Having dealt with the transformation of funerary ideology in Chapter IV, in the present Chapter I focus on the actual funerary rites taking place in and around the Orientalising tomb. The occurrence of several multidepositional graves under a single mound or several depositions within a single tomb indicates that funerary rituals were repeated at more or less regular intervals, at each successive interment. Ritual repetition at the same location and in relation to past interments established continuity of ritual action and, more importantly, became an effective medium for transforming what were ritual activities into institutionalising practices. This in turn transformed what was merely elite social prestige into political authority.

Correspondingly, as rituals were repeated at the same tomb, the tomb's architectural structure became increasingly complex reaching monumental proportions in some cases and replicating the house in accordance with the new Orientalising funerary ideology. The tomb's complex architecture is thus a reflection of the discursive relationship between ritual space and action. As the tomb interior space was radically transformed, so did its outwards appearance and its surroundings, namely, the cemetery space and the landscape outside the urban cemeteries as exceptionally monumental tumuli dotted the land in isolated locations, transforming the empty agricultural landscape into a landscape of power.