Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that Jerusalem’s Roman–Byzantine wall was abandoned in the late tenth or early eleventh century and replaced by a new Early Islamic fortification. Weksler-Bdolah in Galor and Avni (2011:421–423) attributes this shift to seismic damage, proposing that the earlier circuit was weakened by the 1033 CE earthquake and that the city walls were repaired and realigned afterward.

Supporting evidence comes from excavations summarized by Baruch, Avni, and Parnos in Stern et al. (2008), who recorded a stone collapse near Herod’s Gate, dated by ceramics to the end of the Early Islamic period (tenth–eleventh centuries CE). This destruction likely reflects either the 1033 CE earthquake or damage inflicted during the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem when they breached the walls in 1099 CE.