Maps and Plans
Fiema and Schmid (2014:429-430)
suggest that Structure 1 in the
NEPP area was
destroyed by the 363 earthquake, but later restored although in much altered form and appearance
with final
destruction and abandonment taking place
afterwards, perhaps sometime in the early 5th century.
They suggest final destruction and abandonment may have been
due to the
Monaxius and Plinta Quake of 419 CE.
Jones (2021) argues that al-Zantur I Spatromisch II
ceramics, rather than dating from 363 CE - 419 CE, should date to at least a century later. If true, this would negate archaeoseismic
evidence for an earthquake reported in 419 CE
(i.e. the
Monaxius and Plinta Quake)
at ez-Zantur and other sites in Petra such as in a structure outside the Urn Tomb,
and in Structure I of the
NEPP Project.
Jones (2021) suggests instead that the
causitive earthquake was more likely the late 6th century CE
Inscription At Areopolis Quake.
Jones (2021) provides a
discussion below:
Within Petra, the 418/419 earthquake has been suggested as the cause for the destruction of three structures:
- al-Zantur I, specifically the end of Bauphase Spatromisch II
- one of the structures outside of the Urn Tomb, House II
- North-Eastern Petra Project (NEPP) Structure I
NEPP Structure I has not been excavated, and the claim that it was destroyed in the 418/419 earthquake is based
on surface finds and reference to al-Zantur I (Fiema and Schmid 2014: 431). Without excavation,
the actual date and nature of the building's destruction remain uncertain. The claim for damage at Petra
related to the 418/419 earthquake rests primarily, therefore, on the evidence from al-Zantur I.