Before pyramids, the oldest Pharaohs were buried in smaller tombs called mastabas. These tombs consisted of a simple, usually hilltop tomb made of dried mud brick, covering a vertical shaft of which lead to the actual tomb itself. The bottom of every mastaba shaft would contain a large ceremony room for honouring the dead and their spirit, along with a serdab, a smaller room holding a statue of the deceased. This statue followed the belief that it would help the deceased persons spirit watch the ceremonies. Inside of the entrance of the mastaba would lie a food offering room as well as many false doors. Mastabas become uncommon for royalty, being replaced with the more elaborate Pyramids. …show more content…
This pyramid began as a mastaba, later being expanded to a 60 meter tall step pyramid comprised of 6 layers of stone and clay blocks. This pyramid covered a complex of tunnels, combining to nearly 6km in length. Inside of these tunnels lay the burial chamber and a serdab once again, but many extra rooms such as three magazine galleries and many extra food offering rooms. Along with the huge complex underneath the pyramid, an Egyptian city sized complex, complete with walls surrounding the whole area lay around the pyramid. This above ground complex consisted of the North Court, the House of the North, the House of the South, an above ground Serdab and a Temple. All of these buildings related to some spiritual aspect of the burial, the North and South houses for example representing Lower and Upper