| Hemiunu | |
|---|---|
Statue of Hemiunu at the Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany. His feet rest on columns of hieroglyphs, painted in yellow, red, brown, and black. |
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| Occupation | vizier architect priest |
| Title | Prince of Egypt |
| Religion | Ancient Egyptian religion |
| Parents | Nefermaat and Itet |
Hemiunu (fl. 2570 BC) is believed to be the architect of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt.[1][2]
Contents |
rendering of Hemiunu |
Hemiunu was a son of Prince Nefermaat and his wife Itet,[3] a grandson of Sneferu and relative of Khufu, the Old Kingdom pharaoh. Hemiunu had three sisters and many brothers.
In his tomb he is described as a hereditary prince, count, sealer of the king of Lower Egypt (jrj-pat HAtj-a xtmw-bjtj) and on a statue found in his serdab (and now located in Hildesheim), Hemiunu is given the titles: king's son of his body, chief justice and vizier, greatest of the five of the House of Thoth (sA nswt n XT=f tAjtj sAb TAtj wr djw pr-DHwtj).[4]
As Vizier he succeeded Kanefer, his uncle, and his father Nefermaat.[5]
His tomb lies close to Khufu's pyramid, and contains reliefs of his image. Some stones of his mastaba are marked with dates referring to Khufu's reign.[6] His statue[7] can be found at the Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany.[3] This statue is scheduled to be loaned for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2011.
The extremely well-preserved seated statue is notable for its unusual realism, with Hemiunu's features only lightly stylised, and clearly based on his actual appearance. Equally, his body is frankly shown as flabby, with a notable accumulation of fat in the pectoral region. This contrasts with the more usual idealised virile representation of male subjects in royal portraiture in this and most succeeding periods of Ancient Egyptian art.
