Tomb

For places in Iran, see Tomb, Iran.
"Tombs" redirects here. For other uses, see Tombs (disambiguation).
"Sepulchre" redirects here. For other uses, see Sepulchre (disambiguation).
Tomb of Akbar in Akbar's Tomb
A type of tomb: a mausoleum in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Tombs and sarcophagi at Hierapolis

A tomb (from Greek: τύμβος tumbos)[1] is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes.

Overview

The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, burial, including:

As indicated, tombs are generally located in or under religious buildings, such as churches, or in cemeteries or churchyards. However, they may also be found in catacombs, on private land or, in the case of early or pre-historic tombs, in what is today open landscape.

The tomb of Emperor Nintoku (the 16th Emperor of Japan) is the largest in the world by area. However, the Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt is the largest by volume.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tombs.
  1. τύμβος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
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