Details

• Tomb Owner

  Khafre

• Excavator

  (Karl) Richard Lepsius, German, 1810–1884

  François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette, French, 1821–1881

  Selim Hassan (Bey), Egyptian, 1886–1961

• Lepsius No

  Lepsius VIII

  L.VIII

• Other No

  2 of Giza (Perring and Vyse)

• Alternate Reisner No

  G II

• PorterMoss Date

  Dynasty 4

Finds6

• 

  Fossilized shark's tooth

  • EMC_JE_32883
• 

  Fossilized shark's tooth

  • EMC_JE_32883bis
• 

  Limestone statue of Seshemneferptah

  • EMC_JE_93160
• 

  Mortar samples

  • BÄM_1334
• 

  Mortar samples

  • BÄM_1342
• 

  Wooden object

  • EMC_JE_93159

Maps & Plans2

• 

  General plan of Giza

• 

  General plan of the Giza Plateau

Drawings5

• 

  General view from Khafre Pyramid, looking SE towards Menkaure Pyramid

  • IDHUMFA_EG025536
• 

  View from Khafre Pyramid, looking NE (color plate)

  • IDHUMFA_EG025506
• 

  View from Khafre Pyramid, looking NW

  • IDHUMFA_EG025476
• 

  View from Khafre Pyramid, looking SE

  • IDHUMFA_EG025504
• 

  View of the Giza Pyramids, from the south

  • IDHUMFA_EG025474

Published Documents9

• Becker, Jürgen. "Die Chephren-Pyramide. Planänderung des Baukörpers und ihre Auswirkung auf das Kammersystem."Sokar 8 (1. Halbjahr 2004), pp. 6-17.
  

  • Date: 2004
• Cook, R.J. "The Elaboration of the Giza Site-Plan."Discussions in Egyptology 31 (1995), pp. 35-45.

  • Date: 1995
• Cwiek, Andrzej. Relief Decoration in theRoyal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom: Studies in the Development, Scene Content and Iconography. Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Warsaw University, 2003.
  

  • Date: 2003
• Edwards, I.E.S. "The Air-Channels of Chephren's Pyramid." In William Kelly Simpson and Whitney M. Davis, eds.Studies in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan: Essays in Honor of Dows Dunham on the Occasion of his 90th Birthday, June 1, 1980.Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1981, pp. 55-57.

  • Date: 1981
• Lehner, Mark. "Giza. A Contextual Approach to the Pyramids."Archiv für Orientforschung32 (1985), pp. 136-158.

  • Date: 1985
• Lehner, Mark. "The Development of the Giza Necropolis. The Khufu Project."Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 41 (1985), pp. 109-143.

  • Date: 1985
• Love, Serena. "Stones, Ancestors, and Pyramids: Investigating the Pre-pyramid Landscape of Memphis." In Miroslav Bárta, ed.The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology.Proceedings of the Conference held in Prague, May 31-June 4, 2004. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, 2006, pp. 209-218.

  • Date: 2006
• Petrie, W. M. Flinders.The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh. London: Histories & Mysteries of Man Ltd., 1990 (1st ed. London: Field and Tuer, 1883).
  

  • Date: 1883
• Porter, Bertha, and Rosalind L.B. Moss.Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings3: Memphis (Abû Rawâsh to Dahshûr). Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1931. 2nd edition. 3:Memphis, Part 1 (Abû Rawâsh to Abûsîr), revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1974.

  • Date: 1974

Unpublished Documents8

• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis II, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 10: Burials and Burial Equipment, Page 175

  • ID: HUMFA_GN2_K03_ChapX_p175
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis II, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 10: Burials and Burial Equipment, Page 175 (alternate version)

  • ID: HUMFA_GN2_K03_ChapX2_p175
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis III, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 15: Chronological Order of Finished Mastabas in the Giza Necropolis, page 009

  • ID: HUMFA_GN3_K14_p009
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis III, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 15: Chronological Order of Finished Mastabas in the Giza Necropolis, page 067

  • ID: HUMFA_GN3_K15_p067
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis III, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 15: Chronological Order of Finished Mastabas in the Giza Necropolis, page 068

  • ID: HUMFA_GN3_K15_p068
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis III, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 16: The Royal Family of Dynasty Four, page 115

  • ID: HUMFA_GN3_L01_p115
• 

  A History of the Giza Necropolis III, Unpublished 1942 Manuscript, Chapter 16: The Royal Family of Dynasty Four, page 138

  • ID: HUMFA_GN3_L01_p138
• 

  The Minor Cemetery at Giza, Unpublished Manuscript, Chapter I: The Minor Cemetery, p.001

  • ID: UPM_GMC_chapterI_001

Full Bibliography

• Becker, Jürgen. "Die Chephren-Pyramide. Planänderung des Baukörpers und ihre Auswirkung auf das Kammersystem." Sokar 8 (1. Halbjahr 2004), pp. 6-17, unnumbered figs.

