In subject area: Social Sciences A burial chamber is a part of a grave mound where the deceased is laid to rest, often made of wood and preserved due to waterlogged conditions, providing valuable insights into ancient burial practices and chronologies. ...
Belief in some form of afterlife was widespread in the ancient world. The Egyptians' encounters with sand-dried corpses might have influenced their particular beliefs and practices regarding the afterlife. Although mummification is the most striking feature of the Egyptian way of death, it draws its...
The penalties and the denial of burial rights suggest a reemergence of some of the early pagan horror of such deaths and were the basis for many of the practices that appeared later in many countries, such as desecrating the corpse of a person who committed suicide, mutilating the body, and...
The exclusion of animate beings from the scenes displayed on the walls of Old Kingdom burial chambers has long been understood as a means to protect the deceased from any potential harm the figures might pose. Funerary models likewise depict people and animals from everyday life, yet they were...
The two principal building materials used in ancient Egypt were unbaked mud brick and stone. From the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2130 bce) onward, stone was generally used for tombs—the eternal dwellings of the dead—and for temples—the eternal houses of the gods. Mud brick remained the dome...