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Saqqarah Abydos
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Being the capital of the united land, Memphis
became very wealthy. The royal officials who controlled the produce and imports
of the new country used their wealth to build magnificent tombs for themselves
Amastaba tomb, was built at the burial ground
at Saqqarah overlooking Memphis The burial chamber of each tomb was in the
center underground, cut out from the rock, and was filled with rubble after the
body had been placed in it. The tomb was divided into different chambers, or
rooms, to hold all the goods that the dead official would need in the
afterlife. When all the preparations for the dead were finished, the entire
complex was roofed over, leaving no entrance. The roof, however, was often an
easy way for thieves to break into the tomb, that is why almost all the
mastabas at Saqqarah were eventually robbed of their goods.
Another sacred place, Abydos - 97 kilometers north of modern Luxor - was the
official burial site of the god Osiris. It may have been the burial place of
the early Egyptian kings. Some Egyptologists, however, believe that only
monuments to the kings were placed at Abydos and that Saqqarah is the actual
burial site.
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