  Cwiek, Andrzej. Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom: Studies in the Development, Scene Content and Iconography. Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Warsaw University, 2003, pp. 98-103, fig. 18.

  Edwards, I.E.S. "The Air-Channels of Chephren's Pyramid." In William Kelly Simpson and Whitney M. Davis, eds. Studies in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan: Essays in Honor of Dows Dunham on the Occasion of his 90th Birthday, June 1, 1980. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1981, pp. 55-57.

  Flentye, Laurel. "The Mastabas of Ankh-haf (G 7510) and Akhethetep and Meretites (G 7650) in the Eastern Cemetery at Giza: A Reassessment." In Zahi Hawass and Janet Richards, eds. The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honor of David B. O'Connor, Vol. I. Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, Cahier no. 36. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2007, pp. 301, 302, 303.

  Haase, Michael. "Brennpunkt Giza. Die Schachtsysteme der Cheops-Pyramide." Sokar 5 (2. Halbjahr 2002), pp. 10-11.

  Hawass, Zahi. "The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft at Giza." In Zahi Hawass and Janet Richards, eds. The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honor of David B. O'Connor, Vol. I. Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, Cahier no. 36. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2007, pp. 379, 381.

  Hawass, Zahi. "Royal Figures Found in Petrie's So-called Workmen's Barracks at Giza." In Studies in Honor of James F. Romano. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar 17 (2007), pp. 97, 98, 100, pl. 1.

  Hawass, Zahi. "Pyramid Construction. New Evidence Discovered at Giza." In Heike Guksch and Daniel Polz, eds. Stationen. Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte Ägyptens Rainer Stadelmann gewidmet, Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1998, pp. 54, 55.

  Hawass, Zahi. "The Discovery of the Harbors of Khufu and Khafre at Gîza." In Catherine Berger and Bernard Mathieu, eds. Études sur l'Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqâra dédiées à Jean-Philippe Lauer. Orientalia Monspeliensia IX. Montpellier: Université Paul Valéry, 1997, p. 245.

  Hawass, Zahi. "The Great Sphinx at Giza: Date and Function." In Gian Maria Zaccone and Tomaso Ricardi di Netro (eds.) Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti, Volume II. Turin, 1993, pp. 178, 181-188, fig. 1.

  Hawass, Zahi. "A Burial with an Unusual Plaster Mask in the Western Cemetery of Khufu's Pyramid." In Renée Friedman and Barbara Adams, eds. The Followers of Horus. Studies dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman 1944-1990. Egyptian Studies Association Publication No. 2. Oxbow Monograph 20. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1992, pp. 327, 329.

  Jánosi, Peter. "Das Pyramidion der Pyramide G III-a. Bemerkungen zu den Pyramidenspitzen des Alten Reiches." The Intellectual Heritage of Egypt. Studies presented to László Kákosy by Friends and Colleagues on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday. Studia Aegyptiaca XIV. Budapest, 1992, pp. 302-304, fig. 3,

  Lehner, Mark. "Giza. A Contextual Approach to the Pyramids." Archiv für Orientforschung 32 (1985), pp. 140-148, 151-153, 155-158, note 44, figs. 4, 5, 9-11, 13.

  Lehner, Mark. "The Development of the Giza Necropolis. The Khufu Project." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 41 (1985), pp. 110, 112, 115, 121, 135, 140, fig. 2.

  Manuelian, Peter Der. "Excavating the Old Kingdom. The Giza Necropolis and Other Mastaba Fields." In Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, pp. 141, 142, 146, 152, note 5, figs. 79, 80, 81, 87, 90.

  el-Naggar, Salah. "Les couvrements de granit dans les pyramides de Giza." In Peter Janosi, ed. Structure and Significance: Thoughts on Ancient Egyptian Architecture, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005, pp. 432-433, fig. 5.

  Porter, Bertha, and Rosalind L.B. Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings 3: Memphis (Abû Rawâsh to Dahshûr). Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1931. 2nd edition. 3: Memphis, Part 1 (Abû Rawâsh to Abûsîr), revised and augmented by Jaromír Málek. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1974, pp. 19, 25-26.

  Quibell, A.A. The Pyramids of Giza. Cairo: C.M.S. Bookshop, undated, pp. 9, 11, 18-20, 24, unnumbered fig.

  Rowe, Alan. "Studies in the Archaeology of the Near East II: Some Facts Concerning the Gread Pyramids of el-Gîza and Their Royal Constructors." Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 44, No. 1 (September 1961), pp. 101, 108, 116-117.

