Pyramid of Senusret II

Pyramid of Senusret II
Senusret II
Coordinates	29°14′N 30°58′E
Ancient name	Ḫˁ Sn-wsr-t Kha Sen-user-et "Senusret shines"
Constructed	Twelfth Dynasty
Material	Mudbrick
Height	48.65 m (159.6 ft; 92.84 cu)
Base	107 m (351 ft; 204 cu) (socket level) or 106 m (348 ft; 202 cu) (ground level)
Slope	42°35'
Location within Egypt

The pyramid of Senusret II (Egyptian: Ḫˁ Sn-wsr-t, lit. 'Senusret Shines') at El Lahun is the pyramid complex constructed for the pharaoh Senusret II in the Twelfth Dynasty.

Location and excavation

Karl Richard Lepsius visited the pyramid in the 1840s and conducted a brief archaeological survey of the site. Fifty years later, Flinders Petrie conducted the first comprehensive excavations there. Petrie spent several unsuccessful months searching for the entrance into the pyramid on the north face of the pyramid. Senusret II had, however, taken a complete departure from the usual practice of having a corridor on the north side – typical of Old Kingdom and early Middle Kingdom pyramids – 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. The Czech Egyptologist Miroslav Verner explains that the decision had been made for a combination of religious reasons, and to thwart grave robbers. The builders had even constructed the usual small chapel on the north face, which typically concealed the entrance. Petrie did eventually find the entrance, after many months and multiple failed attempts.

A small team led 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. They aim to expand upon Petrie's work by re-gathering architectural details of the monuments there, which Petrie had neglected to record in his reports.

On 28 June 2019, the pyramid was opened to visitors for the first time since its discovery.

Mortuary complex

Main pyramid

Senusret II's pyramid was built around and atop a yellow limestone outcrop, approximately 12.2 m (40 ft) high, that the builders used to anchor the core and with the added benefit of reducing construction time and cost. On top of the outcrop, retaining walls were built extending radially outward to the pyramid corners with additional parallel walls spaced between which were then packed with mudbrick. The completed pyramid was encased in fine Tura limestone, which was set into a trench cut into the bedrock intended to prevent a collapse during rainfall, that was plundered in the Nineteenth Dynasty by Ramesses II for his own projects as Petrie discovered from an inscription. It was crowned with a pyramidion of black granite, of which only traces remain.

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  Framework of limestone retaining walls and mudbrick packing of the superstructure
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  Petrie's drawings of the fragments of the black granite pyramidion of Senusret II's pyramid at El-Lahun
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  Exemplar pyramidion from the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III also from the Twelfth Dynasty

The pyramid had a base length of approximately 106 m (348 ft; 202 cu) at ground level and 107 m (351 ft; 204 cu) at the base of the casing trench about 0.66 m (2.2 ft) below ground level. It converged at an average of 42°35′ ± 3′ towards the apex approximately 48.65 m (159.6 ft; 92.84 cu) high. The superstructure was surrounded by a sloped sand-filled trench built to absorb rainwater and protect the substructure from flooding. This trench had a short limestone perimeter wall decorated with deep niches, a reference to the enclosure wall of Djoser's step pyramid.

Substructure

Most pyramids have a substructure entry somewhere on their north face. This had been the traditional entry point since Djoser built his step pyramid in the Third Dynasty. Although Senusret II's pyramid was built with a north chapel included, its real entry was hidden-away under the floor of a princess' tomb to the south-east. This was used for the burial rites of the king, but was too narrow for use during construction. Instead, a larger 16 m (52 ft) deep construction shaft found further south was used for transporting the sarcophagus and building material into the substructure. This was then reworked into a fake burial chamber in an attempt to deceive thieves attempting to enter the king's tomb.

The base of the construction shaft opens up into a vaulted horizontal corridor. The corridor runs north to a vaulted room, containing the real entry shaft and a second unexplored shaft that has been flooded by ground water. The corridor then continues north with a slight incline leading to the antechamber. Part way along, a second chamber is found in its west. The antechamber contained two passageways: one leads from the antechamber to the burial chamber directly west; the other, located in the south, leads around the chamber eventually entering it from the north. The winding passage may have served a symbolic purpose, allowing the king's spirit to leave the chamber towards the north. The burial chamber and labyrinth of passageways were shifted south-east of the vertical axis of the pyramid, another deviation from the standard.

The burial chamber is oriented on the east–west axis, has a vaulted ceiling made from granite blocks, and a red granite sarcophagus near its west wall. Despite the precautions taken, the burial chamber was found looted of most of its contents by Petrie. An alabaster offering table inscribed with Senusret II's name, a gold uraeus, and leg bones, believed to belong to the king, are all that remained of the burial.

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  Entryway into the substructure of the pyramid
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  Senusret II's red granite sarcophagus in the burial chamber
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  Side passage to Senusret II's burial chamber in the substructure

See also

• List of Egyptian pyramids
• Egyptian pyramid construction techniques

Sources

• Arnold, Dieter (2003). The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. London: I.B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-86064-465-8.
• Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-05128-3.
• Edwards, Iorwerth (1993) [1947]. The pyramids of Egypt. London: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-013634-7.
• Frey, Rosa A. (2001). "Illahun". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
• Grimal, Nicolas (1992). A History of Ancient Egypt. Translated by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Blackwell publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-19396-8.
• Hölzl, Christian (1999). "Lahun, pyramid complex of Senusret II". In Bard, Kathryn (ed.). Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 516–517. ISBN 978-0-203-98283-9.
• Lehner, Mark (2008). The Complete Pyramids. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28547-3.
• Petrie, Flinders; Brunton, Guy; Murray, Margaret Alice (1923). Lahun II. London: British School of Archaeology in Egypt & Bernard Quaritch.
• Shaw, Ian, ed. (2004). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-815034-3.
• Simpson, William Kelly (2001). "Twelfth Dynasty". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 453–457. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
• Verner, Miroslav (2001). The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-1703-8.
• Vyse, Howard; Perring, John Shae (1842). Operations carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837. Vol. III. London: John Weale, High Holborn and G. W. Nickisson, 215 Regent Street. OCLC 931237769.

Excavation reports

• William Matthew Flinders Petrie: Illahun, Kahun and Gurob. 1889–1890. Nutt, London 1891 (Onlineversion).