10 Facts about Mastaba

Post On: July 22, 2017
By: Agustina

You will get the information about a type of ancient Egyptian tomb on Facts about Mastaba.  This structure has the rectangular shape. The roof is flat. The mud-bricks are used to create Mastaba.  The mud was taken from Nile River. The side parts feature the inward sloping design. Mastaba was implemented during the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom to bury many prominent Egyptians.

Facts about Mastaba 1: Old Kingdom epoch

Mastabas were not used to bury the local king during the Old Kingdom epoch. They implemented pyramids. For more than thousands of years, mastabas had been used to bury the non-royal

Facts about Mastaba 2: the English term

The English term of Mastaba is stone bench according to the Egyptologists.

Facts about Mastaba

Facts about Mastaba

Facts about Mastaba 3: afterlife

The primary focus of the ancient Egypt was the afterlife. The aspects of the whole society were determined by the concept. There is no need to wonder that the Egyptian tombs were built in grandeur design. The prominent people would spent their energy, time and money to focus on the tomb.



Facts about Mastaba 4: the belief about body and soul

If the body of the dead person were well preserved from decay and corruption, they would be able to live according to the ancient Egyptian belief.

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Facts about Mastaba 5: the method

The method for preserving the body of the dead person was developed. It began from the pre-dynastic period to the later dynasties.

Mastaba Map

Mastaba Map

Facts about Mastaba 6: the initial burial form

Before the body of dead person was buried inside mastaba or pyramid, they employed pit graves to bury the dead body.

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Facts about Mastaba 7: building mastaba

Do you know that mastaba was the first tomb structure built by the Egyptian people?  This type of structure protected the body from robbery and animals.

Facts about Mastaba 8: mummification

The mummification could not be employed on the dead body because the remains did not have any contact with the dry desert sand.

Mastaba

Mastaba

Facts about Mastaba 9: who were buried inside mastabas?

Only the royal families and high-ranking officials were buried inside the mastaba in the Old Period and First Intermediate Period. Then it was replaced with pyramids.

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Facts about Mastaba 10: the design

The historians believe that the design of mastaba was inspired from the Mesopotamian design since both had shared similarities. The mud taken from Nile River would be dried under the sun to create bricks for the exterior structure of mastaba.

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