During November 1999 a trial excavation was conducted within the confines of the Muslim cemetery in Haifa (A-
3148*; map ref. NIG 20058–9/74638–43; OIG 15058–9/24638–43;
Map of Haifa – East [23], Site 4), following the discovery of ancient remains during development work. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and funded by the Infrastructure Development Company, was directed by E. ‘Awawdy, assisted by A. Hajian (surveying), R. Graff (drafting) and S. Ya‘akov-Jam (administration).
The excavation was carried out along the southern fringes of the cemetery. Part of a rock-cut installation, dating to the Byzantine period, and two circular and vertical bedrock-hewn shafts, 70 m to its east were exposed. These remains may be part of an industrial or agricultural area, whose boundaries have not yet been defined.
The installation (Fig. 1) was 0.1 m below surface. It consisted of a vat (L101; 2.2
× 2.6 m, depth c. 1.4 m), whose walls were lined with plaster mixed with pottery fragments from the Byzantine period; its floor, which sloped northward, was paved with an industrial mosaic. Several ribbed jar fragments from the Byzantine period were discovered in the installation, which was probably used for collecting liquids. Its eastern part was damaged in the past and modern building remains were located to its north.
The two shafts were c. 5 m apart (Fig. 2). They were only partially excavated out of fear they might collapse. The southern shaft (diam. c. 1.2 m, exposed depth c. 6 m) slightly widened toward the bottom. Several hewn recesses in its wall served as footholds for climbing in and out. The northern shaft was much narrower (diam. 0.9 m, exposed depth 3.5 m) and had a single hewn foothold in its wall. Modern finds were recovered from the shafts, which were probably entrances to water cisterns.