funerary architecture
Quick Summary
Funerary architecture refers to structures built as tombs or memorials for the dead. These can range from simple graves to elaborate monuments, often reflecting beliefs about the afterlife and the deceased's status. Historically, tombs sometimes replicated domestic house forms, furnished with personal items for use in the next life.1
In ancient Egypt, stone was primarily used for tombs and temples, while mud brick was for domestic buildings. Egyptian tombs, such as mastabas and pyramids, were designed as eternal dwellings, often including chapels for offerings. Monumental tombs, like the pyramids at Giza and the Taj Mahal, symbolize temporal importance and are significant sources of cultural knowledge. The concept of the tomb as a home has largely faded in the West since the Renaissance, though mausoleums and burial vaults persist.2341
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AnatoliaEarly Bronze Age…dead usually were buried in cemeteries outside the settlements, often in large clay vessels. In central Anatolia, however, a group of cist graves dating to the second and third phases of the Early Bronze Age was discovered beneath the Hittite city at Alaca Hüyük. There, several generations of a ruling…
Read More…dead usually were buried in cemeteries outside the settlements, often in large clay vessels. In central Anatolia, however, a group of cist graves dating to the second and third phases of the Early Bronze Age was discovered beneath the Hittite city at Alaca Hüyük. There, several generations of a ruling…
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Western architectureMinoan CreteThe development of funerary architecture in Crete proceeds from the old chamber ossuaries of the Early Minoan period (2750–2000 bce) to the developed tholoi, or beehive tombs, of the Mesara plain and the elaborate temple-tombs of Knossos that appeared at the end of the Middle Minoan period.
Read MoreThe development of funerary architecture in Crete proceeds from the old chamber ossuaries of the Early Minoan period (2750–2000 bce) to the developed tholoi, or beehive tombs, of the Mesara plain and the elaborate temple-tombs of Knossos that appeared at the end of the Middle Minoan period.
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ThebesArchaeology of the Thebes…of Mentuhotep II, the queen’s architect Senenmut designed (c. 1473) a series of colonnades and courts on three levels. The approach from the valley led through an avenue of sphinxes, and in the forecourt was a garden planted with trees and vines. On either side of the sloping ramp leading…
Read More…of Mentuhotep II, the queen’s architect Senenmut designed (c. 1473) a series of colonnades and courts on three levels. The approach from the valley led through an avenue of sphinxes, and in the forecourt was a garden planted with trees and vines. On either side of the sloping ramp leading…
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UzbekistanCultural life…the national architectural tradition: the mausoleum of the Sāmānid ruler Ismāʿīl I (9th and 10th centuries) in Bukhara, the great mosques and mausoleums of Samarkand, constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries, and many other fine tombs, mosques, palaces, and madrasahs. An interesting recent development is the reclamation, renovation, and…
Read More…the national architectural tradition: the mausoleum of the Sāmānid ruler Ismāʿīl I (9th and 10th centuries) in Bukhara, the great mosques and mausoleums of Samarkand, constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries, and many other fine tombs, mosques, palaces, and madrasahs. An interesting recent development is the reclamation, renovation, and…
Read More