 By the beginning of the New Kingdom even the pharaohs were buried in such tombs, and they continued to be used until the decline of the religion itself.Tombs could contain a great variety of other items, including statues of the deceased to serve as substitutes for the body in case it was damaged.Because it was believed that the deceased would have to do work in the afterlife, just as in life, burials often included small models of humans to do work in place of the deceased.