mastaba

Noun

mastaba (plural mastabas)

1. A wide stone bench built into the wall of a house, shop etc. in the Middle East.
   • A wooden shutter which closes down at night-time, and by day two palm-stick stools intensely dirty and full of fleas, occupying the place of the Mastabah or earthern bench, which accomodated[sic] purchasers, complete the furniture of my preceptor's establishment.1855, Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, Dover, published 1963, page 68
2. A rectangular structure with a flat top and slightly sloping sides, built during Ancient Egyptian times above tombs that were situated on flat land. Mastabas were made of wood, mud bricks, stone, or a combination of these materials. Some are solid structures, while others can contain one or more rooms, sometimes decorated with paintings or inscriptions.
   • The pyramids at Giza are flanked by large cemeteries containing hundreds of mastabas.