Tomb
68993
224297305
2008-07-08T05:57:17Z
Leoboudv
640776
add a pyramid tomb image for Tomb article
''For the New York prison see [[The Tombs]].''
[[Image:Perelachaise-p1000391.jpg|thumb|A type of tomb: a mausoleum in Le [[Père Lachaise]] cemetery.]]
A '''Tomb''' is a repository for the remains of the [[death|dead]]. The term generally refers to any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, [[grave (burial)|burial]], including:
*[[Burial vault (tomb)|Burial vault]]s – stone or brick-lined underground spaces for interment (rather than burial), originally [[vault (architecture)|vaulted]], often privately owned for specific family groups; usually beneath a religious building such as a [[church]] or in a [[churchyard]] or [[cemetery]]
*[[Monuments]] – within a church (or tomb-style chests in a churchyard) may be places of interment, but this is unusual; they more commonly stand over the [[grave (burial)|grave]] or burial vault rather than containing the actual body and are therefore not tombs
*[[Crypt]]s – often, though not always, for interment; similar to burial vaults but usually for more general public interment
*Martyrium - final resting place for the remains of a martyr or saint, such as [[San Pietro in Montorio]]
*[[Mausoleum|Mausolea]] (including [[Pyramid#Ancient monuments|ancient pyramids]] in some countries) – external free-standing structures, above ground, acting as both monument and place of interment, usually for individuals or family groups
*[[Megalithic tomb]]s (including [[Chamber tomb]]s) – prehistoric places of interment, often for large communities, constructed of large stones and originally covered with an earthen mound
*[[Sarcophagus|Sarcophagi]] – stone containers for bodies or [[coffin]]s, often decorated and perhaps part of a monument; these may stand within religious buildings or greater tombs or mausolea
*[[Sepulchre]]s – cavernous, rock-cut or stone-built (often underground) spaces for interment, such as the [[:Category:Tombs of ancient Egypt|tombs of ancient Egypt]]; however, it is generally used to refer to similar [[Jew]]ish or Christian structures.
[[Image:Cheops pyramid 01.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Pyramid tomb of Khufu]]
*[[Shrine|Architectural shrines]] – in [[Christianity]], an architectural shrine above a [[saint]]'s first [[grave (burial)|place of burial]], as opposed to a similar shrine on which stands a [[reliquary]] or [[feretory]] into which the saint's remains have been transferred
*Other forms of archaeological 'tombs' such as [[ship burial]]s
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==
* [[Cadaver tomb]]
{{commonscat|Tombs}}
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[Category:Subterranea]]
[[cs:Hrobka]]
[[de:Grabmal]]
[[el:Τάφος]]
[[es:Tumba]]
[[zh-classical:墓]]
[[ko:무덤]]
[[nl:Graftombe]]
[[ja:墓]]
[[pl:Grobowiec]]
[[simple:Tomb]]
[[sk:Hrobka]]
[[sv:Gravvård]]
[[th:ที่เก็บศพ]]