tombes

A tomb is a structure or chamber for burying the dead and commemorating the deceased. The term, from Old French tombe, derives from Latin tumba and Greek tympos.

Tombs vary in form: subterranean vaults and chamber tombs cut into rock or built as hypostyle rooms; above-ground mausoleums; simple grave markers near or over interments; monumental tumuli or mounds; and decorated sarcophagi or ossuaries.

Across civilizations, tombs reflect beliefs about the afterlife, ancestry, and memory. In ancient Egypt, pyramids and rock-cut tombs served royal burials with elaborate goods. In Greece and Rome, tombs ranged from public monuments to underground crypts. In medieval Europe, crypts and mausoleums housed remains of saints and nobles; in East Asia, finely built tombs and hillside mausoleums appear. In other regions, ancestor shrines, ossuaries, and cliff tombs are common.

Today, tombs are subjects of archaeology, heritage preservation, and study of funerary practices. Many sites are protected as cultural heritage and open to scholars and visitors; looting and deterioration threaten irreplaceable materials.

Notable tombs include the pyramids of Giza, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Taj Mahal, the Catacombs of Rome, and the Tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings.