Archaeologists say artifacts discovered in an ancient drainage tunnel under Jerusalem are left over from war 2,000 years ago.

On Monday archaeologists presented a Roman legionnaire's sword and sheath found in the tunnel late last month. They believe it dates to around 70 C.E., when Rome put down a Jewish revolt, razing the second biblical Jewish Temple and much of the city.

Open gallery view Visitors walking through Roman-era ruins next to an underground tunnel archaeologists say is a 2,000-year-old drainage tunnel, in Jerusalem's Old City on August 2, 2011. Credit: AP

Accounts of the battle say Jewish rebels fled to tunnels in a futile attempt to escape the Romans.

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Eli Shukron says diggers also found clay lamps, pots, and a bronze key. He thinks rebels left many of those items.

The newly excavated tunnel is part of a growing network of subterranean passages under the city.