tomb robbing
Stealing from sepulchers
Tomb robbing is the practice of breaking into burial sites to steal valuables interred with the dead.
The practice is ancient—Egyptian pharaohs' tombs were plundered within generations of their sealing.
Modern tomb robbing feeds the black market for antiquities: Tomb robbing has depleted archaeological sites across Central America.
Also called grave robbing, though that term more often refers to stealing corpses themselves.
- graveSerious and worrying
- lootingTheft during disorder
- artifactHuman-made historical object
- gold artifactsObjects made of precious yellow metal
- mummyEmbalmed, wrapped ancient body
treasure · cursed treasure · crypt · plunder · black market · excavation · sarcophagus · burial · ancient burial · antiquities · desecration · booby trap · pharaoh · Valley of the Kings · catacomb · relic · smuggling · archaeological
- burial customsburial, burial rites, burials, burial customs, grave offerings
- sacrilegeblasphemy, desecration, profanation, idol worship, idolatry
tomb robbingarchaeological excavation
Systematic unearthing of artifacts
tomb, tombs, entomb, entombed, entombing, entombment, robs, robbed, robbing