Tomb

Ronald Reagan's tomb at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

A tomb (say: TOOM) is a place built to bury dead bodies, usually more elaborate and expensive than a grave. It is often intended to honor the dead, and be visited by the living. A tomb (from Greek τύμβος tymbos) is generally any structurally enclosed space or chamber used for housing the remains of the dead, and sometimes their possessions. The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of burial.

Ancient Egypt

Tombs were used in the Ancient Egyptian period where the bodies or possessions of Pharaohs were stored or buried inside a pyramid after mummification, where the pharaohs’ bodies would have their organs removed, their bodies covered with salt and then wrapped in bandages and a portrait panel of the pharaoh placed over the face, or death mask.

Related pages

• Cenotaph