Even assuming that Khufu built the Great Pyramid, one must still ask, "Who really built it," for who was Khufu, what do we really know of him? Upon studying the intricacies and various unique features of the Pyramid, it becomes clear that whoever designed and built it must have been a genius compared to the other minds of his own time, if not also to those of ours. Some groups maintain that a line of mystical and scientific knowledge carrying over from the most ancient of times--possibly even from the lost continent of Atlantis--assisted the local talent. Those with this view are quick to suggest that the Pyramid builders must have been initiates in this ancient school of wisdom. Some of Egypt's early historians left interesting bits of information about the enigmatic Khufu. The third-century historian Manetho related that Khufu was "of a different race." This snippet has given fuel to those holding the view that Khufu was an alien or Atlantean.
On the other hand, it has yielded theories that Egypt was visited by more civilized travelers from an advanced land somewhere in Asia. A statement by Herodotus, that the builders of the Great Pyramids were shepherds, has led theorists to suggest that Khufu may have been one of the Hebraic patriarchs; from the same citation, others have speculated that the builders were some kind of beings who acted as mankind's shepherds in a spiritual sense.
Other records relate that Khufu wrote a series of great sacred books. In addition, it is supposed that he was a monotheist; Herodotus reports he closed the many temples of the gods when his pyramid was being built. These tidbits of information can obviously lead in many directions of speculation, and certainly have, but until more records are uncovered, the true nature of the Great Pyramid's builder will remain a mystery.
