Dr. Fareed excavated the tell in vertical slices, one column at a time from the western trench face. Each week's work revealed another column of compacted earth and pottery sherds — her grid filling left to right as the dig advanced. By the third column she expected more of the same. Instead her trowel broke through into empty space. The third column was hollow — an intact chamber, its ceiling still holding after three thousand years. No fill, no sherds, just air. She sealed it immediately and kept digging to the east, where the compacted layers resumed. The final grid showed everything excavated except that one hollow column preserved in the middle.