Roman period Zoara is mentioned in the 1st century CE by
Josephus and in the 2nd by
Ptolemy (
Geography V, xvi, 4).
Byzantine period In the 4th century it is again mentioned by
Eusebius in his
Onomasticon, and in the 5th by Saint
Jerome in his annotated version of the work.
Egeria the pilgrim tells of a bishop of Zoara who accompanied her in the area, in the early 380s.
Antoninus of Piacenza, in the 6th century, describes its monks and extols its palm trees. Zoara is mentioned in
Tractate Pesachim of the
Babylonian Talmud (3rd–6th century) as a place where date palms grew. In
Tractate Yevamot, the city is mentioned in regards to a woman's testimony, when a traveling Levite died at an inn, and the woman innkeeper had him buried. The
Notitia Dignitatum, 72, probably reflecting the reality of the late 4th century, places at Zoara, as a garrison, the resident
equites sagitarii indigenae (native unit of cavalry archers);
Stephen of Byzantium (fl. 6th century;
De urbibus, s.v. Addana) speaks also of its fort, which is mentioned in a Byzantine edit of the 5th century (
Revue biblique, 1909, 99); near the city was a
sanctuary to Saint Lot mentioned by
Hierocles (6th century;
Synecdemus) and
George of Cyprus (early 7th century).
Early Muslim period Istakhri and
Ibn Haukal, two Arab geographers of the 10th century, highly praise the sweetness of Zughar's dates, but are less impressed by the quality of the indigo produced there.
Mamluk period According to the 14th-century travelogue
The Travels Of Sir John Mandeville:"Zoar, by the prayer of Lot, was saved and kept a great while, for it was set upon a hill; and yet sheweth thereof some part above the water, and men may see the walls when it is fair weather and clear." It is not known when the city disappeared. ==Christianity==