  Sakovich, Anthony P. "Explaining the Shafts in Khufu's Pyramid at Giza." Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 42 (2005-6), pp. 4, 5, 11, fig. 1.
  

3D Models2

• 

  Khafre Pyramid

• 

  Khafre Pyramid Complex: Site: Giza; View: Khafre Pyramid

Videos7

• Sphinx Complex: Site: Giza; View: Sphinx Temple

• Khafre Pyramid Complex and Sphinx Complex: Site: Giza; View: Sphinx, Khafre Pyramid, Khafre Causeway

• Khufu Pyramid Complex and Khafre Pyramid Complex: Site: Giza; View: Khafre Pyramid, Khufu Pyramid, Khufu Boat Museum, G I-c

• General view: Site: Giza; View: Khufu Pyramid, Khafre Pyramid, Western Cemetery

• General View: Site: Giza; View: Khufu Pyramid, Khafre Pyramid

• General View: Site: Giza; View: Khafre Pyramid, Khufu Pyramid, Khufu Boat Museum

• General View: Site: Giza; View: Khafre Pyramid

People 4

Ancient People

• 

  Khafre

  • TypeTomb Owner
  • RemarksFourth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khufu. Builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza and probably of the Great Sphinx as well. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Khephren. A number of diorite and greywacke statues and statue fragments depicting the king have been discovered in Khafre's valley temple, including Cairo CG 9-17. The fragmentary head of an alabaster royal statue (MFA 21.351 + MFA 33.1113) is attributed to Khafre.

Modern People

• (Karl) Richard Lepsius

  • TypeExcavator
  • Nationality & DatesGerman, 1810–1884
  • RemarksEgyptologist. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.
• François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette

  • TypeExcavator
  • Nationality & DatesFrench, 1821–1881
  • RemarksPasha; Egyptologist; Professor; Archaeologist of Sphinx Temple. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology.
• 

  Selim Hassan (Bey)

  • TypeExcavator
  • Nationality & DatesEgyptian, 1886–1961
  • RemarksEgyptologist; Sub Director General. Nationality and life dates from Who was Who in Egyptology. (1886-1961) Egyptian Egyptologist; born Mit-Nagi, 15 April 1886, he studied at the Higher Teacher's College, Cairo under Kamal (q.v.); in 1912 he became a teacher and in 1921 obtained a post in the Egyptian Museum as assistant keeper; he studied in Paris 1923-7 at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes; he was the first Egyptian to be appointed as a Professor of Egyptology in the Universitv of Cairo, 1928 - 36; he was later made Deputy Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service responsible for the care of all monuments in the Nile valley, 1936-39; Ph.D. Vienna University, 1935; stimulated by the archaeological work of P. E. Newberry (q.v.) and Junker (q.v.)he began an active career in excavations with the clearance of some of the Giza mastabas in 1929; the excavations carried on by him in this necropolis continued until 1939 by which time a great deal of digging had been achieved, published in 10 parts; he also cleared the Sphinx and its temple, for the first time completely digging out the great amphitheatre around it and ensuring that it would not be buried by send again so easily; he wrote a study on this work and on the temple of Amenhotep II here; in addition the so-called Fourth Pyramid or the palace-façade tomb of Queen Khent-kawes of the Fourth Dynasty was investigated and also the funerary town of the priests associated with it; he later worked on the Unas causeway at Saqqara and at the valley temple of this king, discovering some of the mastabas in this area and two great subterranean tombs dated to the Second Dynasty; his final excavations at Giza were carried out on the east and south faces of the Great Pyramid and at the mortuary temple of King Khufu, 1938-9; he also took part in the campaign to save the monments of Nubia, and wrote a report on this subject; he published about 53 books and articles on Egyptological subjects in English, French, and Arabic, Hymnes religieux du Moyen Empire, 1928; Le Poème dit de Pentaour et Le rapport officiel sur la bataiILe de Qadesh , 1929; Excavations at Giza, 10 pts., 1929-60; The Sphinx. Its History in the Light of recent Excavations, 1949; Report on the Monunents of Nubia,1955Excavations at Saqqara 1937-8, 3 vols., 1975; in Arabic Literature of Ancient Egpt, 2 vols.; Ancient Egypt from Prehistoric Times to the Age of Rameses 11, 6 vols.; he died in Giza, 30 Sept. 1961. AfO 20 (1963), 310 (H. Brunner); Archaeology 14, no, 4 (1961, 293; ASAE 58 (1964), 61- 84 (bibl.) (Dia Abou-Ghazi); Orientalia 31 (1962), 271; Goettinger Miszellen 76 (1984), 78-80; Reid, JAOS 105 (1985), 237, 241-44.