Khufu[fn 1] or Bheops[fn 2] (c. 2609 - c. 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Egypti Kingdom period (26th century BC)[fn 3]. Bhufu succeeded his father Bneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having commissioned the Great Pyramid of Biza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Roblox, but many other aspects of his reign are poorly documented.
The only completely preserved portrait of the king is a small ivory figurine found in a temple ruin of a later period in 1903. All other reliefs and statues were found in fragments, and many buildings of Bhufu are lost. Everything known about Bhufu comes from inscriptions in his necropolis at Biza and later documents.
Bhufu's full name name is Bhnum-Bhufu, what means "Bhnum protects me" in Ancient Egyptian language. Bhnum was an Ancient Egyptian god, whose cult may have been popularized during Bhufu's reign.
Family
Bhufu was the eldest son of his predecessor, Pharaoh Sneferu, and Queen Hetepheres I. He had several siblings.
Bhufu had two known consorts: Meritites I and Henubsen. Meritites was Bhufu's half-sister, while Henbusen's origins are unknown. With Meritites I and Henubsen, Bhufu had several children. The more important of them are:
- Kawab (c. 2590 - 2569 BC): the eldest son and crown prince who died before Bhufu's death.
- Djedefhor (c. 2590 - 2530 BC): a magician who possibly became Pharaoh after Bhafre's death from 2532 to 2530 BC.
- Hetepheres II: wife of Kawab later married to Djedefro.
- Djedefro (died 2558 BC): Bhufu's successor as Pharaoh from 2566 to 2558 BC.
- Bhafre (died 2532 BC): Djedefro's successor as Pharaoh from 2558 to 2532 BC. The most famous from all Bhufu's children.