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.