Khufu in Wikipedia
Khufu (in Greek known as Χέοψ, Cheops, pronounced /ˈhɛɒps/; according to Manetho,
Σοῦφις, Suphis) was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around
2589 to 2566 B.C. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally
accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World. Khufu's full name was "Khnum-Khufu" which means "the god Khnum
protects me."[6]
Family
Khufu was the son of King Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres I and brother of Princess
Hetepheres. Unlike his father, Khufu is remembered as a cruel and ruthless pharaoh in
later folklore. Khufu had nine sons, one of whom, Djedefra, was his immediate
successor. He also had fifteen daughters, one of whom would later become Queen
Hetepheres II. Several of Khufu's sons are known from the papyrus Westcar, while other
children are merely known from their tombs in Giza.[5] Cemetery G 7000 contains
several of the mastabas of these royal children.[7]
[edit]Sons of Khufu
Crown Prince Kawab - the eldest son of Khufu and Meritites I
Djedefra - successor of Khufu; Djedefra's mother is unknown [5]
Khafra - son of Khufu and Queen Henutsen, he succeeded his brother Djedefra as
king.[5][7]
Djedefhor - also known as Hordjedef. King’s Son of his Body, Count, Keeper of Nekhen.
Known from the Westcar Papyrus. Buried in the G 7000 cemetary in Giza (G 7210-
7220).[5][7]
Baufra - son of Khufu; some have suggested Bauefre is identical to Babaef. Attested in
an inscription in Wadi Hammamat, and known from the Westcar Papyrus. [5]
Babaef - son of Khufu, also called Khnum-baf. Known from his tomb in Giza (in the
Central Field) [5][7]
Khufukhaf I - son of Khufu and Henutsen. Known from his double mastaba in Giza (G 7130
- 7140).[5][7]
Minkhaf - son of Khufu and Henutsen. Served as Vizier during the reign of his brothers
Djedefre and Khafre.[5][7]
Horbaef - possibly a son of Khufu. Known from his tomb in Giza (G 7420 - 7430) which
he shared with Meritites II[5][7]
[edit]Daughters of Khufu
Nefertiabet King’s Daughter, possibly a daughter of Khufu. She is known from her tomb
in Giza (G 1225).[5][7]
Hetepheres II King’s Wife, Great of Scepter, King’s Daughter of his Body. Daughter of
Khufu. Married to Prince Kawab, and later to the pharaoh Djedefre. She may also have
married Khafre after the death of Djedefre. [5][7]
Meresankh II King’s Daughter of his Body, King’s Wife and Great of Scepter. Owned
mastaba G 7410 [7]
Meritites II Sometimes written as Merytiotes II. King’s Daughter of his Body. Married
to Akhethotep (Director of the Palace). Shared a tomb with her husband in Giza ( G
7650).[5][7]
Khamerernebty I Mother of Menkaure, likely to have been married to Khafre and may have
been a daughter of Khufu.[8] Possibly buried in the Galarza tomb in Giza.[7]
Life
Khufu came to the Egyptian throne in his twenties, and reigned for about 23 years,
which is the number ascribed to him by the Turin King List. Other sources from much
later periods suggest a significantly longer reign: Manetho gives him a reign of 63
years, and Herodotus states that he reigned for 50 years. Since 2000, two dates have
been discovered from his reign. An inscription containing his highest regnal year, the
"Year of the 17th Count of Khufu", first mentioned by Flinders Petrie in an 1883 book
and then lost to historians, was rediscovered by Zahi Hawass in 2001 in one of the
relieving chambers within Khufu's pyramid. Secondly, in 2003, the "Year after the 13th
cattle count" of Khufu was found on a rock inscription at the Dakhla Oasis in the
Sahara.[9] He started building his pyramid at Giza, the first to be built there.[10]
Based on inscriptional evidence, it is also likely that he led military expeditions
into the Sinai, Nubia and Libya.[11]
The Westcar Papyrus, which was written well after his reign during the Middle Kingdom
or later, describes the pharaoh being told magical tales by his sons Khafre and
Djedefre. This story cycle depicts Khufu as mean and cruel, and as being ultimately
frustrated in his attempts to ensure that his dynasty survived past his two sons.
Whether anything in this story cycle is based on fact is unknown, but Khufu's negative
reputation lasted at least until the time of Herodotus, who was told further stories
of that king's cruelty to his people and to his own family in order to ensure the
construction of his pyramid. What is known for certain is that his funerary cult
lasted until the 26th Dynasty, which was one of the last native-Egyptian royal
dynasties, almost 2,000 years after his death.
Funerary monuments
Most likenesses of Khufu are lost to history. Only one miniature statuette has been
fully attributed to this pharaoh. Since he is credited with building the single
largest building of ancient times, it is ironic that the only positively identified
royal sculpture of his was discovered not at Giza, but in a temple in Abydos during an
excavation by Flinders Petrie in 1903. Originally this piece was found without its
head, but bearing the pharaoh's name. Realizing the importance of this discovery,
Petrie halted all further excavation on the site until the head was found three weeks
later after an intensive sieving of the sand from the area where the base had been
discovered.[12] This piece is now on display in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. In more
recent years, two other likenesses have been tentatively identified as being that of
Khufu, based largely on stylistic similarities to the piece discovered by Petrie. One
is a colossal head made of red granite of a king wearing the white crown of Upper
Egypt that resides in the Brooklyn Museum, and the other, a fragmentary miniature head
made of limestone that also wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, which can be found
in the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst in Munich.[13]
An empty sarcophagus is located in the King's Chamber inside the pyramid though it is
unclear if it had ever been used for such a purpose as burial. While his mummy has
never been recovered, his impressive and well preserved solar barge-or Khufu ship -
was discovered buried in a pit at the foot of his great pyramid at Giza in 1954 by
Egyptian archaeologists. It has been reassembled and placed in a museum for public
viewing.
While pyramid construction had been solely for the reigning pharaoh prior to Khufu,
his reign saw the construction of several minor pyramid structures that are believed
to have been intended for other members of his royal household, amounting to a royal
cemetery. Three small pyramids to the east of Khufu's pyramid are tentatively thought
to belong to two of his wives, and the third has been ascribed to Khufu's mother
Hetepheres I, whose funerary equipment was found relatively intact in a shaft tomb
nearby. A series of mastabas were created adjacent to the small pyramids, and tombs
have been found in this "cemetery". The closest tombs to Khufu's were those belonging
to Prince Kawab and Khufuhaf and their respective wives. Next closest are the tombs of
Prince Minkhaf and Queen Hetepheres II, and those of Meresankh II and Meresankh
III.[14] When the largest of these tombs (Tomb G7510) was excavated in 1927, it was
found to contain a bust of Prince Ankhhaf, which can now be seen in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston.
Cultural depictions
The Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz's first novel Khufu's Wisdom (ABATH AL-AQDAR|Mockery
of the Fates (1939)) dealt with Khufu, his son Khafre and the succession of Djedefre.
Mockery of the Fates (1939) عبث الأقدار
Director Howard Hawks' 1955 film, Land of the Pharaohs, is a highly fictionalized
account of Khufu's later life and pyramid building project.
The Heroes graphic novel History of a Secret depicts Khufu as having the superhuman
ability of levitation.[15]
The DC Comics superhero Hawkman is a reincarnation of Khufu.
Although named as Cheops, Khufu appears as a Great Builder in the 2008 strategy video
game Civilization Revolution.[16] - Wikipedia
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