Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePhotograph

Vue générale des Pyramides

Bonfils

A sepia photograph of three Giza pyramids, including Khufu's, with camel riders in the foreground.

This photograph shows Khufu's Great Pyramid alongside the pyramids of his successors at Giza.

Ask Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Sepia photograph of three Egyptian pyramids at Giza under a hazy sky, with three camel riders in the foreground on desert sand. Caption reads '104. Vue générale des Pyramides' and 'Bonfils'.
Bonfils, Vue générale des Pyramides. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.

About this source

What it is

This sepia photograph, held by the Rijksmuseum, shows the three Egyptian pyramids at Giza — of Mycerinus, Chephren, and Cheops — under a hazy sky, with camel riders in the foreground. The caption identifies it as number 104 in a series, credited to the photographer Bonfils.

Why it matters

The Great Pyramid, the largest of the three shown, was built for Khufu. Seeing it next to the pyramids of his successors Chephren and Mycerinus helps show the continuation of royal pyramid-building across several reigns of the Fourth Dynasty.

Look closer

  • How does the photographer use the camel riders to show the size of the pyramids?
  • Why might this photograph have been numbered and sold as part of a series?
  • What does the image not explain about the differences between the three pyramids?

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