DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.50021#0030
12
IV. Types of Tomps.
was built in imitation of those royal tombs. These additional chambers, having their origin
in the solution of a structural difficulty, were immediately utilized as receptacles for pottery,
stone vessels, offerings, etc. And in our cemetery, this secondary use of the end chambers had
become fixed as their proper function. So we find end chambers retained in the stairway type
with wood roof, A. 2.b, the stairway type with corbel roof, B. 2. b, and even at times in the small
corbel, type B. 2. a, where finally the chambers had become merely rudimentary, in some cases
hardly capable of taking a single pot (1611, 3022, 3014).
stairway The next step in advance is the introduction of the stairway. It does not require any
reference to Abydos to show us the utility of that invention, though it was no doubt the
tomb of Den in which the stairway was first used. The great difficulty of approaching
and entering tombs like that of Merneit is obvious. The difficulty of construction was
equally great. The excavation must have taken place by means of a construction slope
or stair; and it may have been this construction slope which suggested the usefulness of a stair
in the finished tomb. At any rate, the origin of the stairway must have been based on
the difficulty of constructing and entering large tombs from above; and once originated it would
be copied universally in large tombs, even though not so large as Merneit, on account of its
utility. And it is clear that the stairway in our large tombs 1512 and 1581 and in the large
corbel vaults fulfils a real function, that of giving convenient access to the burial chambers.
It has however one other advantage in that it permitted the tomb to be roofed and made
ready as far as the substructure was concerned before the burial was made. And that was oi
great advantage especially in the case of the corbel vault in preventing damage to the burial
and the burial furniture during the roofing. Indeed it would have been difficult to finish these
large corbel vaults at all without having access to the interior. In the case of the small corbel,
however, the stairway or incline has no great value. They were made thus, simply because the
corbel roof was copied from the large vaults in which the stairway corbel had now become the
fashion; and the stairway was copied with it down to the wooden branches roofing the doorway.1
The corbel So far, the thread and the cause of the development is fairly clear. But the next step the
vault introduction of the corbel is, at first sight at any rate, more obscure. It must however be
remembered that the wooden roof was in reality only the bearer, the support of a mud or mud-
brick roof that in some cases (1532—1533) was at least ten to fourteen courses thick. It was
apparently this solid mass of brick work which was relied on to protect the grave from
rain, plundering, etc.; and the tendency to increase the thickness and stability of this protecting
brick-work is seen in the introduction of wooden logs as a second roof higher up (1506, 1581). It
is quite clear that in such a mass of brick-work an accidental corbel vault might in the most
favorable aircumstances be formed after seven or eight courses of the ordinary brick ca.
28x14x7 cm (30x15x7 cm), so that usually the wooden roof did not have to bear the whole
weight of the mass above it. Yet wood rots faster than sun-dried mud-brick; and a mud-
brick roof supported by wood is less stable and less enduring than a corbel. The corbels 1584
1 When, in cemeteries £OO, 700, 3200, the large stairway corbel had disappeared, we find the underground part of the large tomb
was a chamber hollowed out of the solid rock or gravel far underground, often lined with brick-work, and closed with a huge block of
stone, and the underground part of the small tomb was a deep pit lined below with mud-brick walls roofed with slabs of stone. The
small imitative stairway eorbel had disappeared along with the large stairway corbel.
IV. Types of Tomps.
was built in imitation of those royal tombs. These additional chambers, having their origin
in the solution of a structural difficulty, were immediately utilized as receptacles for pottery,
stone vessels, offerings, etc. And in our cemetery, this secondary use of the end chambers had
become fixed as their proper function. So we find end chambers retained in the stairway type
with wood roof, A. 2.b, the stairway type with corbel roof, B. 2. b, and even at times in the small
corbel, type B. 2. a, where finally the chambers had become merely rudimentary, in some cases
hardly capable of taking a single pot (1611, 3022, 3014).
stairway The next step in advance is the introduction of the stairway. It does not require any
reference to Abydos to show us the utility of that invention, though it was no doubt the
tomb of Den in which the stairway was first used. The great difficulty of approaching
and entering tombs like that of Merneit is obvious. The difficulty of construction was
equally great. The excavation must have taken place by means of a construction slope
or stair; and it may have been this construction slope which suggested the usefulness of a stair
in the finished tomb. At any rate, the origin of the stairway must have been based on
the difficulty of constructing and entering large tombs from above; and once originated it would
be copied universally in large tombs, even though not so large as Merneit, on account of its
utility. And it is clear that the stairway in our large tombs 1512 and 1581 and in the large
corbel vaults fulfils a real function, that of giving convenient access to the burial chambers.
It has however one other advantage in that it permitted the tomb to be roofed and made
ready as far as the substructure was concerned before the burial was made. And that was oi
great advantage especially in the case of the corbel vault in preventing damage to the burial
and the burial furniture during the roofing. Indeed it would have been difficult to finish these
large corbel vaults at all without having access to the interior. In the case of the small corbel,
however, the stairway or incline has no great value. They were made thus, simply because the
corbel roof was copied from the large vaults in which the stairway corbel had now become the
fashion; and the stairway was copied with it down to the wooden branches roofing the doorway.1
The corbel So far, the thread and the cause of the development is fairly clear. But the next step the
vault introduction of the corbel is, at first sight at any rate, more obscure. It must however be
remembered that the wooden roof was in reality only the bearer, the support of a mud or mud-
brick roof that in some cases (1532—1533) was at least ten to fourteen courses thick. It was
apparently this solid mass of brick work which was relied on to protect the grave from
rain, plundering, etc.; and the tendency to increase the thickness and stability of this protecting
brick-work is seen in the introduction of wooden logs as a second roof higher up (1506, 1581). It
is quite clear that in such a mass of brick-work an accidental corbel vault might in the most
favorable aircumstances be formed after seven or eight courses of the ordinary brick ca.
28x14x7 cm (30x15x7 cm), so that usually the wooden roof did not have to bear the whole
weight of the mass above it. Yet wood rots faster than sun-dried mud-brick; and a mud-
brick roof supported by wood is less stable and less enduring than a corbel. The corbels 1584
1 When, in cemeteries £OO, 700, 3200, the large stairway corbel had disappeared, we find the underground part of the large tomb
was a chamber hollowed out of the solid rock or gravel far underground, often lined with brick-work, and closed with a huge block of
stone, and the underground part of the small tomb was a deep pit lined below with mud-brick walls roofed with slabs of stone. The
small imitative stairway eorbel had disappeared along with the large stairway corbel.