Lipschits et al. (2011) report clear evidence of collapse and burning across several parts of Ramat Rahel during the eighth century CE, when the site was under Umayyad rule. They note that the northern wall of the church collapsed, that various parts of Byzantine buildings gave way, and that earlier excavations recorded signs of burning on the church mosaic floor. They interpret this destruction as a sudden end to the settlement, from which it did not recover, at least not as a Christian settlement. They suggest that this termination may have resulted from one of the Sabbatical Year Quakes of the mid 8th century CE.