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Map of
Lahun and adjacent parts of the Fayum
Lahun, located a few km north of the modern town called el-Lahun or
Kahun, is one of several sites in the Fayum with 12th Dynasty
pyramids. The pyramid of Senusret II (1897-1878
BC) was built of mudbricks, stablized by stone cross walls,
and covered with a limestone casing that has since disappeared.
On the south side of the pyramid were four shaft tombs for members of
the royal family. Flinders Petrie, who excavated these in 1913,
found that all had
been robbed in antiquity. One, however, belonging to princess Sit
Hathor-Yenet, still contained a hoard of jewelry in three ebony caskets
(now in the Egyptian Museum).
Recently (2008), a group of well-preserved mummies in wooden
caskets were found in mastaba tombs by the Egyptian national
archaeological agency.
About 1 km to the east of the pyramid lay the valley temple, and near
it, a workers' and officials' town built for the pyramid construction.
Petrie made detailed drawings of the rectangular
plan of the town , which anciently was called Hetep-Senusret ("Senusret
is satisfied"). The town yielded abundant information on social and
economic life of the times, and dozens of papyri ranging from legal to
medical documents.
To the southwest, on the other side of the Bahr Yusif river,
is the ancient town site of Gurob. This site, first excavated by Petrie
in 1889, had an18th-19th Dynasty town and temple complex.
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