated to the early seventh century, but now we are compelled to withdraw this date and propose, on the basis of both pottery and coin data, a mid-seventh century chronology for this collapse, that is some 20 years later than the first proposed chronology. However, this corrected date for the Macellum destruction does not affect the established pre-Islamic phases of the building.

In addition to the collapse layers found throughout the Macellum, vaulted Islamic galleries were constructed over where exedra 4 once stood. It can be presumed that exedra 4 was demolished and cleared away before construction of the galleries began.

Uscatescu and Marot (2000:299) report that the building continued in use after the mid 7th century CE destruction with new structures built over parts of the ruins. A later destruction layer was present which Uscatescu and Marot (2000:298-299) discussed as follows:

The Destruction Layer of Late Umayyad/Early Abbasid Chronology over the Islamic Galleries

The Islamic galleries were covered by a destruction level composed of ashlar blocks and voussoirs from the fallen walls and vaults. Archaeological analysis proves that it is also a disturbed layer, since the residual sherds account for 88.5 per cent of the total. In the case of the coins, the percentage of residuality is much higher, accounting for 92.68 percent (Table 4).

Unfortunately, only four sherds can be dated to the late Umayyad period; the rest are rubbish survival, including some transitional shapes such as imported Cypriot Late Roman D (Hayes form 9B), which has an end date of the late seventh century (Hayes 1972: 382). The Umayyad pottery is limited to a cooking-pot (Figure 9.6), a handmade grey basin (Figure 9.12) and a probably local grey amphora (Figure 9.13). The absence of any Islamic coins within this context does not help when attempting to fix a more accurate date to the collapse.

Some traces of an early Abbasid occupation over the destruction level were found at exedra 3 (Table 5b) which they discussed as follows:

This evidence points to a very short occupation, with some burnt patches identified as small fireplaces and several complete cooking-pots (Figure 9.3, 6) and some dark BGW (Figure 9.9, 11). Therefore, this level should be dated, at least, to the second half of the eighth century on stratigraphical basis. No coins were recorded.

UUscatescu and Marot (2000:299) noted chronological difficulties in dating final (destruction) and abandonment.

It is difficult to ascertain the chronology of the second and final abandonment of the building. But most of the archaeological evidence recorded pointed to the second half of the eighth or early ninth centuries. Unfortunately, there is not a single undisturbed context that can be surely dated in the early Abbasid period, with the exception of sporadic occupation in exedra 3.

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description
Collapsed Vault             Collapsed walls Fallen columns Collapsed arches Collapsed roof (displaced walls?) Fallen architraves (Collapsed walls) Debris	throughout Macellum Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	Figure 6.1 Location of the mid-seventh century collapse layer. Uscatescu and Marot (2000) Figure 6.1 Islamic wall between south peristyle columns and exedra 3 JW: Mid 7th century CE collapse layer to right Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	The late Byzantine craft-activity was abandoned sometime before the mid-seventh century destruction. It does not seem that this destruction was the reason for the break in human activity within the building, since nothing valuable was found under the collapse layer and the state of the ceramic finds was very fragmentary, with the exception of some broken amphorae found over the earthen floor of the abandoned officina tinctoria (Figure 5.1-2, 7). This extensive destruction is well evidenced by the fallen vaulted and tiled roofs and collapsed walls; a huge collapse that reaches a thickness of more than two and a half metres, and was composed by voussoirs, tiles, ashlars, architraves, column shafts, capitals and other architectonic elements. - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:281)
Collapsed Vault	exedra 4 Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)		JW: In addition to the collapse layers found throughout the Macellum, vaulted Islamic galleries were constructed over where exedra 4 once stood. It can be presumed that exedra 4 was demolished and cleared away before construction of the galleries began. A construction deposit of Umayyad date was located behind the rear wall of the two vaulted galleries built over the demolished exedra 4 - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:297)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description
Collapsed Vault             Collapsed Walls             Destruction layer	Islamic galleries over exedra 4 Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	Figure 7.1 Location of the early Islamic contexts and structures Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	The Islamic galleries were covered by a destruction level composed of ashlar blocks and voussoirs from the fallen walls and vaults. - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:288-289)

• Modified by JW from Fig.s 1 and 6.1.1 of Uscatescu and Marot (2000)

• Modified by JW from Fig. 1 of Uscatescu and Marot (2000)

• Earthquake Archeological Effects chart
  Earthquake Archeological Effects (EAE)
  
  Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)
  of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description	Intensity
Collapsed Vault             Collapsed walls Fallen columns Collapsed arches Collapsed roof (displaced walls?) Fallen architraves (Collapsed walls) Debris	throughout Macellum Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	Figure 6.1 Location of the mid-seventh century collapse layer. Uscatescu and Marot (2000) Figure 6.1 Islamic wall between south peristyle columns and exedra 3 JW: Mid 7th century CE collapse layer to right Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	The late Byzantine craft-activity was abandoned sometime before the mid-seventh century destruction. It does not seem that this destruction was the reason for the break in human activity within the building, since nothing valuable was found under the collapse layer and the state of the ceramic finds was very fragmentary, with the exception of some broken amphorae found over the earthen floor of the abandoned officina tinctoria (Figure 5.1-2, 7). This extensive destruction is well evidenced by the fallen vaulted and tiled roofs and collapsed walls; a huge collapse that reaches a thickness of more than two and a half metres, and was composed by voussoirs, tiles, ashlars, architraves, column shafts, capitals and other architectonic elements. - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:281)	VIII+ VIII+ V+ VI+ VII+? VIII+ ?
Collapsed Vault	exedra 4 Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)		JW: In addition to the collapse layers found throughout the Macellum, vaulted Islamic galleries were constructed over where exedra 4 once stood. It can be presumed that exedra 4 was demolished and cleared away before construction of the galleries began. A construction deposit of Umayyad date was located behind the rear wall of the two vaulted galleries built over the demolished exedra 4 - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:297)	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).

• Earthquake Archeological Effects chart
  Earthquake Archeological Effects (EAE)
  
  Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)
  of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description	Intensity
Collapsed Vault             Collapsed Walls             Destruction layer	Islamic galleries over exedra 4 Figure 1 Macellum Plan Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	Figure 7.1 Location of the early Islamic contexts and structures Uscatescu and Marot (2000)	The Islamic galleries were covered by a destruction level composed of ashlar blocks and voussoirs from the fallen walls and vaults. - Uscatescu and Marot (2000:288-289)	VIII+ 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).