Weksler-Bdolah in Galor and Avni (2011:421) reported that Jerusalem’s Roman–Byzantine walls remained in use until the mid-eighth century, when they were “partially damaged, probably by an earthquake” (Weksler-Bdolah 2007:97). Renovation work along several sections indicates that the walls continued to function after this damage.

Magness (1991), reexamining the ceramic and numismatic evidence from Hamilton (1944)’s excavations near the Damascus Gate, established a terminus post quem in the first half of the eighth century CE for wall repairs, noting that the associated pottery level is “one of the most securely dated assemblages of published Byzantine and Umayyad pottery from an excavation in Jerusalem.”

In the Armenian Garden, Magness (1991) also reassessed the ceramics from Tushingham (1985), redating the rebuilding of the southwest corner of the city wall from the seventh to the eighth century CE. Together, these studies suggest that a mid-eighth-century earthquake caused major damage to Jerusalem’s Roman–Byzantine fortifications, prompting their subsequent repair and reconstruction.