A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a common form of burial for the wealthy in ancient times in several parts of the world.
Important examples are found in Egypt, most notably in the town of Deir el-Medina (Seet Maat), located between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.[1] Other notable clusters include numerous Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel (modern Israel and the Palestinian territories), at Naghsh-e Rostam necropolis in Iran, at Myra in Lycia (today in Turkey), Nabataean tombs in Petra (modern Jordan) and Mada'in Saleh (Saudi Arabia), Sicily (Pantalica) and Larnaca.[2] Indian rock-cut architecture is very extensive, but does not feature tombs.
- ^ Dodson, Aidan (1991), Egyptian Rock-cut Tombs, Buckinghamshire: Shire Publications Ltd., ISBN 0-7478-0128-2
- ^ Hadjisavvas, Sophocles (2012). The Phoenician Period Necropolis of Kition, Volume I. Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.