The Towers of Yemliko can best be described as a set of multi-storied family crypts and burial chambers. The one I visited, Elahbel, was five stories high with vertical niches in each side wall that could fit possibly five to six coffins stacked on top of each other. The niches could be sealed with a slab of stone that had the bust of the person who had died carved in it. As this would be a little costly it seems that mostly the well to do folks were interred here. Those coming from more humble circumstances probably settled for an anonymous grave in the desert.