During September 2000 a metal dagger was discovered in the southeastern corner of the cemetery at Qibbuz Lavi (map ref. NIG 24080/74350; OIG 19080/24350), while a grave was dug. The dagger was found by M. Gold and was documented, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, by Y. Stepansky, assisted by H. Tahan (drawing).
The dagger (length 27.5 cm, max. width 3 cm, thickness 0.5 cm; 140 grams; Fig. 1; IAA No. 2000-3644) was detected at a depth of c. 1 m below surface and is apparently made of copper. The blade is long and narrow, with flat surfaces and a delicate spine in its center. Four nail perforations exist in the broad tang. Based on its typology, the dagger should be dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age. Similar daggers are known from several sites throughout the eastern Galilee, such as Upper Tiberias (‘Atiqot 37: 81, Fig. 4:4, 5), Menahemya (‘Atiqot 11:31, Fig. 4:1), Nahal Talya (HA–ESI 112) and Deganya. Some 3 km southwest of the dagger's location lays Horbat Qishron, a settlement from this period that was exposed and excavated in recent years (ESI 15; HA–ESI 109); the dagger may be attributed to the population from this site.