# Hemiunu

Hemiunu (fl. 2570 BC) was an ancient Egyptian prince who is believed to have been the architect of the Great Pyramid of Giza. As vizier, succeeding his father, Nefermaat, and his uncle, Kanefer, Hemiunu was one of the most important members of the court and responsible for all the royal works. His tomb lies close to west side Khufu's pyramid.

## Biography

Hemiunu was a son of prince Nefermaat and his wife, Itet. He was a grandson of Sneferu and a nephew 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).

## Tomb

Hemiunu's tomb lies close to Khufu's pyramid and contains reliefs of his image. Some stones of his badly damaged mastaba are marked with dates referring to Khufu's reign. His statue can be found at the Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany. His statue was found in the walled-up serdab of Hemiunu's mastaba by archaeologist Hermann Junker in March 1912. Ancient looters had ransacked the mastaba in their quest for valuable items and the wall to the serdab had a child-sized hole cut into it. The robber forcefully gouged out the statue's precious inlaid eyes and gold castings, in the process the right arm was broken and the head severed. The head has been restored, using a relief of Hemiunu as a guide for the nose's profile. The seated statue is well-preserved, apart from the damage mentioned above (importantly, his head being severed), and is notable for its realism, not found in ancient Egyptian art depicting royal figures. Hemiunu's features are only lightly stylised and clearly based on his appearance. He is depicted as obese, with notable accumulation of fat in the pectoral region. This contrasts with the more idealised representation of male subjects in royal portraiture in this and most succeeding periods of ancient Egyptian art. Both the western and eastern cemeteries at the Great Pyramid of Giza of Khufu are characterised by ordered rows of type-like mastabas, especially visible behind the mastaba of Hemiuna G 4000.In designing the cemetery for Khufu and his court, the shape of the graves was not left to tradition alone, but was specifically determined by the architect, certainly with the consent, perhaps even with the help of the monarch. Hemiun's tomb, which presides over this development, corresponds to his high status, the chief designer and inspector of pharaonic buildings , as befits his position of Khufu’s nephew and son of Nefermaat, Khufu’s older brother. It was actually part of the system project of building the Great Pyramid and the whole other infrastructure on the Giza plain.

## Significance in context of Ancient Egyptian history

Monuments were not only symbols of royal authority throughout the country, they were also practical tools for demonstrating authority in the central management of the economy. The small stepped pyramid in their centre was also significant for the local population, which served as a constant reminder of their economic obligation to the state, the obligation to pay taxes, respect for the courts and projects of the monarch. From the state's perspective, monuments and their associated administrative buildings – with one facility in each province – facilitated and systematised revenue collection. At the end of the 3rd dynasty, the monarch and his administration achieved their ultimate goal of absolute power. The stage was set for the greatest royal project the world had ever seen. The development of monumental buildings became more significant in history from the end of the 2nd dynasty, when Khasekhemwy built his tomb in Abydos and a monument in Hierakonpolis, in the 3rd dynasty Djoser stacked step pyramid by the architect Imhotep, which saw new building elements and more extensive use of stone. Leaving aside the less significant buildings in Saqqara and Zawyet El Aryan, Sneferu’s building experiments in Dahshur and Meidum entered the history opening into the right Red Pyramid. This was basically the model for the project Khufu's Great Pyramids. At the same time, the logistical background system of the mentioned buildings was formed, including the development of specialised professions of work groups, but also the necessary management functions, where the pharaoh was in the top position and in the 4th dynasty mostly managing officials members of the branched royal family. The figure described here is the prince, vizier and nephew of Pharaoh Khufu Hemiunu, with the title "Vizier Inspector of All Royal Buildings" he is therefore an unforgettable and important historical figure.