Khafre

/kaf"ray, kahf"-/, n. (Chephren)

fl. late 26th century B.C., Egyptian king of the fourth dynasty (son of Cheops): builder of second pyramid at El Giza.

Also, Kafre.

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▪ king of Egypt

also spelled  Khafra , Greek  Chephren 

flourished 26th century BCE

 

 fourth king of the 4th dynasty (Egypt, ancient) (c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE) of ancient Egypt (Egypt, ancient) and builder of the second of the three Pyramids of Giza (Giza, Pyramids of).

      Khafre was the son of King Khufu and succeeded the short-lived Redjedef, probably his elder brother. He married his sister Khamerernebti, Meresankh III, and perhaps two other queens. Although many of his relatives were hastily buried in cheap tombs, his own pyramid was almost as vast as the Great Pyramid of his father. Khafre's valley temple, linked to the pyramid by a causeway, was constructed of great monolithic blocks of granite and contained remarkable statues of the king carved from diorite taken from a remote quarry in the Nubian Desert. Near the causeway is located the Great Sphinx (see sphinx), which many consider to bear Khafre's features.

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