Khafre, known to the ancient Greeks as Khefren, was the son of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. He constructed his own pyramid complex at Giza, which was slightly shorter at 143.5 meters in height, was just as phenomenal as his father’s.
The core masonry of his pyramid was made of local limestone, with the top still preserving the polished limestone blocks that once encased most of the structure.
Meanwhile, the white stone used for the casing was quarried in Tura and transported by ship. Khafre’s mortuary temple at the foot of his pyramid and the valley temple at the end of the causeway were larger and we’re better preserved than the initial pyramids. The layout of his mortuary temple became the new standard for later Old Kingdom structures.
A unique feature of Khafre’s complex is the Great Sphinx, which stands beside his valley temple. The valley temple is made of massive limestone blocks encased in granite, with floors of alabaster and monolithic granite pillars in its wide hall.
The symmetrically arranged niches in the hall once housed statues of the king, some of which are now on display in the Egyptian Museum. One such statue, a granodiorite depiction of Khafre with Horus as a falcon behind his head, is considered a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art.
