texts from a papyrus, the Opening of the Mouth ceremony
took place (supposedly restoring the faculties of the deceased
so t hat he cou ld be reborn i n t he herea ft er), and off erings were
made. Once the body was placed in the tomb, the footprints
were swept away. An ancient Egyptian narrative, “Th e Story
of Sinuhe” (ca. 1800 b.c.e.), provides a detailed account of an
ancient Egyptian funeral: “A funeral procession is made for
you on the day of burial; the mummy case is of gold, its head
of lapis lazuli. Th e sky is above you as you lie in the hearse,
oxen drawing you, musicians going before you. Th e dance of
the mww-dancers is done at the door of your tomb; the off er-
ing-list is read to you; sacrifi ce is made before your off ering-
stone.”
Tomb architecture developed over time. Th e fi rst super-
structure was a mastaba, a stone shell (in Arabic the word
mastaba means “stone bench”), rectangular in shape, its
walls sloping so that the area of the roof was less than that
of the base. Th e fi rst step pyramid was built for King Djoser
(r. ca. 2630–2611 b.c.e.) at Saqqara by the architect Imhotep
in the Th ird Dynasty (ca. 2649–2575 b.c.e.). It appears that
the step pyramid originated as a mastaba. It eventually de-
veloped into a true pyramid by the addition of an outer fac-
ing, as can be seen in the pyramid at Medūm built either by
Huni (r. ca. 2599–2575 b.c.e.), the last king of the Th ird Dy-
nasty, or by his son Snefru (r. ca. 2575–2551 b.c.e.), the fi rst
king of the Fourth Dynasty (ca. 2575–2465 b.c.e.). Th e most
famous pyramid site is Giza, where Khufu (r. ca. 2551–2528
b.c.e.), Khafre (r. ca. 2520–2494 b.c.e.), and Menkure (r. ca.
2490–2472 b.c.e.), the son, grandson, and great-grandson of
Snefru, respectively, built their pyramid complexes. Khufu’s
monument is known as the “Great Pyramid” because it is the
largest one surviving.
It was at this time that the formal pyramid complex
emerged, consisting of the pyramid itself, a mortuary temple,
a valley temple, and a causeway down to the Nile. Sometimes
there were subsidiary burials of queens or important offi cials,
or boat burials. Most of the pyramids of the Fift h Dynasty (ca.
2465–2323 b.c.e.) are at Abusir; they are much smaller than
those of the Fourth Dynasty. Pyramids were constructed un-
til the Th irteenth Dynasty, and there are a few Seventeenth
Dynasty examples from Th ebes as well. Beginning in the New
Kingdom a hidden valley on the west bank of Luxor, called
the Valley of the Kings, was chosen as the burial spot for the
kings. Th ere they carved their tombs out of the mountain.
Royal tombs were built of stone to survive for eternity;
for this reason scholars have more information about them
than about the tombs of the lower classes. Private people of
high rank were buried in mastabas in the Old Kingdom and
later in rock-cut tombs. Simple pit graves continued to suffi ce
for the poorest classes throughout Egyptian history.THE MIDDLE EAST
BY KAREN RADNER
Th e ancient Mesopotamians usually buried their dead, either
beneath their houses or in graveyards. Th e bodies were oft en
laid to rest in stone or clay sarcophagi (coffi ns) or, most fre-
quently, in one or two large pots. Above-ground grave mark-A reconstructed Predynastic Egyptian grave pit from about 3400 b.c.e. at a time before mummifi cation, when bodies were placed directly in
shallow desert graves, where they did not decay. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)
314 death and burial practices: The Middle East