mage and by stepping out of the title of Khufu?
Khufu is the Fourth Dynasty king who has generated the strongest legacy over time – not Radjedef – even if he is remembered as a tyrant. Why might this be? If we consider for a moment that Khufu is a variant of Khnum-Khufu, and that Khnum was the god of the River Nile, responsible for the yearly inundation and the well-being of children, then would ‘Khufu’ not be remembered as a tyrant if, as a god (i.e. Khnum), he had forsaken his people with drought and plague? Might such confusion have arisen over hundreds – and in the case of Herodotus, thousands – of years, especially since Giza was once governed by a Dynasty that introduced the veneration of the god, Khnum? Serendipitously, the name of the Great Pyramid, when written in a cartouche, is Aakhu-t Khufu, meaning ‘The Horizon of Khufu’, and what could be a more appropriate name for a pyramid that looks out over the River Nile and the domain of the god, Khnum / Khufu.
Was Khufu a Woman?
There is another candidate for the historical Khufu; a woman. As incredible as it sounds, the Cairo museum contains a statue, which unambiguously depicts Khufu as a young girl, yet nobody seems to take notice of this peculiar detail. The image in question is that of the dwarf, Seneb, and his wife, the Princess Sentyotes: an influential office-holder of established royal blood; an esteemed lady of the court and priestess. Dwarfs were revered in Dynastic Egypt, as they were believed to have been the result of inbreeding performed to propagate a royal bloodline; a condition known as achondroplasia dwarfism.
Few dwarfs were as revered as much as Seneb, an official who, by convention, dates from the Sixth, or even the Fifth Dynasty, although his exact date is uncertain, and, I will argue, possibly earlier. Seneb’s tomb was discovered near the western cemetery at Giza – not far from the Great Pyramid – by German Egyptologist, Herman Junker, who noted Seneb’s many titles, including prophet of Khufu, overseer of the palace dwarfs, chief of the royal wardrobe and priest of Khufu and Radjedef’s funerary cults. In other words, he was the death priest of two Fourth Dynasty pharaohs: Khufu and his successor, Radjedef. Seneb’s importance is also reflected in a relief from his tomb that depicts him being carried in a palanquin, a carried chair that is reserved for important officials. Additionally, we also learn that he owned 10,105 oxen, 10,000 cows, 12,017 jackasses, 10,200 she-asses, 10,205 rams and 10,013 sheep; another indication of his exalted status in Egyptian society.
The exquisitely carved statue depicts Seneb sitting cross-legged next to his wife, with two children positioned where his adult-size legs would be, had he not been a dwarf. The children are identified by vertical, not horizontal, cartouches, a convention used to indicate that the individuals named in the cartouche were alive, not deceased, at the time. In this instance, the cartouches reveal that the children are none other than Khufu and his son and successor, Radjedef. However, what is curious, and I believe largely unaccounted for, is that as young children, Radjedef is clearly depicted with a penis, while Khufu is shown with a vagina. This is frequently explained by the theory that Seneb was honouring the two Fourth Dynasty pharaohs by naming his children after them. Although the statue was inscribed with “One known by the King”, and depicts Seneb in the ‘great palace’, what precedent would have enabled the offspring of a dwarf – no matter how revered – to be depicted in a cartouche, for this was a privilege reserved for royalty?
Intriguingly, on Seneb’s right leg is the inscription, “He who pleases his majesty everyday”. Might Seneb have lived in the Fourth Dynasty, as his titles suggest, and not two Dynasties later, as a high official of the Sixth Dynasty King, Pepi II; a king who ruled for 94 years, longer than any known monarch in history? References to Pepi II in Seneb’s tomb have led to speculation that Seneb was of his court. Might Pepi II have been venerating Khufu, as pa