What is "mastabah"

Mastaba \Mas"ta*ba\, n. Also Mastabah \Mas"ta*bah\ . [Ar. ma[,c]tabah a large stone bench.]

1. In Mohammedan countries, a fixed seat, common in dwellings and in public places.

2. (Egyptology) A type of tomb, of the time of the Memphite dynasties, comprising an oblong structure with sloping sides (sometimes containing a decorated chamber, sometimes of solid masonry), and connected with a mummy chamber in the rock beneath.

n. an ancient Egyptian mudbrick tomb with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof; "the Egyptian pyramids developed from the mastaba" [syn: mastaba]