Kawab
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| Kawab in hieroglyphs | |||
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| Era: Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) | |||
Kawab (“Pure of Soul”) was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 4th dynasty. He was a son of Pharaoh Khufu and Queen Meritites I and brother of pharaohs Djedefre and Khafre.[1]
Since he bore the title Eldest King's Son of his Body, his tomb was built in a prominent place and he was married to the eldest princess Hetepheres II, it seems he was the designated heir of Khufu. However, he died before his father[2] so the next ruler was his brother Djedefre who married his widow Hetepheres. It used to be believed that Djedefre had Kawab murdered, since Djedefre was buried not in Gizeh but in Abu Rowash, and his pyramid was vandalized, but it has been proven since that the tomb was vandalized much later, during Roman times.[3]
Children of Kawab and Hetepheres:
- Prince Kaemsekhem; owner of tomb G7660, his sarcophagus is in Cairo;[4]
- Queen Meresankh III, wife of Khafre;[5]
- Prince Mindjedef; he is thought to be Kawab's son on basis of placement of his tomb G7760;[5]
- Prince Duaenhor (?); possibly Kawab's son; buried in the tomb G7550 during the reign of Menkaure.[6]