Abstract
At Abusir, Czechoslovak/Czech archaeological excavations started in 1960. Until 1974, the work concentrated on the mastaba of Ptahshepses, the largest private tomb from the Third Millennium BC currently known from Egypt, which had been partly unearthed already at the end of the nineteenth century.
In 1976, the Institute obtained a new, large archaeological concession covering the entire central and southern parts of the Abusir necropolis. In that area, the burial structures of the members of the royal family of the Old Kingdom have been examined, as well as mastabas of higher dignitaries of the same time and several large shaft tombs dating to the mid-First Millennium BC.
Among the most important monuments excavated so far, the unfinished pyramid complex of Fifth-Dynasty King Raneferef and the shaft tomb of priest Iufaa, found intact, deserve to be mentioned. In addition to Egyptologists, a number of scholars specialised in various scientific and technical disciplines have taken part in the work at Abusir.