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Primary sourcePaintingc. 2560 BCE

Relief of Khufu from His Funerary Temple

c. 2560 BCE

A weathered carved block showing Khufu himself, from his destroyed funerary temple at Giza, excavated by George Andrew Reisner.

One of the very few surviving relief images actually depicting Khufu himself, from his own funerary temple.

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Black and white line drawing of an ancient Egyptian relief showing a seated figure with a headdress and a long braided beard, facing right, with a stylized stepped pattern beside him and standing legs and a second figure below. Gray stippled marks outline the carved shapes.
Relief of Khufu, from his funerary temple at Giza, c. 2560 BCE.

About this source

What it is

This is a drawing of a weathered relief block showing a seated figure believed to be Khufu, wearing a headdress and a long braided beard. It comes from his funerary temple at Giza and was excavated by the archaeologist George Andrew Reisner.

Why it matters

Very few images of Khufu himself survive, since most of his funerary temple was destroyed. This fragment is one of the rare direct depictions of the pharaoh, giving historians and students a glimpse of how he was shown as a living ruler, not just a name in a list.

Look closer

  • What details of dress or posture suggest this figure is a king?
  • Why do you think so little of Khufu's funerary temple survives today?
  • Why is it important that this image was found and recorded by archaeologists rather than being complete and untouched?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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