The Abusir pyramids are located between Giza and Saqqara, site chosen by the kings of the 5th dynasty, which should be seen as a projection in the north of the Sakara cemetery.
Three partially destroyed pyramids dominate the landscape. To the north is that of King Sahure, interesting for the remains of the funerary temple on the east side. Large parts of the basalt pavement are preserved intact, as well as some Aswan architectural granite elements, with inscriptions of real names. Reliefs of historical and artistic importance were discovered on the walls of the temple, but were removed by excavators.
Another monument of interest is the great mastaba of the vizier Ptahshepses, married to a princess, with a large courtyard with a colonnade and delicate reliefs that portray the vizier. Two stone sarcophagi still remain in the burial chamber. Two granite columns in the shape of "papyrus tied" decorate the entrance to the mastaba.
The German and Czech teams that excavated the site discovered important papyri that shed light on routine activities at funeral temples.
The kings of the 5th dynasty emphasized the worship of the sun gods, (Ra, Aton, Kefri) and their main center in Heliopolis, near Cairo. Particularly notable was the belief that the spirit of dead kings rose to heaven and merged with the sun, father of all kings. That is why special temples were built in Abu-Ghurob, north of Abusir, to worship the solar aspect of the dead kings. The best preserved is that of Neuserre; its characteristic feature is a pyramid-shaped monument, called "benben", on whose polished cusp they thought the sun set in the morning every morning. A large alabaster altar in the shape of four hieroglyphic signs, hetep (offerings) was located in a large courtyard in front of the benben. Blood offerings poured into large channels dug into the pavement, and flowed into large alabaster vessels.
The walls of an adjacent cult chamber are decorated with reliefs that represent the seasons.