363 CE earthquake (?)
Archaeoseismic evidence for damage associated with the 363 CE Cyril Quakes may have been identified near Robinson’s Arch on the
western side of the Temple Mount. Excavations by Mazar
(Mazar, 1975: 247,
Mazar, 1976: 36-38)
revealed a domestic structure south of the pier of Robinson’s Arch whose
destruction layer contained numerous coins dating to the reign of
Julian II (r. 361-363 CE) (Russell, 1980). Mazar suggested that the structures were destroyed
during Jewish preparation to rebuild the Temple in 363 CE.
Russell (1980) produced a different interpretation,
arguing that the destruction of a structure
adjacent to, rather than on, the Temple Mount is consistent
with earthquake damage from the 363 CE Cyril Quakes.
Additional material once thought to support a Julianic rebuilding
project—such as an inscription citing Isaiah 66:14—has since been
reinterpreted as medieval and unrelated to fourth-century events.
More substantial but disputed archaeoseismic evidence was noted in the nearby
collapse of large marginal-drafted stones north of Robinson’s
Arch, which Gibson (2014) argued was caused not by Roman
destruction in 70 CE but by the 363 CE earthquake. He observed
that a Late Roman–Byzantine structure (“the bakery” in Area VII)
contained more than two hundred coins of
Constantius II (r. 337-361 CE) and a
smaller number of Julian II (r. 361-363 CE), pointing to destruction at the
time of Julian’s death. Gibson noted the parallel between this
collapse pattern and
Socrates Scholasticus’s
report that a mighty earthquake tore up the stones of the old temple foundations and
brought down adjacent buildings. The presence of fallen
pilaster stones, which he argues were still standing in 325 CE when Christian builders imitated
them at major churches, strengthens the case that the massive
stone collapse belongs to 363 CE. In response, Leen Ritmeyer
countered that the thin destruction layer beneath the fallen
Herodian stones contains many Herodian coins, supporting the
traditional view that Roman troops toppled the stones in 70 CE.
Ronny Reich and Yaacov Billig in Stern et al. (2008:1809–1811)
report that excavations conducted in 1994–1996 in the vicinity
of Robinson’s Arch uncovered a repurposed handrail stone,
reused as
spolia. This handrail was reworked into a
Roman milestone bearing the names of
Vespasian (r. 69-79 CE) and
Titus (r. 79-81 CE) and can be
dated to no later than 79 CE, indicating that the handrail,
and possibly the entire Robinson’s Arch structure, had already
been destroyed by that time.
