Were built at the west side of the Nile but it was a privilege to construct one of these burial buildings and the cost was only accessible to nobles and high rank officials; the size, place and features also depended on the status and richness of the person or his family; in fact a more sophisticated concept and much less accessible than today mausoleums.
Mastaba is a modern name, it means bench because the average building for this purpose look like a bench where to sit and rest, they have a simple trapezoidal flat roofed structure with a door.
Before the third Egyptian dynasty were built with sun dried mud-brick but in Sakkara a wise man by the name of Imhotep stared to built them with stone bricks and by superimposing six mastabas on top of the other he ended up building the first pyramid ever made, the famous Step Pyramid most likely the highest man made structure in the world at that time.
These buildings had a niche or false door that permitted the spirit of the deceased return to this world to get the nourishment needed to maintain alive his Ka; for this purpose were brought offerings by the family members or persons close to the departed and celebrated special rituals.
The niches were built in the exterior of the building but in some cases they are replaced by a real door and even a few have two columns at the entrance; in the interior they are always present, having different forms that go from small widow like niches to a series of niches with statues in place and multiple decorations that also denote a rank status.
The façade of the interior false doors or niches of the mastabas have at the one or two person, ether sitting or standing as guarding the entrance most likely an image of the deceased resting in peace supposedly guarding or greeting the entrance to his dwelling place in eternity.
The walls were also artistically decorated with motives related to the official’s occupation, representing rituals or daily deeds in this life in connection to the symbolic afterlife of the official and his family.
These chambers as well were filled with plenty of material needs to ensure satisfaction and well being in afterlife with all the comfort and thing that he appreciated and used in this world, a statue or multiple statuettes were also place thinking that his spirit will take their place but the mommy was placed in a shaft deep below the building structure.
It is estrange that ancient American civilizations also shared this structural and decorative burial concept as well took their best worldly belongings to their tombs for their enjoyment in afterlife.
Ancient Egyptian burial place and Pyramids structure origin
Show (the Table of Contents) Egypt land of Eternity by Julian Pardo Flash version
