Facts About Khufu

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1024px-Kheops-Pyramid

Khufu is an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. He was the second Pharaoh of the 4th dynasty of Old Kingdom in 26th century BC. He was considered equivalent to god. He was the Pharaoh who built the ‘The great Pyramid of Giza’. Despite the huge size of the Pyramid there are no statues or any other forms representing Khufu other than a little 3 inch (7.5 centimetres) Ivory statue. Khnum-Khufu is his birth name and the word ‘Khnum-Khufu’ means ‘Khnum Protects Me’. There are many stories about this king and some of them narrate the cruelty of the king, but in reality there is no evidence as to prove this.

Fact 1: King Khufu’s body was not found in any of the pyramids or anywhere else. Although there is a king’s chamber in the pyramid at Giza, his mummy along with other precious remaining were all robbed. Only a statue was found in the temple of Abydos apart from traces of few destroyed statues and empty sarcophagus.

Fact 2: The pyramid of Giza built by him is the largest pyramid ever and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is built using 2.3 million stones and each stone weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons each. The pyramid has three burial chambers. Unfortunately all of them were found empty anyways by the explorers. The first chamber which is underground is carved into bedrock. The second one was called Queen’s chamber is aboveground. Earlier explorers assumed it was a Queen’s chamber but it is now known that it wasn’t really for the Queens but the king’s sacred statue. The third chamber is the King’s chamber and is in the centre of the pyramid and holds a red granite sarcophagus which is empty without any mummy. Some of the parts of the Pyramid are still unexplored. Several mysterious shafts extend from the king’s and queen’s chamber but there is no way to enter these shafts. In 2002 a blocked shaft was penetrated but it only lead to another stone blocking the way.

Fact 3: Khufu was worshiped as god not only in Giza but in entire Egypt. There are several indications of this in many ancient scripts. He himself had no belief in god in early years of his rule but later he had written series of sacred books.

Fact 4: Khufu practised polygamy like most of the king in ancient times and had several wives. But only the Queen Meritates was his beloved and principal wife and Djedefre aka Radjedef was his heir.

Fact 5: Potter’s wheel

Fact 6: Khufu was born in 2589 BC and lived until 2566 BC. The reason for his death however is a mystery. Strangely so many things about this Pharaoh are mystery.

Fact 7: The most influential person in the Khufu’s reign was his nephew Hemiunu. He was his chief chancellor. He had a very prominent position in the Royal family. He also was the architect of the Pyramid of the Giza.

Fact 8: After Khufu’s death his elder son Djedefre became the Pharaoh. How long he was in the throne is unknown. After him Khafre sat on the throne. He also built a pyramid at Giza which is also very huge but not as huge as the one which his father built.

Fact 9: ‘Meritites’, Khufu’s beloved wife was also ‘Snefru’s’ beloved daughter. Snefru was Khufu’s father. Hence, it is assumed that Khufu was married to his own sister or half sister. Incest was a common practise then among pharaohs inorder to retain the sacred and divine bloodline.

Fact 10: During ruling of Khufu, there was a shift towards the belief in solar god ‘Ra’. He believed and preached his people that he was person of divine status and was a mediator between them and god.

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