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Secondary sourceBookc. 1800 BCE

Westcar Papyrus

c. 1800 BCE

A Middle Kingdom Egyptian papyrus of magical tales told at the court of King Khufu by his own sons.

This text preserves the main Egyptian literary legend about Khufu, showing how he was remembered centuries after his reign.

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Photograph of a papyrus manuscript covered in dense rows of brown and black hieratic script, with red-ink lines and section markers. Several light patches and damaged areas are visible on the papyrus surface.
Westcar Papyrus, Egyptian tales of King Khufu, c. 1800 BCE. Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

About this source

What it is

The Westcar Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about magicians and miracles, each said to be told at the court of King Khufu by his sons. Written in hieratic script, it is thought to date from centuries after Khufu's reign, possibly the Thirteenth Dynasty. It was found in Egypt in the 1820s and later acquired by Egyptologist Adolf Erman for the Museum of Berlin, where it is displayed today in low light due to its fragile condition.

Why it matters

Although set at Khufu's court, these stories were composed long after he lived and were meant to entertain rather than record history, yet they are the main literary portrait of Khufu that survives from Egyptian tradition. They show how later Egyptians imagined and remembered this famous pyramid-builder king.

Look closer

  • Why might these stories have been written hundreds of years after Khufu's death?
  • What does the choice to set magical tales at Khufu's court tell you about his later reputation?
  • How reliable do you think this text is as evidence for Khufu's real life?

This book 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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