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Old and Middle Kingdom Tombs

© Lucy Charlotte Acland Johnson

Ancient Egyptian tombs progressed and changed greatly throughout the dynasties; the pyramids are only one example of tomb architecture, and in this article I am focusing on the lesser-known rock cut tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms:

However they were constructed Ancient Egyptian tombs were designed to be the last resting places of the dead, where the spirit (or ka) of the deceased would be nurtured, and the body kept whole. In order to achieve this Egyptian tombs consisted of two main features: An open chapel, so that the ka could come through the "false door" portrait statue at the back of the chapel, and appreciate the "cool, sweet breeze"; and an underground room where the deceased was buried (this was not open to anyone, whereas priests and relatives could come and pray in the chapel).

However, the first tombs were just holes dug in the ground, but these progressed to become more and more elaborate, with lined pits being introduced, followed by the typical features of a staircase and shaft entrance, and an underground maze of tunnels. (Skeletons of some of the first Ancient Egyptians have been found lying in circular burial pits in the foetal position).

In Middle and Upper Egypt tombs were often cut high into the cliffs flanking the Nile. Such tombs were sometimes equipped with complicated dummy passages and blockages; sadly, however, these did not prevent them from being pillaged.

From small individual tombs, graves developed into large burial complexes, such as those that can be found in old quarries at Giza. Later ones are to be seen cut into the rock face itself at Saqqara. Eventually, pillared halls were being built in tombs, by the twelfth dynasty. The funeral equipment found in such tombs is distinctive, including not only the tomb, but also wooden models of daily life in Ancient Egypt.

The monarchs of the twelfth dynasty were all buried under pyramids; Sesostris the 3rd, however, was buried in a purely rock cut tomb, at Dahshur. He also had a monument to him at Abydos, centre of worship of the god Osiris, which was built like a tomb. It even contained a granite sarcophagus, and a chest for bodily organs removed during the mummification process; it also featured dummy passages and blockages (again, this did not stop it from being robbed).

After the thirteenth Dynasty Egypt was split up amongst Palestinian Hyksos rulers, and during this time the majority of burials were in basic pit graves (as they had been during much earlier years). Only a handful of monarchs, such as Hor (whose grave had a contemporary pyramid!), had more complex tombs.