serdabs

These "serdabs," which are constructed in the thickness of the walls and have no entrances, seem to be peculiar to the tombs of the Ancient Empire (i.e. the period of the Pyramid

A Thousand Miles Up the Nile 1891

Occasionally the _serdabs_ are provided with punkahs.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various

The serdabs, or secret inner chambers, of which there were several in each mastaba, contained statues of the defunct, by which the existence and identity of the Ka were preserved.

A Text-Book of the History of Architecture Seventh Edition, revised 1890

The serdabs, or subterranean chambers, are used under the same conditions.

A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 Georges Perrot 1873

Here, we believe, M. de Sarzec is in error; the only refuges against the inflamed breath of the desert were the _serdabs_, the subterranean chambers with their scanty light and moistened walls, and the dark apartments of Assyrian palaces with their walls of prodigious thickness.

A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 Georges Perrot 1873

Even in the more northern part of the country, the district about Baghdad, the thermometer often rises during the summer to 120 deg. of Fahrenheit in the shade; and the inhabitants are forced to retreat to their _serdabs_ or cellars, where they remain during the day, in an atmosphere which, by the entire exclusion of the sun's rays, is reduced to about 100 deg.

The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 1. (of 7): Chaldaea The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. George Rawlinson 1857

_serdabs_ -- which are underground chambers cooled by running water, it may be, and by a tall _badgir_, or air chimney.

The Best Short Stories of 1917 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story Various 1915

Bassorah, and Bagdad, take refuge within their _serdabs_ as soon as the sun is a little high in the heavens, and stay there until the approach of evening. [

A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 Georges Perrot 1873

It is used for lining baths and those _serdabs_ to which the people retreat in summer. [

A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 Georges Perrot 1873