Mastaba

Case of a Mastaba

The mastaba was practiced by the early pharaohs of Pre- and Early-Dynastic periods, but faded out of royal use in privilege of the pyramids. The word occurs from the Arabic word for "bench," and it was a normal structure that served as a tomb. The mastaba covered to be old by Egyptians who were not of the royalty.

In ancient Egyptian, the term for a mastaba intended "eternal house", concerning to the final staying place of the dead. The word mastaba derived from an Arabic word significant "bench", and indeed, from far off, the structure does look like a work bench. It had a flat roof and a normal shape with gentle sides lining outward. It was constructed with stone or bricks got of mud from the Nile.

Mastabas were tombs and they got as burial sites for royals, including pharaohs, back in the earliest dynasties of ancient Egypt. As the Old Kingdom set about, the pharaohs started to be buried in pyramids instead of mastabas. Commoners extended using the mastaba as a burial family for over a thousand years.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the ancient Egyptians were engaged with death, and in particular, the afterlife. This belief is highlighted in most of the Egyptian architecture, from the pyramids on down. Incredible amounts of work were put into tomb construction, with the pyramids obviously being the pinnacle of this. The Egyptians considered that the soul could not live on in the afterlife if its body was not maintained and free from corruption back on Earth.

Primitive design of a Mastaba

First in the Predynastic Era and extended into later dynasties, the Egyptians worked at producing better and more complex methods of burying their dead. The primary targets in housing the dead was saving of the body and protection from the outside.

The very first method acting used by the ancient Egyptians was a simple pit dug into the sand. The body was placed in the grave on with own effects or structural items for the afterlife. Due to contact with the dry desert, the body was naturally maintained with mummification, however, it was not as maintained.

A plan for mastaba

Thus the mastaba came along. This was the first tomb construction developed by the Egyptians. Mastabas gave the body tribute from wild animals and belike grave robbers, however, they did not continue the body as naturally as sand burial. That taken the Egyptians to develop a system of mummification through colored means. Up until old in the Old Kingdom, only royalty and lead officials would be entombed in the mastaba.

The social system of the mastaba may have come from Mesopotamian ideas, as this civilization was constructing similar edifices and structures at the same time. constructed from Nile mud bricks or stone, the mastaba had a different bench-like shape with a flat roof and sloping sides.

The step pyramid of Djoser as a advanced stage of Mastaba

The Pyramid, as the final form of a Mastaba

Mud bricks from the Nile were used only in the start of mastaba structure, and they made up most of the construction even when stone gone available. The builders would build the significant areas of the tomb with stone and then conception the rest with mud bricks. This probable had much to do with the easy handiness of mud-bricks and the fact that the mastaba eventually got a commoner's tomb rather than a royal one.

Recent Posts:


·        The Kingdom of Kush
·        Adule
·        Masara
·        Kewab
·        Nebt
·        Afnet
·        Kha
·        Nebttawy I
·        Agatharchides
·        Masara Stela
·        Khaabash
·        Agathocles (Prince of Thales)