A salvage excavation was conducted in September 2000 along the railroad track, east of Tel Yavne (Permit No. A-3293*; map ref. NIG 17645/64140; OIG 12645/14140). The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, was directed by O. Sion, assisted by A. Hajian and E. Belashov (surveying and drafting) and I. Lidsky (drawing).
Two excavation squares were opened, revealing a wall and an aqueduct (Figs. 1, 2). The wall (W1; length 2.4 m, width 0.6 m, height 0.6 m) was built of dressed kurkar blocks. Its southern face was coated with white plaster (thickness 2 mm) that was preserved intermittently. The purpose of the wall is unclear. A floor (L2) of irregular-shaped kurkar slabs abutted the northern side of the wall. North of and parallel to the wall an aqueduct (L3; length 2 m, width 1.1 m, preserved height 1.2 m) built of small kurkar stones was discovered. The aqueduct was coated with plaster and covered with kurkar slabs. It was built inside a channel (width 1.2 m) that was dug into the hamra––the virgin soil. The aqueduct had a trapezoidal cross-section and was 0.7 m deep. The water flowed from west to east. A floor (L7; 0.75 × 2.00 m) of irregular-shaped kurkar slabs abutted the top of the southern side of the aqueduct.
The potsherds, recovered from the soil accumulation between W1 and the aqueduct, were dated to the Byzantine period. On the floors were potsherds from the Byzantine period, including a cooking-pot lid (Fig. 3:1) and Gaza jars (Fig. 3:2–4). The debris of pottery workshops that manufactured Gaza jars was discerned near the excavation area.