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The pyramids of Giza, built by the kings of the Fourth Dynasty, at golden hour.
Reconstruction · NeoKemetAI 3D reconstruction
Old Kingdom · c. 2613–2494 BCE

Fourth Dynasty of Egypt

The pyramid builders. Sneferu perfects the true pyramid at Dahshur and his successors raise the pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza.

Rulers

  1. Sneferu
  2. Khufu
  3. Djedefra
  4. Khafra
  5. Menkaura
  6. Shepseskaf

Order and dates of rulers are debated for many dynasties. Names in gold have a full profile.

The Giza pyramids as Khufu's successors would have seen them, cased in polished white limestone.

4th Dynasty

Khufu

Cheops to the Greeks · c. 2589–2566 BCE

Son of Sneferu, the most prolific pyramid builder in Egyptian history, Khufu inherited both the know-how and the organisation to attempt something without precedent. The result…

The pyramids of Giza at golden hour; Khafre's pyramid in the centre still keeps a cap of its casing near the summit.

4th Dynasty

Khafre

Chephren to the Greeks · c. 2558–2532 BCE

A son of Khufu, Khafre built the second pyramid on the Giza Plateau. It is slightly smaller than his father's; part of its original limestone casing survives near the summit.

Reconstruction of the Giza pyramids as built; Menkaure's smaller pyramid in front has lower courses of granite.

4th Dynasty

Menkaure

Mycerinus to the Greeks · c. 2532–2503 BCE

Menkaure, a son of Khafre, built the third pyramid on the Giza Plateau. It is far smaller than the Great Pyramid, but its lowest sixteen courses were cased in granite, part of…

Aerial reconstruction of the Giza plateau today, with the pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu and the queens' pyramids, and the Sphinx and valley temple in the foreground.

necropolis

Giza Plateau

West bank of the Nile, Giza · c. 2589 BCE

On a limestone ridge above the Nile floodplain, three kings of the 4th Dynasty built the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt. In about three generations, Khufu, Khafre and…

The three pyramids of Giza at golden hour seen from the south-west desert, Menkaure in front, Khafre in the centre and Khufu behind.

pyramid

Great Pyramid of Giza

Giza Plateau · c. 2570 BCE

For more than 3,700 years the Great Pyramid was the tallest human-made structure in the world. It was built for Khufu, second king of the 4th Dynasty, during his reign (c.…

Simplified 3D massing model of the Great Sphinx lying on the plateau, with the pyramid of Menkaure and its queens' pyramids in the distance.

sphinx

Great Sphinx of Giza

Giza Plateau · c. 2500 BCE

The Great Sphinx is among the oldest known monumental sculptures in Egypt: a recumbent lion with the head of a king, about 73 m long and 20 m high, carved from the limestone of…

4th Dynasty

Ivory Statuette of Khufu

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The builder of the largest pyramid is known from just one small, certain statue. It shows the king seated, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt; his Horus name is carved on the…

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Watch the film

2 h 26 min

History for Sleep · 2 h 26 min · 20 Sept 2026 · 17 chapters

Boring History for Sleep | Every Pharaoh Dynasty of Ancient Egypt

A slow, calm walk through every dynasty of ancient Egypt — from Narmer to Nectanebo II — read one name at a time, for sleep.

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