MAS'TABA. An Arabic word of uncertain derivation. meaning a hench, applied by Mariette to Egyptian tombs of a type which prevailed under the Memphite dynasties of the ancient Empire. Many hundreds of these tombs ex ist in the great necropolis between Abu Roash and Dashur, especially at Gizeh and Saqqara. They are oblong, bench-like structures with flat roofs of stone and walls of sun-dried brick or of stone, having a slight inclination or batter in ward. They vary in size from 19 by 25 feet to 84 by 172 feet. and are carefully oriented, with the long axis set north and south. Upon this axis an opening in the roof marks the mouth of the burial shaft, which leads to the mummy chamber. cut in the rock at a depth of some 10 feet. The nmstaba itself is sometimes solid, sometimes chambered. The solid mastaba has upon its eastern face a rectangular recess, con taining an inscribed stele. In the chambered mastaba, a doorway set in a recess, which in the more important examples forms a spacious vesti bule or porch fronted by twin piers, gives access to the chamber or 'chapel.' Fhis is often richly
adorned with nmral paintings, designed for the delectation of the ka, or dtsembodied •dindde' of the deceased, and invariably possesses on its western wall an inscribed stele and a sculptured door, through which the ka might eventually pass to the land of the Sun of Night. Front this chamber also small openings lead to the set-dabs or secret chambers containing the ka-statues, by means of which the lot was supposed to re tain his or her identity while confined in the limbo of the tomb. Sometimes these openings are wanting, the set-dubs being hermetically sealed. The chapel was open to any one to enter. Consult: Perrot and Chipiez, Histoire de fort rantiquite, vol. i. (Paris, 1882) ; Marlette, Les mastabas de rancien empire (Paris, 1881 87) ; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (London, 1891).