Khufu

Khufu ( /ˈkuːfuː/ KOO-foo), originally Khnum-Khufu ( /ˈknuːmˈkuːfuː/ KNOOM-koofoo), is the birth name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who ruled in the 4th dynasty of the Old Kingdom, around 2580 B.C.. He is equally well known under his Hellenized name Khêops or Cheops ( /ˈkiːɒps/, KEE-ops; Greek: Χέοψ, by Diodor and Herodotus) and less well known under another Hellenized name, Súphis ( /ˈsuːfɨs/ SOO-fis; Greek: Σοῦφις, by Manetho). A rare version of the name of Khufu, used by Josephus, is Sofe ( /ˈsɒfiː/ SO-fe; Greek: Σοφe).

Khufu was the second pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, he followed his possible father, king Sneferu, on the throne. He is generally accepted as having built the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but many other aspects of his reign are rather poorly documented.

The only completely preserved portrait of the king is a three-inch high ivory figurine found in a temple ruin of later period at Abydos in 1903. All other reliefs and statues were found in fragments and many buildings of Khufu are lost. Everything known about Khufu comes from inscriptions in his necropolis at Giza and later documents. For example, Khufu is the main actor of the famous Papyrus Westcar from 13th dynasty.

Most documents that mention king Khufu were written by ancient Egyptian and Greek historians around 300 BC. Khufu's obit is presented there in a conflicting way: While the king enjoyed a long lasting cultural heritage preservation during the period of the Old Kingdom and the New Kingdom, the ancient historians Manetho, Diodorus and Herodotus hand down a very negative depiction of Khufu's character. Thanks to these documents, an obscure and critical picture of Khufu's personality persists.