Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePhotograph2025

Statue of Khufu

UserPpPp · 2025

A modern photograph of a small statue identified as King Khufu, held in the Cairo Egyptian Museum.

This statue, photographed in 2025, is identified as a depiction of King Khufu himself.

Ask Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Close-up photo of a small seated ivory or stone figure with a tall cap crown, a clenched fist raised to the chest, and a hand resting on the lap. Dark mottled patches mark the surface. Blurred background.
Statue of Khufu. Cairo Egyptian Museum. Photograph, 2025.

About this source

What it is

This 2025 photograph shows a small seated statue believed to represent King Khufu, displayed in the Cairo Egyptian Museum. The figure wears a tall crown and sits with one hand raised to the chest.

Why it matters

Surviving images of Khufu are extremely rare, so this statue is an important clue to how the king was represented in ancient Egyptian art. The photograph itself is a modern record, not an ancient object, letting students study the statue closely.

Look closer

  • What details in the statue suggest royal status?
  • Why might so few images of Khufu have survived?
  • How does a modern photograph change the way we experience an ancient object?

This photograph 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.

More Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) sources

Meet the AI Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) →
A large limestone pyramid with a smooth-edged stepped outer surface rises against a clear blue sky over pale desert sand. Small figures stand at the lower left, and rubble and low stone blocks lie at its base.Artifact

Primary source

Great Pyramid of Giza

c. 2560 BCE

Vintage postcard showing the Great Pyramid of Giza in grey tones against a pale sky, with a large dark tree in front, two palm trees at left, a camel and rider at lower left, and the caption 'La Grande Pyramide Cheops'. Handwriting and a stamp are on the right.Photograph

Secondary source

La Grande Pyramide Cheops

1903

A small ivory statuette of a seated figure wearing a tall royal crown, with hands resting on the lap, on a clear acrylic base set against a blue cloth. Dark encrusted patches mark the chest and arm.Sculpture

Primary source

Khufu Statuette

c. 2600–2494 BCE (possibly later, 664–525 BCE)

Sepia albumen photograph of the Giza pyramids of Cheops and Chephren, with the Sphinx and the Valley Temple ruins in the foreground, and robed men with camels standing to the right. Caption printed in white script along the bottom.Photograph

Secondary source

Pyramids of Cheops and Chephren and the Sphinx at Giza

The Khufu ship, a large ancient Egyptian wooden solar barque displayed in a museum gallery. Its long hull is supported by a criss-crossed framework of metal and wooden struts, and visitors stand along the walkways and balconies around it under a curved, illuminated ceiling.Artifact

Primary source

Khufu ship

Royal shipwrights of Khufu · c. 2566 BCE

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions