[4][5] As vizier, succeeding his father, Nefermaat, and his uncle, Kanefer,[6] Hemiunu was one of the most important members of the court and responsible for all the royal works.

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).

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 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.

This contrasts with the more idealised representation of male subjects in royal portraiture in this and most succeeding periods of ancient Egyptian art.

[17]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.