They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground.
It was a common form of burial for the wealthy in ancient times in several parts of the world.
[1] Other notable clusters include numerous Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel (modern Israel and the Palestinian territories), at Naghsh-e Rostam necropolis in Iran, at Myra in Lycia (today in Turkey), Nabataean tombs in Petra (modern Jordan) and Mada'in Saleh (Saudi Arabia), Sicily (Pantalica) and Larnaca.
A kukh (plural: kukhim, Hebrew: כּוּךְ), in Latin loculus, plural loculi, is a type of tomb complex characterized by a series of long narrow shafts, in which the deceased were placed for burial, radiating from a central chamber.
[citation needed] A kukh complex survives at the far west end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.