Mazar (1969) concluded that Stratum A1 ended with an earthquake that destroyed a large Umayyad building situated south of the Temple Mount. He dated the destruction to “about a generation or two after its construction,” describing how the earthquake “collapsed its walls and columns,” leaving behind a substantial accumulation of rubble. Mazar associated this event with one of the Sabbatical Year Quakes. He also observed partial repairs made during the Abbasid period, specifically in the second half of the eighth century CE, noting that the paved street and gateway continued to be used while the building’s water system was “modified drastically.”

Ben-Dov (1985: 275–276, 321) examined pottery and other finds from a sewage canal that had collected debris prior to the destruction. The assemblage included Khirbet Mafjar ware dating to the first half of the eighth century CE, which provides a terminus post quem for the earthquake. Ben-Dov identified several types of archaeoseismic damage—cracked walls, warped foundations, fallen columns, and sunken floors—all associated with Building 2 immediately south of the Haram al-Sharif, as also noted by Prag (2000: 245).

In an earlier publication, Ben-Dov in Yadin et al. (1976: 97–101) described the excavation of six monumental structures forming a single Umayyad complex, the largest of which—Building II—he interpreted as a palace. The structure’s plan closely resembled other Umayyad palaces in the Levant, and a bridge linking its roof to the al-Aqsa Mosque suggested direct access between the two. He attributed construction of the palace to the reign of Caliph al-Walid I (705–715 CE).

Stratigraphic evidence indicated that this palace complex, constructed after the Byzantine domestic quarter was cleared, was destroyed “in a natural catastrophe and not rebuilt.” Finds within the sewer network—complete Khirbet Mafjar ware vessels and eighth-century CE coins—confirm that the buildings were in use until the mid-eighth century. Ben-Dov in Yadin et al. (1976: 97–101) noted that “traces of a heavy earthquake can still be observed” and identified the event as one of the Sabbatical Year Quakes.

The area was not reconstructed afterward. During the Abbasid period, the ruins were repurposed as a quarry, and by the eleventh century, the site had become a cemetery—evidence that the once-imposing Umayyad complex had fallen permanently into ruin.