Ancient Egyptians - Mastaba Egyptian Tomb
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Egyptian Pyramids and Tombs

Definition: Mastaba Egyptian Tomb
Definition: The definition of the Mastaba style of ancient Egyptian tomb is a structure made from mud brick with a rectangular base and sloping sides with a flat roof. A mastaba design of ancient Egyptian tomb consisted of an underground burial chamber with rooms above it, at ground level, in which to store offerings. The Egyptian pyramids developed from the Mastaba ancient Egyptian tomb. The word 'mastaba'  derives from the Arabic word meaning "bench".

Purpose of the Mastaba Egyptian Tomb
The religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians developed over a long period of time, funeral rituals and concepts became more sophisticated and the tomb was believed to be a transient home for the soul before entry into the eternal Afterlife. During this transient period the corpse was viewed as a receptacle for the soul and the tomb was the temporary 'home' of the body and its soul. The mastaba provided a burial chamber as a safe haven for the body and soul (ka and ba) of the deceased.  The mastaba also provided a focal point of funerary rituals and a place to leave offerings.

Ancient Egypt - Mastaba Egyptian Tomb Fact Sheet

Fact 1 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The ancient Egyptians initially buried everyone in shallow Pit Gravesthat were were situated in the desert. The pit graves had a mound of rough stones built over them as a memorial or landmark. The simple pit graves were developed by the wealthy elite to become a more impressive type of tomb, called a mastaba.

Ancient Egyptian Pit Grave

Fact 2 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The design of this ancient Egyptian tomb was originally a single storey structure made of Mud Bricks. Mud bricks consisted of a combination of sand, silt, and clay taken from the Nile mud and mixed with straw that acted as a strengthening and binding material.

Traditional mastaba

Fact 3 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Mud bricks were commonly used from the Neolithic period of the Stone Age, the Predynastic period of ancient Egypt, to build Houseand even palaces. They were also used to build the tombs of the pharaohs, members of the royal family and court dignitaries.

Fact 4 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The first designs of the mastaba consisted of a single storey structure but this made the tombs and the grave goods vulnerable to tomb robbers and additional security was required. 

Fact 5 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The tombs therefore evolved to contain an underground burial chamber. Rooms were built above the burial chamber at ground level, in which to store offerings. The underground burial chambers were gradually cut deeper and deeper until they passed into the bedrock.

Fact 7 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The upper storage rooms were eventually replaced in favour of an extensive subterranean complex, reached by a stairway.

Fact 6 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The underground burial chambers were lined with wood. The walls of the burial chambers were often decorated with wall paintings. The ceilings of the underground burial chambers were topped with a low mound which was surrounded by a low, rectangular mud-brick building that became known as a mastaba.

Fact 8 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The mastaba itself became a solid, rubble-filled block.

Fact 9 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Each mastaba had at least one shaft that was sunk vertically through the rubble fill to reach the burial chamber in the bedrock below.

Fact 10 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The design of the underground chambers became more sophisticated and included a small 'chapel' with an offering table and a false door through which the spirit of the deceased could leave and enter the burial chamber.

Ancient Egypt - Mastaba Egyptian Tomb Fact Sheet

Mastaba Egyptian Tomb

Mastaba Egyptian Tomb
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Mastaba Egyptian Tomb
Learn about the ancient pyramids of Egypt, and the tombs of the pharaohs, the fast and easy way via the Mastaba Egyptian Tomb Fact sheet.

Ancient Egypt - Mastaba Egyptian Tomb Fact Sheet

Fact 11 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: A vast cemetery of Saqqara (about 25 miles south of Cairo) was the burial ground for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt.

Fact 12 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The number of rooms gradually increased, especially for persons of high status.

Fact 13 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The burial chamber was surrounded by many rooms and passages. King Hor- Aha of the 1st dynasty built a massive underground mastaba tomb complex in honor of his mother Queen Neithhotep at Naqada, near Thinis.

Fact 14 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The additional rooms contained other graves. The religious ceremonies of the ancient Egyptians included the practise of Human Sacrificeas part of the royal funerary rituals.

Fact 15 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Up to the end of the 1st dynasty the kings of Egypt practised a form of Human Sacrifice, referred to as 'Retainer Sacrifices', in which members of their royal household were chosen to be buried with their king to serve them in the Afterlife.

Fact 16 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The construction of these great mastabas provided the ancient Egyptians with extensive experience in building subterranean chambers.  Then during the 3rd Dynasty the great Egyptian pyramids developed from the mastaba.

Fact 17 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara, designed by the great architect Imhotep for King Djoser, began as a traditional, flat-roofed mastaba.

Fact 18 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: The Step Pyramid's burial chambers were built underground, hidden in a maze of tunnels which were designed to discourage tomb robbers.

Fact 19 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Six additional tiers were added to the original mastaba design and the famous pyramid shape was created and became one of the most brilliant architecture wonders of the ancient world.

Fact 20 on Mastaba Egyptian Tomb: Step Pyramid at Saqqara was the first pyramid ever constructed in ancient Egypt and the prototype of all pyramid complexes. 

King Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara

Ancient Egypt - Mastaba Egyptian Tomb Fact Sheet

All of the Giza Pyramids