Mastaba

History
The greatest stimulus for the ancient Egyptians was their belief in an afterlife. The Egyptian belief of the
afterlife was that the soul could live only if the body was preserved from corruption and depredation as well as
fed.[1] Therefore, the need for mummification techniques were developed and experimented. The afterlife was
the main focus of Egyptian civilization and ruled every aspect of the society. It was reflected in their
architecture and most prominently by the enormous amounts of time, money, and manpower involved in the
building of their tombs.[2]

Starting from the predynastic era and into the later dynasties, the ancient Egyptians strove to develop methods
for preserving the bodies of the dead. The Ancient Egyptians initially began by burying their dead in pit graves,
these graves were dug out from the sand and once excavated they would place a mat and then they would lay
the deceased. In order to preserve the body, they soon began to adopt and devise new methods for burying their
dead. The first tomb structure that the Egyptians built was the mastaba. However, only high officials and royalty
would be buried in these mastabas.[3] The mastabas were created in order to better preserve the body and to
ensure that the person be able to reach the afterlife. With the mastabas the remains were not in contact with the
dry desert sand, consequently natural mummification of the remains could not take place. In order to preserve
the remains, the ancient Egyptian priests had to devise a system of artificial mummification.[4]

Structure
The word 'mastaba' comes from the Arabic word for a bench of mud,[5] likely because when seen from a
distance it resembles a bench. It is also speculated that the Egyptians may have borrowed ideas from
Mesopotamia since at the time they were both building similar structures.[6]

The above-ground structure was rectangular in shape, it had sloping sides, a flat roof, was about four times as
long as it was wide, and rose to at least 30 feet in height. The mastaba was built with a north-south orientation
which was essential for Egyptians so that they may be able to access the afterlife. This above ground structure
had space for a small offering chapel equipped with a false door to which priests and family members brought
food and other offerings for the soul (ba) of the deceased. Because Egyptians believed that the soul had to be
maintained in order to continue to exist in the afterlife. These openings "were not meant for viewing the statue
but rather for allowing the fragrance of burning incense, and possibly the spells spoken in rituals, to reach the
statue".[7]

Inside the mastaba, a deep chamber was dug into the ground and lined with stone or bricks. The exterior
building materials were initially bricks made of sun dried mud which was readily available from the Nile River.
Even as more durable materials of stone came into use, the cheaper and easily available mud bricks were used
for all but the most important monumental structures.[8] The burial chambers were cut deeper until they passed
the bed rock and were lined with wood.[9] A second hidden chamber called a "serdab" (), from the Persian
word for "cellar",[10] was used to store anything that may have been considered as an essential such as beer,
cereal, grain, clothes and other precious items that would be needed in the afterlife.[11] The mastaba housed a
statue of the deceased that was hidden within the masonry for its protection. High up the walls of the serdab
were small openings, because according to the ancient Egyptians, the ba could leave the body but it had to
return to its body or it would die.
purpose
Definition: An early Ancient Egyptian tomb (not a pyramid) used for royal or private burials in Early Dynastic Period and
for private burials only from the Old Kingdom forwards.

A Mastaba was a rectangular structure, low-lying, and with a flat roof, and sloping walls. It was constructed form mud-
bricks or stone. The burial chamber was typically beneath the Mastaba, accessed through a vertical shaft. The Mastaba
may include chapel which displayed a false door stele and offering table.

Mastaba are similar in appearance to the low mud-brick benches which were found outside Ancient Egyptian homes.