The House of the Bronzes is located just south of the sewage plant and about ~250 m N or the Beriniki Theatre (Hirschfeld and Gutfeld, 2008).

• from Yizhar Hirschfeld and Oren Gutfeld in Stern et al (2008)

In 1998, a salvage excavation was conducted at the sewage purification plant at the foot of Mount Berenice, c. 300 m west of the shore of the Sea of Galilee, by Y. Hirschfeld and O. Gutfeld, on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Remains of buildings of the Fatimid period (970– 1099 CE) were uncovered, among which was a hoard of bronze vessels hidden in three large storage jars. The hoard consisted of almost 1,000 vessels, many intact, as well as thousands of metal scraps of industrial waste and some 80 coins. The coins included a group of about 70 Byzantine coins of the type known as “anonymous folles,” their obverse bearing the image of Jesus as emperor, their reverse an inscription, such as “Jesus Christ the victorious.” The date of the issues in this cache suggests it was probably concealed before the Seljuk massacre at Tiberias in 1075.

The excavation, conducted in a very limited area (c. 600 sq m), came upon three strata. In the lowest stratum, about 4 m below surface level, walls of the Byzantine and Umayyad periods (stratum III) were exposed. The remains of the walls were covered by a thick layer of alluvial soil and fallen stones deposited probably as a result of the earthquake that struck Tiberias around the mid-eighth century CE. Above the alluvial soil were Abbasid period walls (stratum II), built of local basalt, mostly reused dressed stones. On top of the walls were the Fatimid period buildings (stratum I).

The remains of the Fatimid period included parts of a street with houses on both sides, c. 20 m of which was exposed. The street, 3–5 m wide, was paved diagonally from southeast to northwest, conforming to the topography of Mount Berenice. Beneath the street was found a clay water supply pipe and a drainage pipe.

The walls of the houses flanking the street were preserved to a height of 1.5–2 m. West of the street was uncovered part of a three- or four-room house fronted by a stone-paved courtyard. A flight of stairs in the rear of the house indicates that it had a second story. North of it, at a higher level, was a square tower (3.6 by 3.2 m) that may have served as a water tower. North of the tower was a stone pavement; a clay pipe beneath it was part of the municipal water system. Tiberias in the Islamic period appears to have been a well-run city with a high standard of living.

East of the street, parts of two adjoining houses were excavated, the northernmost consisting of three or four rooms around a courtyard paved with plastered pebbles. In the southern house—the “House of the Bronzes”—three rooms and part of a courtyard were uncovered. That courtyard had an irregular shape, adapted to the dense urban construction. From the courtyard a flight of stairs led to the higher part of the street. South of the flight of stairs was a room with a tabun and a shelf; to its north were two other rooms—a front room and a back room. The front room was the larger of the two (7 sq m) and had an opening 0.6 m wide leading to the courtyard. Built into the wall of the northern room were two jars, one containing bronze scrap and the other empty. Beneath the floor, at a depth of 0.6 m, was found one of the three jars containing the hoard (storage jar C). The back room, triangular in shape, was smaller (4 sq m), and it was connected to the front room by a particularly small doorway (0.5 m wide and 0.9 m high). Another jar (storage jar A) was found resting on the floor in a corner of the back of the room. Because of the jar’s great size (0.85 m in diameter and 1.1 m high), it may be assumed to have been placed in the room during its construction. To keep the jar upright, a 1-m-high wall was built across the width of the room. The third jar (storage jar B) was discovered at a depth of 0.8 m beneath the courtyard. Small bronze fragments and a thin layer of greenish metal shavings were found on the floors of the rooms and courtyard, evidence that the building served as an industrial facility for producing bronze artifacts.

The majority of the objects recovered in the excavation can be dated to the ninth–eleventh centuries CE, while some are earlier, dating to the sixth–eighth centuries CE. The hoard constitutes the largest assemblage of bronzes from this period ever found. Also retrieved were a glass bottle and several metal objects, including tools belonging to a workshop, such as iron scissors; molds for casting; and raw material for preparing metal, such as a lead ingot. The majority of the artifacts were produced by hammering and casting techniques, some cast in one piece and others in parts, then welded together. A tripod bore an Arabic inscription reading “made by Abbas.”

The bronzes of the hoard can be divided into three main categories: lighting implements, tableware, and kitchen implements. The lighting implements include candlesticks, candelabra, oil lamps, and funnels for filling lamps. The tableware consists of bowls, goblets, cups, jugs, and bottles. The kitchen implements include buckets, ladles, cooking pots, frying pans, and mortars. Also recovered were a pair of gilded stirrups, hooks, nails, and dozens of furniture parts, such as legs, handles, hinges, locks, and strips and plaques for decorating elegant wooden boxes. Some of the objects were decorated with Kufic inscriptions of blessings and wishes for health, wealth, and happiness

• from Tiberias - Introduction - click link to open new tab

Plans

Discussion

Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008) report that Stratum IV was overlaid by a thick layer of debris and alluvium. Earthquake destruction relating to Stratum IV was not mentioned in the report. Remains of pre-Islamic Stratum IV was only found in two places and while precise dating is unclear, they were sealed by fills of the Early Islamic period. A wall in Square D/5 and the top of wall W.26 was dated by the fill next to it (L.170) to the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE. Overlying Stratum III was dated to the 8th-10th centuries CE.

References

Plans and Sections

Discussion

Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2) noted that towards the end of the Fatimid period [in Stratum II] the residential structures were destroyed and the area was completely abandoned. Large piles of rubble covering the courtyards of the houses and their rooms and fissures in the walls of the water tower and other structures led them to conclude that the destruction was caused by an earthquake. Stratum II was dated from the 10th - 11th centuries CE while overlying Stratum I was dated from the 12th-14th centuries CE.

References

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description
Collapsed Walls inferred from destroyed structures	Residential structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		towards the end of the Fatimid period [in Stratum II] the residential structures were destroyed and the area was completely abandoned - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)
Large piles of rubble	Courtyards of the houses and rooms of the residential structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		large piles of rubble covering the courtyards of the houses and their rooms - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)
Fissures	walls of the water tower and other structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		Another indication of this is the fissures in the walls of the water tower and other structures - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)

• Modified by JW from Fig. 1.5 of Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008)

• Earthquake Archeological Effects chart
  Earthquake Archeological Effects (EAE)
  
  Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)
  of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description	Intensity
Collapsed Walls inferred from destroyed structures	Residential structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		towards the end of the Fatimid period [in Stratum II] the residential structures were destroyed and the area was completely abandoned - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)	VIII +
Collapsed Walls inferred from Large piles of rubble	Courtyards of the houses and rooms of the residential structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		large piles of rubble covering the courtyards of the houses and their rooms - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)	VIII +
Penetrative fractures in masonry blocks - Fissures	walls of the water tower and other structures Fig. 1.5 Schematic plan of the Early Islamic remains. The Umayyad–Abbasid remains are cross-hatched; the Fatimid remains are in solid black. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008) Fig. 1.8 Detailed plan of the remains. Hirschfeld Gutfeld (2008)		Another indication of this is the fissures in the walls of the water tower and other structures - Hirschfeld and Gutfeld (2008:2)	VI +

This archaeoseismic evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VIII (8) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224).