View synonyms for mastaba

mastaba

or mas·ta·bah

[ mas-tuh-buh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an ancient Egyptian tomb made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with sloping sides and a flat roof.
(in Islamic countries) a fixed bench, especially one of stone.

mastaba

/ ˈmæstəbə /

a mudbrick superstructure above tombs in ancient Egypt from which the pyramid developed

Origin of mastaba¹

First recorded in 1595–1605, mastaba is from the Arabic word maṣṭabah

Origin of mastaba¹

from Arabic: bench

The interior of a mastaba is composed of three parts—the chamber, the serdab, and the well.

It may seem that in considering the mastaba before the pyramid we have reversed the natural order.

In Figs. 116-119 we give the plan and three sections of a mastaba at Gizeh which has four serdabs.

This passage, which is not high enough to allow one to walk upright, does not run quite parallel to the axis of the mastaba.

A different arrangement had therefore to be devised from that adopted in the case of the mastaba.

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