The Administrative System of His Reign
It is clear that most, if not all, of Khufu's sons assumed the title of vizier during their father's lifetime, and we know of two contemporary viziers. Hem-Iunu was the first and most important advisor to the king, who was buried in tomb G4000 in the Western Cemetery. This important man was the son of King Sneferu's vizier, Nefermaat I, who was probably the nephew or cousin of King Khufu. Ankh-Ha-Ef, who was King Sneferu's son by a secondary wife, was buried in tomb G7510, one of the largest mastabas in the Western Cemetery. It seems difficult to determine when these men lived and which of them served under Khufu as vizier.
Regardless of who served as a minister during the reign of Khufu, it seems that this position was extremely important, as it was directly after the king in following up on all work, as it included central administrative work and supervision of all regions, and the minister was followed by many administrative layers, and unlike what we see from the administrative systems of our day, especially in Western countries in terms of specialization, the ancient Egyptian employees were doing many jobs in different aspects at the same time.
As for the army, it is considered one of the most important branches of the Egyptian administration since ancient times, as it is responsible for protecting foreign missions and securing the mining routes from which the raw materials needed to build the pyramid are brought and preserving the Egyptian borders. It was organized on a tribal system with units coming from all countries, while the units stationed in the capital were under the command of a royal officer.
As for taxes during the reign of King Khufu, they were collected from all parts of the country, including the capital, and were deposited in the royal treasury, which was divided into two branches, the treasury of Upper Egypt and another for Lower Egypt, and each of the two treasuries was under the supervision of one person who was responsible for all records.
King Khufu's sons
King Khufu had sons, the most important of whom was King "Djedefre", who took power immediately after his father, but his pyramid was built in an area known as "Abu Rawash" located to the north of the Giza pyramids. It is not known yet why his pyramid was not built next to his father. Researchers of Egyptian antiquities believe that after the death of King Khufu, quarrels occurred between the sons, so Djedefre preferred to build his pyramid in this place.
The other son is King Khafre who took over the rule after the death of his brother, as King "Djedefre" ruled for only 8 years and we do not know the reason for this sudden death. King Khafre built his pyramid next to his father's pyramid in the Giza archaeological area. There were also two other sons of King Khufu, namely Prince "Djedefre" and Prince "Baofre", the son of Queen Meryt Es who never ascended the throne and was also known as Prince "Baofhor". There is also Prince "Khufu Khaef" who is the son of one of the queens although we do not know her name. There are two other princes, namely "Khaef Min" who carried the title of the eldest son of the king from his loins, which is the title that Prince "Kawab" carried before, and Prince "Nefermaat II" who was the grandson of King Sneferu but not the son of King Khufu.
Society and Economy in His Time
During the reign of King Khufu, members of the working classes were keen to build their tombs around his pyramid after his death for about a thousand years, which suggests that his good memory remained among them and their desire to be blessed by his proximity, which distances him from the suspicion of tyrannical tyrants.
However, a few researchers have gone to the people that King Khufu relied on tyranny and despotic authority to exploit the people in building the Great Pyramid, and this is what the majority of historians reject, as coercion and forced labor cannot accomplish this great construction.
Some historians believe that the construction of pyramids, temples and huge monuments requires the allocation of a huge amount of economic resources: human and material, and it is also accepted that these resources are characterized by scarcity, so is their allocation to the construction of these monuments a waste of them and that it would have been better to direct them to achieve other purposes?
Many historians have seen that it is wrong to define productive work as work that produces only material products, but the correct definition of productive work is that which results in the creation of a new benefit or an increase in an existing benefit, so it can now be said that the construction of these huge monuments satisfied strong desires represented in satisfying the religious motives of the people, as it is certain that the belief was the largest and strongest motive that affected the lives of the ancient Egyptians throughout their history.
The construction of the pyramids provided permanent and temporary job opportunities for thousands of workers during the era of King Khufu and the Old Kingdom in general, as it is known that the engineers and skilled workers who built these monuments worked throughout the year, while the unskilled workers, most of whom were farmers, their primary job was to cut rocks in the quarries and transport them to the construction site during the period of their suspension from farming due to the flood, and from here it becomes clear that the Great Pyramid alone provided huge job opportunities as it returned to those who built it with huge material gains represented mainly in food, drink, clothing and shelter over a period of about twenty years.
It is also worth mentioning that if we link the continuity of generations and the continuity of the character of the ancient Egyptian state over time, no one today can deny the extreme importance of these monuments, most notably the pyramid of King Khufu and the pyramids in general, as a vital element in Egypt’s national wealth, as they constitute one of the main tourist components that contribute to providing hard currency that greatly affects Egypt’s national income.
References
1. Ahmed Rashad Moussa, Studies in the Economic History of Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Supreme Council of Culture, Cairo, 1998
2. Ahmed Fakhry, The Egyptian Pyramids, Anglo Egyptian Library, Cairo, 1963
3. The Pyramids of Egypt, A. A. S. Edwards, Translated by Mustafa Othman, Reviewed by Ahmed Fakhry, Egyptian General Book Authority, Cairo, 1997
4. Dr. Ali Hassan, Khufu and His Great Pyramid, Dar Al Maaref, Cairo, 2008
5. Zahi Hawass, The Family of King Khufu: History and Secrets of the Fourth Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Dar Al Masryia Al Lubnaniyya, Cairo, 2009
6. Zahi Hawass, The Miracle of the Pyramid of King Khufu, Dar Nahdet Misr, Cairo, 2006
7. Abdel Aziz Saleh, The Ancient Near East in Egypt and Iraq, Anglo Egyptian Library, Cairo, 2012