The Mastaba of Khufukhaf (G 7140), A son of Khufu At Giza

by Jimmy Dunn

During the reign of the famous pyramid builder, Khufu, private tomb decoration began to expand. At this point, chapels bearing carved and painted scenes and inscriptions on interior walls of limestone were added inside the core of mastaba structures. One good example of such a tomb is located in the Eastern cemetery at Giza (G 7140). It belonged to a priest from the reign of Khufu named Khufukhaf I, who was also his son. On the back of one of the casing stones displaced from the east face of this mastaba style tome, quarry marks appear to contain a date indicating that it was build in the 23rd year of Khufu's reign.

This tomb consists of an entrance corridor, a vestibule, a main room or chapel and a burial chamber. It is located just east of the pyramid of Queen Henutsen, who is thought to perhaps be his mother, and very near the tomb of Meresankh III. Queen Henutsen's pyramid is the middle of the three secondary pyramids of Khufu.

Khufukhaf and his mother, probably Henutsen, receiving offerings

The east wall of the main room depicting offerings in three registers

This tomb shows remarkably well-crafted, large-scale figures of the deceased and his wife, Nefretkau, in a number of poses and wearing different costumes, along with other individuals. The bas-reliefs of this small tomb are very refined and perfectly preserved, although there is not a trace of color. Also depicted are countless offerings, made magically available for eternity by virtue of being carved in stone. However, these carved offerings were not completely relied upon by the deceased. There were also models found, such as that of a beer vessel, just a few centimeters in height, which bore the same offering spells as the carved and painted two dimensional representations. Yet, there was also found in the tomb and actual beer vessel.

Khufukhaf receives a lotus flower from a young woman who is probably one of his daughters

Specific scenes include, on either side of the door in the vestibule, two large representations of the deceased with his mother (left) and son (right) as Khufukhaf receives offerings. The theme of these scenes continues into the next main room, were there is also a false door. In the northern part of this room, arranged on five panels, is a procession of people bearing offerings from the possessions of the deceased, who is shown accompanied by his wife.

On the west wall of this main room is a beautiful door, with jambs and lintels decorated with bas reliefs and texts, that lead to the burial chamber. However, the burial chamber itself is undecorated, and most probably dates to a later period.

Doorway to the burial chamber

Resources:

Title	Author	Date	Publisher	Reference Number
Art of Ancient Egypt, The	Robins, Gay	1997	Harvard University Press	ISBN 0-674-00376-4
Atlas of Ancient Egypt	Baines, John; Malek, Jaromir	1980	Les Livres De France	None Stated
Complete Pyramids, The (Solving the Ancient Mysteries)	Lehner, Mark	1997	Thames and Hudson, Ltd	ISBN 0-500-05084-8
Early Dynastic Egypt	Wilkinson, Toby A. H.	1999	Routledge	ISBN 0-415-26011-6
Illustrated Guide to the Pyramids, The	Hawass, Zahi; Siliotti, Alberto	2003	American University in Cairo Press, The	ISBN 977 424 825 2
Treasures of the Pyramids, The	Hawass, Zahi	2003	American University in Cairo Press, The	ISBN 977 424 798 1