Egypt Museum

Khufu

Magic knife (peseshkef) inscribed for King Khufu

Magic knife (peseshkef) inscribed for King Khufu

The peseshkef was a disntictive type of knife that was split at one end and is sometimes called a “fishtail” knife today. This fine-grained flint wand is inscribed with the name of Khufu. Ritual wands were used in the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony to allow the deceased to eat and drink once more; this...

Head of King

Granite is extremely hard, but the sculptor of this statue was able to give the king’s plump face and small features a softly natural quality, perhaps suggesting the subject’s actual appearance rather than an idealized version. Originally, this fragment surmounted an oversize figure, achieving the same monumental quality as the pyramids being built at this...