Hmm... "49 AD: emperor Claudius expels Christians from Rome" but Egyptian Christianity didn't begin until about 70 AD. There's also this:
Hypostyle Hall
Temple of Khnum, Esna
Roman period, reign of Claudius (41-54 AD) and later.
http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/egypt/egy22-20.html
Probably the site just died out, after a preceding long period of a very low level of settlement. Historically, attempts to create new living space have not generally been of long duration unless sited on the Nile.
Even with the Nile, the town of Antinoos -- founded by the Emperor Hadrian to honor his catamite, Antinoos, who drowned at the site -- was empty within 20 years, perhaps even 10. Hadrian even ordered a whole new road system from the town to connect it with the Red Sea ports, but in recent years when the route was traced, it became evident that the roadway was probably never used except by the crews who constructed it.
And, more on topic, the city Akhetaten, now near the village of el-Amarna, was sited on the east side of the river, constructed and not long after destroyed for political reasons.
I was thinking of a natural disaster of some type. We have a tree ring event at 44BC...that's the closest I can get with a known catastrophic event.
Hmm... "49 AD: emperor Claudius expels Christians from Rome" but Egyptian Christianity didn't begin until about 70 AD.
54AD : Tiberius Claudius poisoned by his wife/niece Agrippina and her son Lucius Domitius (AKA Nero) becomes emperor.
And Apostle Mark began his ministry in Egypt in 54AD, although his church (Egyptian Coptic) wasn't formally founded until after his martyrdom in Alexandria in 68AD.