Jerash, the Decapolis, and the Earthquake of AD 749

The Fallout of a Disaster

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Book cover: Jerash, the Decapolis, and the Earthquake of AD 749

Extent: 196 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Ancient Near East

Series: Jerash Papers

Series volume number: 14

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(May 2025)

ISBN: 9782503612799

Price: $144.00

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Synopsis
Contributing Authors

Taking the AD 749 earthquake as its starting point, this volume aims to provide a nuanced understanding of the quake’s effects, questioning its role as a sole watershed moment and exploring the various other factors at play that influenced urban change.

Gerasa/Jerash and the Decapolis are located along the seismically active area of the Dead Sea Rift, a point where four tectonic plates meet to create the 110km-long fault known as the Dead Sea Transform. It was activity along this fault that led, in AD 749, to a famously devastating earthquake in the region. Measuring at least 7.0 on the Richter scale, this quake not only had a profound physical impact on the Decapolis, Galilee, Caesarea, and Jerusalem, causing widespread destruction and reshaping urban landscapes, but also led to a clear shift in socio-economic dynamics through a combination of economic decline and population displacement. It thus stands as a clear watershed moment in Late Antiquity. In its aftermath, some cities struggled to regain prominence, while others declined and were abandoned. Taking the AD 749 earthquake as its starting point, this volume aims to provide a nuanced understanding of the quake’s effects, questioning its role as a sole watershed moment and exploring the various other factors at play that influenced urban change. The contributions gathered here, which clearly recognize earthquakes as non-human actors in this process, clearly highlight the diverse impacts that this seismic event had on the city life in the southern Levant, and the fallout in the decades that followed.

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger
Edited by Rubina Raja

Other Titles in this Series

Metal Finds and Coins

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project II

Volume 7

Edited by A. Lichtenberger Edited by R. Raja

Glass, Lamps, and Jerash Bowls

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project III

Volume 8

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century – 15th century)

Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement

Volume 3

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

The Archaeology and History of Jerash

110 Years of Excavations

Volume 1

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Miscellaneous Objects

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project VI

Volume 12

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Byzantine and Umayyad Jerash Reconsidered

Transitions, Transformations, Continuities

Volume 4

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Ceramic Finds in Context (Roman to Early Islamic Times)

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project VII

Volume 13

By (author) Heike Moller By (author) Stephen Merkel

Architectural Elements, Wall Paintings, and Mosaics

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project IV

Volume 9

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Water Management in Gerasa and its Hinterland

From the Romans to AD 750

Volume 10

By (author) David D. Boyer

The History and Pottery of a Middle Islamic Settlement in the Northwest Quarter of Jerash

Volume 11

By (author) Alex Peterson

Hellenistic and Roman Gerasa

The Archaeology and History of a Decapolis City

Volume 5

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

Environmental Studies, Remote Sensing, and Modelling

Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project I

Volume 6

Edited by Achim Lichtenberger Edited by Rubina Raja

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