10 sentences with “tombs”

Unlike the Mesopotamian ziggurats, which were always temples, the pyramids were always tombs.

Similarly, tombs and mausoleums were decorated with statues of grotesque skeletons and twisted bodies.

The female figures are reminiscent of Chinese women painted in Tang Dynasty tombs, as are the male figures.

In turn, the social divisions revealed in the Çatal Höyük tombs reveal another key aspect of civilisation: specialisation.

They continued to build opulent tombs, but these were usually built on hillsides or in more conventional structures, rather than pyramids.

At Çatal Höyük, tombs have revealed that some people were buried with jewellery and wealth, while others were buried with virtually nothing.

Unlike the Egyptian pyramids that came later, Mesopotamian ziggurats were not tombs, but temples, and as such were the centrepieces of great cities.

In turn, Mycenaean ruins (and tombs) make it abundantly clear that most Mycenaeans were poor farmers working with primitive tools, dominated by bronze-wielding overlords who demanded work and wealth.

The Egyptian religion of the Old Kingdom had emphasised life on earth; although the pyramids were tombs built to house the kings and the things they would need on their journey to the afterlife, there are no records with details of how most people would fare after death.

Here we come to the discovery that has perhaps had the greatest impact of all the discoveries made in China in recent years. These are two large underground tombs dating back to the end of the 2nd century BC and containing the remains of two imperial figures: Liu Sheng and his wife Tou Wan.