WOW! The most Iconic Statue of Ancient Egypt?! King Khafre

Discovered in a pit under the Valley Temple of Khafre at Giza, the famous statue of King Khafre is one of the most iconic sculptures of Ancient Egypt.

Khafre was the builder of the second pyramid at Giza. The statue shows the king seated on his throne, wearing the nemes headdress with the cobra on his forehead – a symbol of royalty and protection. The falcon-god Horus behind his head spreads his wings to protect him.

On the side we see lotus flower and papyrus bound together, representing the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The statue is made from diorite, quarried from a location near Abu Simbel. It is a work of art and it was so special to see it in person in the Cairo Museum.

#ancientarchitects #ancientegypt #pyramids

[andrewo]

It still absolutely stuns me we have only a single figure of his father.

[JonnoPlays]

What is the context of the pit it was discovered in? Seems hard to imagine this would be discarded.

[thingsfishing]

This thing pisses on the mona lisa imo

[momcat]

How? How in the world did the ancient artisans manage to sculpt diorite this way???

[brick_skills]

How do you think they got the symmetry so perfect?

[SK-mfmi]

Copper chisels, it's not how big their tools were, but how they used them. 🤔

[nautika]

The best Statue ever made but how is possible unbelievable

[massimosquecco]

Not Diorite but Anortosite Gneiss: they say is lightly fluorescent, this is why his face is radiant. But we need the sun to watch this effect again, there is impossible.

[sonnyeriksson]

The facial symmetry is amazingly equal

[manny]

This Ancient statue is a true work of art.

[kylebecker]

The hand positions are intentional but I've never heard anyone speculate on the potential meanings. Does anyone have any sources/ideas?

[gregproefrock]

Thanks for details and meaning of this.

[ZIG.E]

Beautiful looks like he went to the gym everyday!

[panchopuskas]

Looking at us from nearly 5, 000 years

[lostpony]

I never paid attention to who this statue is but it does rather have a simpler expression than on the surviving khufu figure....really just looks right for the differences between their pyramids!

[ShortbusMooner]

Glad it's in pretty good condition! 👍

[baysideauto]

Awesome to see in person that's for sure. My one real problem with all of these pyramid's is the lack of any inscriptions, if they were the builders where are their names. It so unbelievable. Now I'm a nobody who just tries to see the logic in things and this has really got me. Thanks again Matt for all you do for us. I may never get the chance to see these awesome places but through your vids has been a dream come true and for that I thank you sir

[martinlang]

Diorite is bloody hard stuff.

How the hell did they sculpt this?
Talk about skill/tech.

[JEKAZOL]

You really think the falcon is for protection? That's straight out of a book.

[johnweaver]

I still think this is impossible engineering. The method they used. How did they get it so perfect? Has anyone really tried to duplicate this with the tools they used? I mean really tried? From start to finish with one solid block of stone.