Tombs

tomb

tomb vault or chamber constructed either partly or entirely above ground as a place of interment. Although it is often used as a synonym for grave , the word is derived from the Greek tymbos [burial ground]. It may also designate a memorial shrine erected above a grave. The concept of the tomb as a chamber or dwelling place for the dead is the most widespread. It may have originated in the practice, known in prehistoric times and common among so-called primitive peoples of today, of burying the dead underneath their place of dwelling. Sometimes the survivors continue to live in the house; sometimes they seal and abandon it after a burial. This may account for the recurrence in different periods and places of the domed or conical funeral mounds and chambers (such as the prehistoric barrow , the beehive tomb of Mycenaean civilization , the mausoleum of Persian and Roman royalty, and the stupa of Asia) and of the artificial caves commonly called rock-cut tombs (such as those found in Petra, Jordan; Thebes, Egypt; and in various parts of Asia). When corpses were buried outside the house, the purpose of protecting the body and possibly confining the spirit was often served by heaping stones above the grave. This may have been the initial structure that gave rise to the mastaba and later to the pyramid of Egypt. Such heaps of stones also served as markers or shrines where offerings might be left to the spirits of the dead. Christian tombs, relatively simple at first, had by the Middle Ages become quite splendid. It became the custom to build a church over the grave of a martyr. For centuries, kings and other privileged persons were buried within the church buildings, their graves often surmounted by a little shrine or by a sarcophagus bearing an effigy of the deceased. In Great Britain many important personages have been entombed in Westminster Abbey . Famous funerary structures of modern times include the Taj Mahal , at Agra, India; the Dôme des Invalides , Paris, which contains the tomb of Napoleon; General Grant's tomb, New York City; and the Lenin mausoleum, Moscow. See burial ; cemetery ; crypt ; funeral customs .

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"tomb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tomb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-tomb.html

"tomb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-tomb.html

Learn more about citation styles

tombs

tombs Jewish dead were always buried, and skeletons of the 1st cent. CE of crucified victims have been discovered in a cemetery in Jerusalem. If burial took place in a grave, it would be covered with stones after the interment. Larger tombs, or sepulchres, could be cut into limestone rock and a stone door tightly fastened, forming an imposing mausoleum. The doors were shaped like wheels and were rolled up a track when necessary and held by a block, which was simply moved out of the way when the door was to return to seal the tomb. Probably this is the kind of tomb which Joseph of Arimathaea owned (John 20: 12), but its exact location is unidentifiable.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

W. R. F. BROWNING. "tombs." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

W. R. F. BROWNING. "tombs." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-tombs.html

W. R. F. BROWNING. "tombs." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-tombs.html

Learn more about citation styles

tomb

tomb / toōm/ • n. a large vault, typically an underground one, for burying the dead. ∎  an enclosure for a corpse cut in the earth or in rock. ∎  a monument to the memory of a dead person, erected over their burial place. ∎  used in similes and metaphors to refer to a place or situation that is extremely cold, quiet, or dark, or that forms a confining enclosure: the house was as quiet as a tomb. ∎  (the tomb) poetic/lit. death: none escape the tomb.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"tomb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tomb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tomb.html

"tomb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tomb.html

Learn more about citation styles

tomb

tomb. Monument erected to enclose or cover a dead body and preserve the memory of the dead, so a sepulchral or funerary structure. See also mausoleum, table-tomb.

Bibliography

Colvin (1991);
Crossley (1921);
J. Curl (2002c)

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "tomb." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "tomb." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-tomb.html

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "tomb." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-tomb.html

Learn more about citation styles

tomb

tomb XIII. ME. t(o)umbe — AN. tumbe, (O)F. tombe :- late L. tumba — Gr. túmbos mound, tomb.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "tomb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "tomb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tomb.html

T. F. HOAD. "tomb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tomb.html

Learn more about citation styles

tomb

tombabloom, assume, backroom, bloom, Blum, boom, broom, brume, combe, consume, doom, entomb, exhume, flume, foredoom, fume, gloom, groom, Hume, illume, inhume, Khartoum, khoum, loom, neume, perfume, plume, presume, resume, rheum, room, spume, subsume, tomb, vroom, whom, womb, zoom •catacomb • heirloom • broadloom •taproom • guardroom • staffroom •darkroom • classroom • bathroom •bedroom, headroom •legroom • restroom •dayroom, playroom •saleroom • stateroom • salesroom •tearoom • green room • sickroom •anteroom • bridegroom • stockroom •strongroom • box room • washroom •storeroom • boardroom • ballroom •courtroom • houseroom • showroom •cloakroom • elbow room •poolroom, schoolroom •newsroom •gunroom, sunroom •mushroom • common room •workroom • hecatomb • vacuum •legume • volume • costume •Leverhulme

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"tomb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tomb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tomb.html

"tomb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tomb.html

Learn more about citation styles

Tombs

Tombs •Abrahams • jimjams •alms, Brahms, man-at-arms •Thames •hames, James •Reims • Sims •betimes, Grimes, Times •Maritimes • oftentimes • sometimes •Toms • telecoms • Cairngorms •Holmes •Coombes, Tombs •Adams • diddums • Helms • doldrums •Williams • Worms

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Tombs." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Tombs." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Tombs.html

"Tombs." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Tombs.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Gothic Tombs of Kinship in France, the Low Countries, and England. (Reviews...
Magazine article from: Albion; 3/22/2002
Preserving the tombs of the Pharaohs.
Magazine article from: ASHRAE Journal; 12/1/2006
Knowth before Knowth. (Irish tomb)
Magazine article from: Antiquity; 3/1/1998

Facts and information from other sites

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of Tombs