Mastaba

ancient period.

Mastaba comes from the modern Egyptian for bench, because they look like a mud bench when seen from a distance. In a Mastaba, a deep chamber was dug out and lined with stone, mud bricks or wood. Above ground, the mud was piled up to mark the grave, oblong in a shape with a length approximately 4 times its width. Although this provided a much grander tomb, it was also a much cooler tomb. This upset the early priests as it allowed the bodies to decompose due to the fact that water no longer evaporated, preventing dessication of the bodies.