Khufu Statuette

King Khufu
Khufu
Material	Ivory
Size	7.5 cm high x 2.9 cm long x 2.6 cm deep
Created	uncertain: Fourth Dynasty or Twenty-Sixth Dynasty
Discovered	Temple of Khentyamentiu, Abydos, Upper Egypt.
Present location	Egyptian Museum
Identification	JE 36143

The Khufu Statuette or the Ivory figurine of Khufu is an ancient Egyptian statue. Historically and archaeologically significant, it was found in 1903 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie during excavation of Kom el-Sultan in Abydos, Egypt. It depicts Khufu, a Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty (Old Kingdom, c. 2613 to 2494 BC), and the builder of the Great Pyramid, though it may have been carved much later, in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, 664 BC–525 BC.

This small seated figure is the only known three dimensional depiction of Khufu which survives largely intact, though there are also several statue fragments. Most Egyptologists consider the statue contemporary with Khufu very likely from his reign. However, because of the unusual provenance, its dating has been repeatedly questioned. The Egyptologist Zahi Hawass doubts that the statuette dates to the Old Kingdom at all. His argument that the statuette belongs to the 26th Dynasty has not received much credence, but has not yet been refuted. The ritual purpose of the statuette is also unclear. If it was contemporary with Khufu, it was either part of the traditional statue cult or mortuary cult. If the figurine is from a later period, it probably served (as claimed by Hawass) as a votive offering. The statuette's artist is unknown.