Editing Mastaba (section)

==History==
The [[Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs|afterlife]] was centralized in the [[Ancient Egyptian religion|religion of ancient Egyptians]]. [[Ancient Egyptian architecture|Their architecture]] reflects this, most prominently by the enormous amounts of time and labor involved in building tombs.<ref name="Hamlin">{{cite book |last= Hamlin |first= Talbot |title= Architecture through the Ages |location= New York |publisher= Putnam |year= 1954 |page= 30 }}</ref> Ancient Egyptians believed that the needs from the world of the living would be continued in the afterlife; it was therefore necessary to build tombs that would fulfill them, and be sturdy enough to last for an eternity. These needs would also have to be attend to by the living.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Teeter |first=Emily |title=Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139230483 |location=New York |pages=146–163 |language=en}}</ref>

Starting in the [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic]] era (before 3100 BCE) and continuing into later dynasties, the ancient Egyptians developed increasingly complex and effective methods for preserving and protecting the bodies of the dead. They first buried their dead in pit graves dug from the sand with the body placed on a mat, usually along with some items believed to help them in the afterlife. The first tomb structure the Egyptians developed was the ''mastaba,'' composed of earthen bricks made from soil along the Nile. It provided better protection from scavenging animals and grave robbers. The origins of the mastaba can be seen in [[Tarkhan (Egypt)|Tarkhan]], where tombs would be split into two distinct portions. One side would contain a body, oriented in a north-south position, and the other would be open for the living to deliver offerings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Snape |first=Steven |title=Ancient Egyptian Tombs : The Culture of Life and Death |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |isbn=9781444393729 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom |language=en}}</ref> As the remains were not in contact with the dry desert sand, natural [[mummy|mummification]] could not take place; therefore the Egyptians devised a system of artificial mummification.<ref>{{cite book |title= Ancient Egypt and the Near East |location= Cambridge |publisher= MIT Press |year= 1966 |page= 7 }}</ref> Until at least the Old Period or First Intermediate Period, only high officials and royalty were buried in these mastabas.<ref>
{{cite web
|last= BBC|title= mastabas
|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/pyramid_gallery_02.shtml
|publisher= BBC|access-date= 29 May 2013
}}
</ref>