The dead, in the pre-family era, were wrapped in mats or goatskin and placed in a shallow shallow oval sand pit. In the pit, with the deceased, were left pots of food and drink; for the journey in the afterlife. The sand or quantities of rubble, crumbling over the grave to form a small tala. Later, the Safwa tombs consisted of rectangular rectangular subdivisions; single or multiple. These divisions were sometimes lined with brick, to reinforce the sides; they were covered with piles of rubble. Some were furnished with staircases, so that it was easy to get down to the underground rooms.

 The mastaba, a huge rectangular building above an underground room, became the preferred building of the nobility in the Second Dynasty. The outer walls were flat, but with a light tilt to the inside. The terraces often had sacrificial chambers with carved or embossed engravings with illustrations or texts. Around that time, the ancient Egyptians began to place the dead in stone or wooden coffins.

 During the Third Dynasty, the architect Amhotep began a revolution in the funerary architecture: when King Zoser's burial complex was built, the stone was replaced by bricks and wood. The flat-topped terrace evolved into a stepped pyramid of six rectangular terraces with areas gradually decreasing to the top, some of which were built on top of each other. By building the pyramid of King Sennfrew in Midum, the pyramid evolved into a real pyramid; flat sides were flat and corners tilted upward. Khufu, son of Sanfaro, built a pyramid in Giza. Khafra built a smaller pyramid than he, next to the statue of the Sphinx; and built his son Mnkora third pyramid in Giza. By the end of the age of the ancient state, Giza became a city of the dead, with streets lined with small pyramids of queens and princesses, and tombs for close nobles.
The pyramids were part of a funerary complex with a valley temple and an ascending road leading to the funerary temple. The pyramids incorporated increasingly complex systems, tools and tools of closure to prevent the theft of what could be contained within the personal treasures of kings and queens.
During the Middle Kingdom, funerary architecture changed; Monthotep II built a massive temple on the western mountain of Thebes. He led a way up from the bottom of the square to the hidden graveyard deep under the belly of the earth. A large number of senior officials were buried together in the mountain in Taybeh. In the north, the kings were buried in pyramids; the members of the court were buried in tombs around them.
By the time of the modern state, kings tried to hide the tombs from thieves. King Tuthmosis I excavated a huge underground cave in the Valley of the Kings west of Tiba. After his death, the entrance was closed; those who participated in the acts swore to be bound by secrecy. Because the dead of successive generations were also buried in what is now called the Valley of the Kings; the secret was revealed, and the contents of most of the graves - except for the tomb of Tutankhamun - to steal.
During the Ptolemaic era, some of the burial customs of the Greeks and Romans were incorporated into Egyptian traditions. The elite were buried in small booths; the public was buried together. The tombs were marked by signs; some of them bore a mixture of Greek and Egyptian paintings and texts. Mummification remained common, and everyday use tools were placed in tombs. The images were drawn in Greek style, to the face of the deceased on the mummy; instead of the mask of the old Egyptian mummy. The most famous photographs come from Fayoum.
During the reigns of Muslim rulers, governors and elites were buried inside mosques, shrines or large funerary groups. During the reign of Nasser Muhammad, the princes began to build religious and funerary buildings in the area known as the northern cemetery, on the borders of the eastern desert of the ancient city of Cairo. The Sultan Barsbai group was established in this area; it includes a school, khanaqah and takiyeh, as well as three tombs, including his tomb.

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