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]]