Open Access

Miroslav Bárta

• The recent discoveries of the Czech mission show clearly that Abusir formed with Saqqara a single geographical unit in ancient Egypt and that the modern separation of them is outdated. Abusir seems to have played the crucial role as the last area into which the necropolis expanded after exhausting the space occuppied by the Archaic Cemetery of North Saqqara. In fact, it is the last vestige before the move from the area (including Dahshur and Meidum) to Giza at the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. The tombs of Hetepi and lty, discovered and explored during the past few years, are probably the final representatives of genuine Third Dynasty tomb evolution in the Saqqara-Abusir area which drew its last breath at the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. These tombs undoubtedly belonged to the upper class in the society of the day, though certainly not to members of the royal family. Their characteristics clearly show exactly what preceded later tomb development at Meidum, Dahshur and Giza.