During the winter and spring of 2000 archaeologists oversaw the digging of a channel for a main sewage line, running the length of 'Kvish Ha-Cohanim' that traverses the Muslim cemetery in Tiberias, near the mausoleum of Sit Sakina (‘Rachel’s Tomb’). The inspection and documentation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the municipality of Tiberias, were performed by B. Hana, assisted by S. Houri, Y. Stepansky and E. Damati, the S.H. Tiberias Company Ltd. (technical assistance), H. Tahan (drawing), D.T. Ariel (numismatics), D. Avshalom-Gorni and E.J. Stern (pottery reading), R. Gonen, A. Yardeni and U. Melammed (amulet identification), C. Amit (photography), Y. Marmori and S. Hadar (X-ray photography of amulet at the School of Dental Medicine, the Hebrew University), and S. Chilstein and S. Shalev (metallurgical analysis at the Weizmann Institute).
The sewage line was cut in a north–south direction, along the western side of 'Kvish ha-Cohanim' (from map ref. NIG 25106/74286; OIG 20106/24286 to map ref. NIG 25102/74302; OIG 20102/24302), for a distance of c. 160 m, and for another c. 40 m to the west, in the vicinity of the intersection of Ahwa and Ha-Rav Toledano Streets. Building remains, including stone walls, plastered floors, part of a water reservoir and fragments of pottery vessels from the Early Roman, Late Roman, Byzantine (few) and Early Islamic periods, were discovered. It seems that the last usage of the architectural remains should be dated to the Fatimid period (969–1099 CE), similar to the finds from the excavation at the sewage purification facility that is located 400 m to the south (HA-ESI 112:15*–17*). The substantial amount of potsherds from the Roman period suggests that this area was already inhabited during this period.
Most of the finds were recovered from the southern section of the channel, for a distance of c. 40 m (between map ref. NIG 25106/74286; OIG 20106/24286 to map ref. NIG 25105/74290; OIG 20105/24290). A long wall (length 35 m, width 1.2 m, height 2 m), oriented north–south, built of dressed basalt stones (average size 0.5–0.7 × 0.4–0.6 m) and preserved seven courses high, was exposed. Two plaster floors abutted the southern part of the wall, one at a depth of 1.6 m and the other, at 0.6 m below surface. Walls along the entire length of the wall, which abutted it from the east and west, were built in the same manner. The function of this large building has not yet been ascertained. The ceramic finds retrieved from this section of the channel included fragments of pottery vessels from the Roman period (first–third centuries CE), among them an ETS bowl (Fig. 1:1), a bowl from the Late Roman period (Fig. 1:2), Kefar Hananya Type 3A and 4A cooking pots (Fig. 1:3, 4), a ‘Shihin’ jar (Fig. 1:5), a jar (Fig. 1:6), and fragments of pottery vessels from the Early Islamic period (ninth–eleventh centuries CE), including a bowl with a yellow and green glaze (Fig. 1:7), a bowl with a light yellow glaze (Fig. 1:8), a jar (Fig. 1:9), a water pipe (Fig. 1:10), a jug (Fig. 1:11), and a strainer jar adorned with an incised decoration (Fig. 1:12), as well as the decorated base of a bronze vessel (Fig. 1:13) and two coins: a coin of Herod Antipas, minted in Tiberias in 19/20 CE (IAA 97450) and a coin of Hadrian, minted in Gaba in 116/117 CE (IAA 97451; Figs. 2, 3). This Gaba coin is the only one known to have come from excavations and to have been minted by Hadrian. The soil removed from the southern end of this section (map ref. NIG 25105/74285; OIG 20105/24285) yielded a square, pendant amulet (6 × 6 cm) with rounded corners, made of a sheet of copper, sheathed in silver (Fig. 4). One side of the amulet bears an inscription in squared Hebrew script, beginning with the Tetragrammaton and Shaddai (the Almighty), and including names of angels like Matatron and Zuri’el. The shape and style of the amulet indicate that it probably belonged to a type common among Jews from Persia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE.
At the northern end of the channel, east of the intersection of Akhva and ha-Rav Toledano Streets (map ref. NIG 25102/74302; OIG 20102/24302), a segment of a water reservoir with a vaulted ceiling (width 2.0–2.5 m, depth c. 5 m) was discovered. Its walls were coated with red plaster, reinforced with fragments of ribbed pottery vessels. Some 20 m west, further along the channel, sections of walls, running north–south and east–west, were recorded. At the southern end of the sewage pipe, near the sewage purification facility (map ref. NIG 25104/74263; OIG 20104/24263) fragmented architectural remains that were built of roughly hewn basalt blocks and included the corner of a building or a room preserved two courses high were uncovered.