Khufu in Modern Cultural Depictions
Because of his fame, Khufu is object of several modern receptions, similar to kings and queens such as Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamen. His historical figure appears in movies, novels and documentations. Already in 1827, female Si-Fi author Jane C. Loudon wrote the novel The Mummy! A Tale of the 22nd Century. The story describes the citizens of the 22nd century, which became technically high advanced at one side, but totally immoral on the other side. Only the mummy of Khufu can save them. In 1939, Nagib Mahfuz wrote the novel Khufu's Wisdom, which leans on the stories of Papyrus Westcar. In 1997, French author Guy Brachet composed the novel series Le roman des pyramides, including five volumes, of which the first two (Le temple soleil and Rêve de pierre) are picking out Khufu and his tomb as a theme. In 2004, Page Bryant wrote the Si-Fi story The Second Coming of the Star Gods, which deals with Khufu's alleged celestial origin. The novel The Legend of The Vampire Khufu, written by Raymond Mayotte in 2010, deals with king Khufu awakening in his pyramid as a vampire.
Well known cinematic movies, which deal with Khufu or at least have the Great Pyramid as a theme, are Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs from 1955, a fictional account of the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and Roland Emmerich's Stargate from 1994, in which an extraterrestrial device is found near the pyramids.
Khufu and his pyramid are furthermore object of pseudoscientific theories which deal with the idea that Khufu's pyramid was built with the help of extraterrestrials and that Khufu simply seized and re-used the monument, ignoring all archaeological evidences or even falsifying them.
A close-to-orbit asteroid bears Khufu's name: 3362 Khufu.
Khufu and his pyramid are thematized in several computer games such as Tomb Raider – The Last Revelation, in which the player must enter Khufu's pyramid and face the god Seth as the final boss. Another example is Duck Tales 2 for the Game Boy. In this game the player must guide Uncle Scrooge through a trap-loaded Khufu's pyramid.
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