Pharoah Khufu

Khufu was the son of Snefera and Queen Hetephere. His full name was Khnum-Khufwy, which means "the god." Khufu is also known as Cheops, who was the second king of the Fourth Dynasty. Khufu is greatly known for building the Great Pyramid at Giza. His only surviving statue is the smallest piece of Egyptian sculptures ever discovered. Khufu reigned from 2589 to 2566,which was about 23 years.

The Great Pyramid at Giza is the only remaining ancient wonder that is still standing today. Khufu's great pyramid was made of 2.3 million blocks of granite and limestone. Each block weighed about 2.5 to 15 tons. King Khufu picked the spot of his great pyramid. In 2566, the pyramid was done. It was 481 feet tall.

Not much is known of Khufu's personal life or his accomplishments. But his most famous undertaking was the Great Pyramid at Giza. There was two theories for the building of his pyramid. First that slaves were forced to work until the task was done and the other was that there was hundreds of skilled workers who were payed to complete the pyramid. Today there is no remains of the mummy that have been found due to his tomb being robbed.

The Great Pyramid has been the center of more theories than any other structure. Khufu's had six sons, many did not succeed at building any pyramids but one did. Khafre built a pyramid called the"Second Pyramid." Khufu is best known for building one of the largest pyramids today. Khufu was so busy with the pyramid that he closed down all the temples to stop people from worshipping him. Khufu wanted to gain as much power as he could but he was running out of money to do this. So it was said that he placed his daughter in a room with men to entertain them and the money she made was to be passed on to him. (Bauer 84-87)

King Khufu was portrayed as a cruel ruler unlike his father Snefera. Snefera was a calm and gentle man who was very helpful to the Egyptians. Though Khufu was cruel, he had built the largest pyramid around. In the Fourth Dynasty was the first period in which mummification took place. It was not very successful but it was useful when using the linen bandages. The Fourth Dynasty was also the mark that peaked of the great pyramid building. Cheops whose Egyptian name was Khufu was the second king of the Fourth Dyansty. (Kemp 86) (Maisels 70)

Though the Great Pyramid at Giza has so much fame, not much is known about Khufu. An ancient wooden boat was found in a pit at the base of the pyramid. Inside this a small statue of Khufu was found. The statue is really all we have of him. The pyramid had three burial chambers. The first was underground which was carved into bedrock. The second one was the "queens chamber," And the third one was the king's chamber in which a red granite sarcophagus was placed.

Bauer, Wise, Susan. The History of the Ancient World. New York: Norton & Company, Inc, 2007

Kemp, Barry. Think Like an Egyptian. New York: Penguin Group, Inc, 2005

Maisels, Keith, Charles. Early Civilizations of the Old World. London: Florence Group, Inc, 1999