Another form of burial, when the interment occurred within a city, is illustrated by the five “Philistine” graves found at Gezer.[223] These graves were excavations in the earth, lined with cement, and, after the interment, covered with four or five massive stones and earth; (Fig. 226). In these graves the usual deposits of food and drink had been made in beautiful bronze and silver vessels, which show kinship to the art of Cyprus; (see Fig. 137). They are probably, therefore, Philistine. =6. Rock-hewn Shaft Tombs.=--A form of tomb of which many examples are to be found in all parts of Palestine is the rock-hewn tomb. The limestone of the country is easily cut, and lends itself readily to the construction of this kind of burial-place. Such tombs are of two kinds--“shaft” tombs and “doorway” tombs. The structure of a shaft tomb is as follows:[224] The tomb chamber or chambers are cut in the rock and are approached by a perpendicular rock-hewn shaft, which is usually rectangular. This shaft is closed at the bottom with slabs and then the shaft is filled with earth. Such tombs are usually constructed in ledges covered over with soil, so that, when the hole leading to the rock-cut shaft is filled, the tomb is effectually concealed. Such tombs are very numerous all the way from pre-Israelitish times to the Greek period. For a plan of one, see Fig. 228. =7. Doorway Tombs.=--The “doorway” tombs are sometimes cut in a ledge that is altogether under ground. In that case a flight of steps is excavated leading down to the door; (Fig. 232). Often the tomb is cut in a ledge on the slope of a hill, so that the doorway is approached from the level of the ground; (see Fig. 227). Doors were, no doubt, fitted into the doorways. The places cut in the rock for the latches or bars of such doors are sometimes still visible. These tombs consisted sometimes of one room, sometimes of several. Sometimes the bodies were laid on the floor of the tomb; sometimes elevated benches or shelves were cut in the rock on which bodies might be placed. Quite as often shafts or niches were cut into the rock, into which a body or a sarcophagus could be shoved endwise. Such a shaft is called technically a _kôk_, in the plural, _kôkim_. For examples of them, see Figs. 233, 237. The date at which this kind of tomb was introduced has not been satisfactorily determined. Sometimes numerous small tombs, each one resembling somewhat a _kôk_, were cut in a hillside. Archæologists call such a group of tombs a “columbarium”; (see Fig. 230).