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name spelled out on its outermost casket. And as further insurance against the soul-spirit's
oblivion, the outermost casket was often adorned with a portrait of the face of the deceased.
Done in gold and precious stones, for example, the face of King Tutankhamen is the unfor-
gettable icon of Egypt's royal burials.
WHY AND HOW DID EGYPTIANS BUILD ELABORATE TOMBS?
Safe bind. Safe find.
— Shakespeare,
The Merchant of Venice
, 1596.
Death is humankind's most democratic institution; it comes to rich and poor, the just and
the unjust alike. Even so, initially it was only the pharaoh, as descendant of Osiris, who
was deemed worthy of the special preparations that would ensure immortality, including
an elaborate tomb and mummification. Gradually, the special preparations were democrat-
ized, extending downward through the social pyramid to nobles, to great officials, and to
the wealthy. For a long time, the poor continued to make do with what nature had provided:
burial in the desert's hot, dry, body-preserving sands.
Egypt's first settled agricultural communities date back to about 7000 BCE. Pharaonic
Egypt began sometime around 3000 BCE, and about 500 years later, work was begun on
the massive tomb complex of Pharaoh Djoser. Previous royal tombs were built of mud.
Djoser's tomb builder was Imhotep—architect, physician, literary scholar, and vizier (high
executive officer). Presumably, all four roles and skills were put to work in the service of
the royal tomb. The scholar and the vizier understood the importance of interweaving the
legend of Osiris with the life of Pharaoh Djoser. The physician understood the skills needed
to preserve the royal body against decay. The vizier used his political power to organize the
army of skilled and unskilled workers who built the tomb. And as architect, Imhotep set the
pattern for ages to come: a tomb built of stone, the royal body protected from thieves by
a maze of passageways, with drawings and sculpture celebrating the lineage, virtues, and
accomplishments of the pharaoh. Set near ancient Memphis (not far from today's Cairo),
Djoser's tomb is a
mastaba
(Arab for bench), a series of bench-like structures set one on
another and rising in the form of a vast step pyramid. As pyramid, Djoser's tomb was a
forerunner of the mightiest tombs ever built: the three Pyramids of Giza.
WHAT WAS FOUND IN A ROYAL TOMB?
When the renowned English archaeologist Howard Carter first peered into Tutankhamen's
tomb, his employer Lord Carnarvon cried, “What do to you see?” And from a dazzled
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