Russell (1980) reports that during the 1961–1962 excavation seasons, Hammond (1965:13–17) identified evidence for 4th-century CE architectural collapse while excavating Petra’s Main Theater. On the basis of stratigraphic observations and the recovery of two coins of Constantine I (r. 306–337 CE) and one of Constantius II (r. 337–361 CE), the destructive event was dated to the mid-4th century CE.

Hammond (1964) designated this episode as Period IV, noting that during this phase the scaena and its upper stories, blockade walls, tribunalia, and other architectural elements of the theater were “cataclysmically destroyed.” Earlier, Hammond (1962) described columns of the scaena as having toppled “in marshaled rows,” with sculpted blocks shattered and the architectural backdrop buried beneath massive quantities of worked stone debris.

More recently, Tholbecq and Paridaens (2024) conclude that the Main Theater was reoccupied after the earthquake of 363 CE.