History of Chephren | King Khafra

Khafre or Khaf Ra (Egyptian: Al-Zahir as RA or Al-Zahir as the sun), a king from the Fourth Dynasty. He is the third or fourth king of this family in the ancient state, he ruled between the years 2559 and 2535 bc, he was the one who built the second pyramid in Giza. He is most likely the son of King Khufu by a secondary wife who took over the reign after King djedef-ra who had taken over the reign. The pyramid of Khafre is similar in its grandeur to the pyramid of Cheops. His features we recognize through the Sphinx located next to his pyramid, represented by the image of a lion, which indicates strength, with a human head, which indicates wisdom. A carved image was also found in his temple in the valley of the Kings and a statue of the sitting king is in the Egyptian Museum. Little is known about the period of his reign, and there are no evidences confirming the account of the Greek traveler Herod, who describes Cheops and Khafre as tyrants.

King Khafre resided around (2558-2532 BC.M) the son of King Khufu, his pyramid group is in the Giza plateau next to his father's group, and his pyramid appears higher than the pyramid of Khufu because it is on a higher hillock, although in fact it is lower in height, where it is about 143.5 m. The core of the pyramid consists of blocks of local limestone, and the top of the pyramid still retains its original covering made of stately limestone, which used to cover the entire pyramid, so the Egyptians brought it from the quarries of Tora by boats moored near the pyramid 

His family

Khafre was one of the Sons of Cheops and his mother is not yet known for certain, but it is believed that she is either Meret Etz the first or hnutsen.

Khafre had several brothers, the eldest of whom was a child of a second mother, but he died young. Some scholars believe that ka'ab was in fact a son of Sneferu, and thus ka'ab was probably a brother of Khufu.

Khafre married four wives, from one of them, Kha Marr Nabati I, he had a son Menkaure, and also gave birth to his daughter "Kha Marr Nabati II", whose name in Arabic means "the appearance of the beloved of the two ladies".

His reign

There is no agreement about the date of his reign, but it has been argued that he ruled between 2558 BC.M. and 2532 BC.M. He built the second largest pyramid in Giza with a height of 143 m and now 136 M and was built over an area of 215 square meters and has two entrances on the north side in addition to the Sphinx, which is 57 m long and 20 m high, and the temple of the god Ra.