The Pyramid of Senusret II, (in ancient Egyptian Kha Senusret meaning Senusret Shines), is the pyramid complex constructed for the pharaoh Senusret II in the Twelfth Dynasty.{{sfn|Frey|2001|p=150}}{{sfn|Simpson|2001|p=455}}{{efn|name=fn1|Proposed dates for Senusret II's reign: c. 1900{{endash}}1880 BCE,{{sfn|Dodson|Hilton|2004|p=289}} c. 1897{{endash}}1878 BCE,{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=8}}{{sfn|Arnold|2003|p=267}} c. 1897{{endash}}1877 BCE,{{sfn|Frey|2001|p=150}} c. 1895{{endash}}1878 BCE,{{sfn|Grimal|1992|p=391}} c. 1877{{endash}}1870 BCE.{{sfn|Shaw|2004|p=483}}}}

Location and early excavation

Karl Richard Lepsius visited the pyramid in the 1840s and conducted a brief archaeological survey of the site.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}} Fifty years later, Flinders Petrie conducted the first comprehensive excavations there.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}} Petrie spent several unsuccessful months searching for the entrance into the pyramid on the north face of the pyramid.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}}{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=175}} Senusret II had, however, taken a complete departure from the usual practice of having a corridor on the north side, {{endash}} typical of Old Kingdom and early Middle Kingdom pyramids{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}} {{endash}} and had instead built a narrow, vertical entrance shaft under a princess' tomb located about a dozen yards off to east of the southern pyramid face.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|pp=409{{endash}}410}}{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=175}} The Czech Egyptologist Miroslav Verner explains that the decision had been made for a combination of religious reasons, and to thwart grave robbers.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}} The builders had even constructed the usual small chapel on the north face, which typically concealed the entrance.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=409}} Petrie did eventually find the entrance, after many months and multiple failed attempts.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=420}}

A small team headed by N. B. Millet of the Royal Ontario Museum and the architect J. E. Knudstad has been working at the site of the pyramid town and pyramid since 1989.{{sfn|Frey|2001|p=150}} Their goal is to expand on Petrie's work by re-gathering architectural details of the monuments there, which Petrie had neglected to record in his reports.{{sfn|Frey|2001|p=150}}

Mortuary complex

Main pyramid

The core of the pyramid was constructed from mudbrick around a stump of four steps of yellow limestone.{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=175}}{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}} The builders utilized a rock outcropping to anchor the pyramid and reduce construction time and cost.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}} The completed pyramid was originally encased in white limestone, though an inscription found by Petrie indicates that the casing was removed in the Nineteenth Dynasty for reuse in a different structure built by Ramesses II.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}} Only remnants of the black granite pyramidion, which topped the pyramid, have been found.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}}

The pyramid was protected from flooding by a trench surrounding the perimeter of the pyramid and filled with sand to absorb rainwater.{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=175}}{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}} Cut into the rock was a stone wall with deep niches.{{sfn|Verner|2001e|p=410}}

Notes

References

Sources

• {{cite book|last1=Arnold|first1=Dieter|title=The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture|year=2003|location=London|publisher=I.B Tauris & Co Ltd|isbn=978-1-86064-465-8|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Aidan|last2=Hilton|first2=Dyan|year=2004|title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt|location=London|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-05128-3|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Frey|first=Rosa A.|year=2001|chapter=Illahun|pages=150–151|editor-last=Redford|editor-first=Donald B.|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 2|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-510234-5|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Grimal|first1=Nicolas|author-link=Nicolas Grimal|title=A History of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Blackwell publishing|others=Translated by Ian Shaw|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-631-19396-8|year=1992|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hölzl|first1=Christian|chapter=Lahun, pyramid complex of Senusret II|pages=516–517|editor-last=Bard|editor-first=Kathryn|year=1999|title=Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt|location=London; New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-98283-9|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Lehner|first1=Mark|year=2008|title=The Complete Pyramids|location=New York|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-28547-3|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Shaw|editor-first=Ian|location=Oxford|title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-815034-3|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Simpson|first=William Kelly|year=2001|chapter=Twelfth Dynasty|pages=453–457|editor-last=Redford|editor-first=Donald B.|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 3|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-510234-5|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book|last1=Verner|first1=Miroslav|title=The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments|date=2001e|publisher=Grove Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8021-1703-8|ref=harv}}

Excavation reports

• William Matthew Flinders Petrie: Illahun, Kahun and Gurob. 1889–1890. Nutt, London 1891 (Onlineversion).
• William Matthew Flinders Petrie, Guy Brunton, Margaret Alice Murray: Lahun II. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Bernard Quaritch, London 1923 (PDF; 12,9 MB).