In the ancient times, tombs were not just built as a resting place for the departed. They were structured as a way to communicate the status and cultural beliefs of the person, his family and the community. They were not just simple holes in the ground but elaborate structures that could hold much more than a dead body. Tombs in ancient Greece were built according to the financial status of the departed. Wealthy Greeks would built elaborate tombs that closely resembled mausoleums in size and structure. The stone buildings were elaborately decorated from the inside out. The inner walls gave a pleasant ambiance to the dead as they were adorned with images of the departed families (Hooker, 2014. P. 67-68).
MacDonald et al. ( 2016, p. 36-37) points out that in times of strife such as war or disease outbreaks, the community organized mass graves for the departed. The dead were recognized by installation of a single monument or marker commemorating the date periods of the deaths and the battle they lost their lives in. Some of the tombs in ancient Greece were shaped like bee hives. This was an imitation from early Minoan architectural designs. Later architectural styles mimicked the Corinthian, Doric and Ionic order. Elaborate building techniques for supporting structures vertically and horizontally were Greek inventions. The columns and lintels are still maintained to date. Zhao et al. ( 2017, p. 56) states that the most remarkable architectural design in Greece is the Nereid tomb. It is similar to the Egyptian pyramids because it was built for one of Greece's earlier rulers.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Ancient Egypt is famous for the most elaborate tombs structures. While they honored and revered the dead just like the Greek, they placed more importance on the tombs of their leaders. Ordinary Egyptian citizens build tombs out of dried bricks. The chambers and shafts were dug in the ground and the resultant structures were called mastabas. The mastabas had two adjoining chambers. The smaller room called the serdab would be fitted with a statue of the departed person so that he could witness the remembrance ceremonies. The larger room would be used to hold ceremonies to honor the spirit of the departed person. The rooms were custom made according to religious inclining and familial affections (Bell, 2015, p. 45-46).
According to Jones (2014, p. 88-89) the tombs of royalty were much more elaborate than the mastabas of the ordinary citizens. The pyramids were much larger in size than the mastabas. They were grand and with each passing pharaoh, the builders sought to outdo themselves in the height and size of the pyramid. The inside was spacious with alot of chambers. These were to accommodate the many possessions of the pharaoh that would be buried with him. The pyramids were and still are triangular symbols of power. Examples are the Great Pyramid of Giza.
References
Bell, E., 2015. Architecture of ancient Egypt: a historical outline.
Hooker, J.T., 2014. Mycenaean Greece (Routledge Revivals) . Routledge.
Jones, M.W., 2014. Origins of classical architecture: temples, orders and gifts to the gods in ancient Greece . Yale University Press.
MacDonald, S. and Rice, M. eds., 2016. Consuming Ancient Egypt . Routledge.
Zhao, H., Diao, X., Jiang, H. and Zhao, Z., 2017. The 3D measurement techniques for ancient architecture and historical relics. In Second International Conference on Photonics and Optical Engineering (pp. 102562L-102562L). International Society for Optics and Photonics.
