But whatever variety there may be found as to detail and arrangement, the principle is always the same.

The tomb is a dwelling, and it is constructed in such wise as may best promote the well-being, and ensure the preservation, of the dead.
[26] These three parts are (l) the chapel, (2) the passage, or shaft, (3) the sepulchral vault.

If the latter was below the level of the chapel, as in the time of the Ancient Empire, the communication was by a sloping or vertical shaft .-- A.B.E.
I .-- Mastabas.
The most ancient monumental tombs are found in the necropolis of Memphis, between Abu Roash and Dahshur, and in that of Medum;[27] they belong to the mastaba type (Note 12).

The mastaba (fig.

113) is a quadrangular building, which from a distance might be taken for a truncated pyramid.