El Lahun

El Lahun (Arabic: اللاهون El Lāhūn, Coptic: ⲗⲉϩⲱⲛⲉ alt. Illahun, Lahun, or Kahun, (the latter being a neologism coined by archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie) is a town and pyramid complex in Faiyum, Egypt founded by Senusret II. The Pyramid of Senusret II (Greek: Sesostris II) is located near the modern town, and is often called the Pyramid of Lahun. The site was occupied during the Middle Kingdom into the late Thirteenth Dynasty, and then again in the New Kingdom. The ancient name of the site was rꜣ-ḥn.t, literally, "Mouth (or Opening) of the Canal". It was known as Ptolemais Hormos (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῒς ὅρμος, romanized: port of Ptolemy) in Ptolemaic Egypt. There are multiple areas at El Lahun including the Pyramid of Senwosret II, cemeteries, the Valley temple, and the town of Kahun. It contains many artifacts of daily life like pottery from the Middle Kingdom and evidence of administrative procedures seen on papyri and seals.

El Lahun was initially excavated by William Flinders Petrie in 1889–1890. He mapped the town of Kahun, located the pyramid's entrance, found many objects of daily life, and returned in 1920 to continue his work. His excavations uncovered pottery and other artifacts from the city of Kom. Ludwig Borchardt also worked there in 1899, recording the architecture in Kahun. Borchardt found thousands of papyri related to the temple during his time at Lahun. From 1989 to 1997, Egyptologist Nicholas B. Millet worked there with the University of Toronto. The most recent excavations and work at Lahun are being carried out by Zoltan Horvath and a Hungarian team.

Also found in the town were the Kahun papyri, comprising about 1,000 fragments covering legal, medical, religious, and astronomical matters. Re-excavation of the area in 2009 by Egyptian archaeologists revealed a cache of pharaonic-era mummies in brightly painted wooden coffins in the sand-covered desert rock surrounding the pyramid.

The pyramid at Lahun is dedicated to King Senwosret II. It is located west of the town and the first entrance discovered was found on the south side farther away from the pyramid than expected. Like the other Twelfth Dynasty pyramids in the Faiyum, the Pyramid of Lahun is made of mudbrick, but here the core of the pyramid consists of a network of stone walls that were infilled by mudbrick. The pyramid stands on an artificial terrace cut from sloping ground. On the north side many mastabas were found, probably for the burial of personages associated with the royal court. In front of each mastaba is a narrow shaft leading down to the burial chamber underneath. Also on the north side is the Queen's Pyramid or subsidiary pyramid believed to have been for Queen Atmuneferu based on the inscription.

Within the pyramid complex multiple tombs were discovered by Petrie during his excavations. Those buried here were most likely family based on the names found in the tombs and the grave goods. One tomb with a large quantity of grave goods is that of princess Sithathor-yunit, the daughter of the Senwosret II. Artifacts found were a crown, pectorals, bracelets, necklaces, and cowries.

There have been many cemeteries found between the pyramid and the town. There appears to be a mixture of elite burials and pit burials depending on the cemetery. In the Bashkatib cemetery, there have been multiple types of burials found: open graves, shallow shaft tombs, stairway tombs, and deep shaft tombs. Abdel Rahman el-Aydi found four cemeteries with an Egyptian mission. They mostly date to the Middle Kingdom like the rest of the site, but there have been ones that date to the Roman period.

The Valley temple at Lahun is located slightly southwest of the town. The temple was most likely used for the royal mortuary cult of Senswosret II. It no longer exists as it lays under modern day cultivation. Originally, it would have been connected to the pyramid, but there is no evidence of a causeway connecting the two areas. There have also been papyri found associated with the temple and the mortuary cult and even a day-book where "letters to and from the mayor were copied". Other papyri at the temple included information about the cult of Anubis that was inside the temple and correspondence between the mayor and temple accountant. These recorded the inventory of the temple and what goods were required for it to operate.

The village of el Lahun, also known as Kahun, is believed to have been inhabited by the workers who both constructed the pyramid and then served the funerary cult of the king. The main function "has usually been linked to the funerary cult of Senwosret II – whose nearby pyramid complex has been understood as the main reason for its existence – housing administrators, as well as temple staff for the upkeep of his royal mortuary cult." The village is about 1.1 km from the pyramid and lies in the desert a short distance from the edge of cultivation. The town was orthogonally planned, with mudbrick town walls on three sides. The fourth wall may have collapsed and been washed away during the annual inundation or covered due to the cultivation in the area. The town was rectangular in shape and was divided internally by a mudbrick wall running north to south that was added after the initial eastern part of the town was built. This wall divided about one third of the area of the town and created a western section with rows of back-to-back, side-by-side single room houses. The eastern section of the town contains mansions, medium sized houses, and small houses similar to the ones in the western section. The mansions are located in the north part of the eastern section and there are seven in total with four along the northern wall and the other three across the street. The medium and small houses are located east and south of the mansions in the eastern section.