Hetepdief was a funerary priest under the reign of the first three kings of the Second Dynasty, Hetepsekhemuy, Raneb, and Nynetjer: their names are engraved on the back of his shoulder within the serekh. This is the first private statue with the earliest lines of extended text. Hetepdjef is represented with an innovative and unusual pose, kneeling in an attitude of praying or as a sign of reverence toward the kings.