Mastaba

A mastaba is a flat-roofed, rectangular ancient Egyptian tomb with inward-sloping sides and underground burial chambers. It typically had an offering chapel above ground and a sealed shaft leading to the burial chamber.

Ancient Egyptian burial customs: The funerary practices through which ancient Egyptians prepared the dead and maintained their memory. Mastaba architecture served the burial and ongoing funerary rites of elite Egyptians.
Early Dynastic Period of Egypt: The period when Egypt's first dynasties ruled, conventionally dated from about 3100 to 2686 BCE. Mastaba tombs emerged as monumental burial architecture during Egypt's early dynasties.
Egyptian pyramid: A monumental ancient Egyptian structure built chiefly as a royal tomb, with sloping faces converging toward a point. Pyramids developed from earlier tomb traditions that included mastabas, but raised the burial monument into a different form.
Mastaba of Ptahshepses: A large Old Kingdom tomb at Abusir belonging to the high official Ptahshepses. Its extensive architecture illustrates how powerful officials expanded the mastaba form.
Ka: In ancient Egyptian religion, the ka was a vital spiritual aspect that continued after death. Offerings in a mastaba chapel sustained the deceased's ka.
Naqada culture: A sequence of prehistoric cultures in Upper Egypt that preceded the formation of the Egyptian state. Its elite graves preceded the larger tomb forms later developed as mastabas.
Step Pyramid of Djoser: A six-tiered stone pyramid at Saqqara built for the Third Dynasty king Djoser. Its stepped form is widely understood as a monumental development of stacked mastaba-like elements.
Mastaba of Kagemni: A decorated Sixth Dynasty tomb at Saqqara belonging to the vizier Kagemni. Its reliefs and rooms provide a prominent example of elite mastaba decoration.
Serdab: A sealed chamber in an ancient Egyptian tomb that housed a statue of the deceased. Some mastabas included a serdab to hold a statue near the offering chapel.
Saqqara: An ancient Egyptian necropolis near Memphis, containing tombs and monuments from many periods. Its early elite mastabas show how the form developed near Egypt's first capital.

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