A salvage excavation was conducted in May 2003 in a tomb at Bet Guvrin (Horbat Ehud; Permit No. A-3903; map ref. NIG 19008/61321; OIG 14008/11321) that was discovered during development work. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and funded by Qibbuz Bet Guvrin, was directed by D. Varga, with the assistance of P. Nahshoni and H. Lavi, V. Essman (surveying and drafting) and Y. Nagar (physical anthropology).
The tomb (0.90 × 2.55 m; height 0.8 m), hewn in the kirton bedrock, was oriented northwest–southeast. The southeastern part of its ceiling was damaged during the development work. The entrance to the tomb was located in the north side and was sealed with three dressed kirton blocks. A lead coffin (0.55 × 1.55 m; height 0.4 m; Fig. 1) and lid from the Roman period were found inside the tomb. The coffin was poorly preserved and parts of it disintegrated, particularly the bottom. The coffin was adorned with Greco-Roman mythological motifs, including a main motif of a winged warrior battling a lion (Hercules and the Nemean lion?; Fig. 2) and decorations of eight-pointed stars and rosettes. The coffin contained the bones of a woman, 17–20 years of age. An intact candlestick-type glass bottle, dating to the Roman period (third century CE), was lying on the lid of the coffin.