Pyramid of Senusret II
Pyramid sitting on a rocky outcropping. Large portions of the pyramid are missing.
Senusret II
Coordinates29°14′N 30°58′E / 29.233°N 30.967°E / 29.233; 30.967[1]
Ancient name
<
F12S29D21
X1		 O34
N35
>N28O24
[2]
Ḫˁ Sn-wsr-t
Kha Sen-user-et
"Senusret shines"[2]
ConstructedTwelfth Dynasty
MaterialMudbrick[3]
Height48.65 m (159.6 ft; 92.84 cu)[4]
Base107 m (351 ft; 204 cu) (socket level)[4] or
106 m (348 ft; 202 cu) (ground level)[3]
Slope42°35'[3]
Pyramid of Senusret II is located in Egypt
Pyramid of Senusret II
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.[5][6][a]

Location and excavation

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Karl Richard Lepsius visited the pyramid in the 1840s and conducted a brief archaeological survey of the site.[2] Fifty years later, Flinders Petrie conducted the first comprehensive excavations there.[2] Petrie spent several unsuccessful months searching for the entrance into the pyramid on the north face of the pyramid.[2][3] 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[2] – 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.[3][12] 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.[2] Petrie did eventually find the entrance, after many months and multiple failed attempts.[13]

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.[5]

On 28 June 2019, the pyramid was opened to visitors for the first time since its discovery.[14]

Mortuary complex

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Main pyramid

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Senusret II's pyramid was built around and atop a yellow limestone outcrop, approximately 12.2 m (40 ft) high,[15] that the builders used to anchor the core and with the added benefit of reducing construction time and cost.[16][3] 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.[15][3][17] The completed pyramid was encased in fine Tura limestone,[15] which was set into a trench cut into the bedrock intended to prevent a collapse during rainfall,[18][3] that was plundered in the Nineteenth Dynasty by Ramesses II for his own projects as Petrie discovered from an inscription.[16] It was crowned with a pyramidion of black granite, of which only traces remain.[16][19]

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.[20][4][3] It converged at an average of 42°35′ ± 3′ towards the apex approximately 48.65 m (159.6 ft; 92.84 cu) high.[20][4] The superstructure was surrounded by a sloped sand-filled trench built to absorb rainwater and protect the substructure from flooding.[15][16][3] This trench had a short limestone perimeter wall decorated with deep niches,[16][21] a reference to the enclosure wall of Djoser's step pyramid.[3]

Substructure

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The entry point into an Egyptian pyramid's substructure was always placed on the north side, and had been since Djoser built his step pyramid in the Third Dynasty.[15][3][22] This served a religious function by pointing the exit passage towards the circumpolar stars, which the pharaoh joined in the afterlife.[15][23] Though Sensuret II had a north chapel built,[23] he had the substructure's true entrance hidden-away on the south-east side of the pyramid.[3][24] This was intended to protect the tomb from thieves,[15][16] and while Petrie was delayed by months in discovering a passage to the substructure,[3][25] he discovered that it had nevertheless been robbed millennia prior.[26][25] This first shaft was used for the burial rites of the king, but was too narrow for use in construction.[3] Instead, a second, larger shaft found further south beneath the floor of a princess's tomb[b] was used for transporting the sarcophagus and building materials into the substructure.[3]

The base of the construction shaft opens up into a vaulted horizontal corridor.[3] 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.[23] The corridor then continues north with a slight incline leading to the antechamber.[3][23] Part way along, a second chamber is found in its west.[3] 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.[28] The winding passage may have served a symbolic purpose, allowing the king's spirit to leave the chamber towards the north.[29] The burial chamber and labyrinth of passageways were shifted south-east of the vertical axis of the pyramid, another deviation from the standard.[3][28]

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.[30][31] Despite the precautions taken, the burial chamber was found looted of most of its contents by Petrie.[26] 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.[29][26]

  • Photograph of a stairwell leading into the pyramid substructure
    Entryway into the substructure of the pyramid
  • Photograph of a sarcophagus
    Senusret II's red granite sarcophagus in the burial chamber
  • Photograph of a passageway
    Side passage to Senusret II's burial chamber in the substructure

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Proposed dates for Senusret II's reign: c. 1900–1880 BCE,[7] c. 1897–1878 BCE,[8][9] c. 1897–1877 BCE,[5] c. 1895–1878 BCE,[10] c. 1877–1870 BCE.[11]
  2. ^ Designated as 'tomb 10' by Petrie and Brunton.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Hölzl 1999, p. 516.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Verner 2001, p. 409.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Lehner 2008, p. 175.
  4. ^ a b c d Verner 2001, p. 465.
  5. ^ a b c Frey 2001, p. 150.
  6. ^ Simpson 2001, p. 455.
  7. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 289.
  8. ^ Lehner 2008, p. 8.
  9. ^ Arnold 2003, p. 267.
  10. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 391.
  11. ^ Shaw 2004, p. 483.
  12. ^ Verner 2001, pp. 409–410.
  13. ^ Verner 2001, p. 420.
  14. ^ "Egyptian 4,000-year-old pyramid opened to visitors". Xinhua. 29 June 2019. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Edwards 1993, p. 212.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Verner 2001, p. 410.
  17. ^ Vyse & Perring 1842, pp. 80–81.
  18. ^ Petrie, Brunton & Murray 1923, p. 4.
  19. ^ Petrie, Brunton & Murray 1923, pp. 4, pl. XXIV.
  20. ^ a b Petrie, Brunton & Murray 1923, pp. 3–4.
  21. ^ Petrie, Brunton & Murray 1923, p. 5.
  22. ^ Verner 2001, pp. 409–411.
  23. ^ a b c d Verner 2001, p. 411.
  24. ^ Brunton 1920, pp. 9–10, pl. xxi.
  25. ^ a b Petrie 1891, p. 1.
  26. ^ a b c Verner 2001, p. 413.
  27. ^ Petrie, Brunton & Murray 1923, p. 6.
  28. ^ a b Verner 2001, p. 412.
  29. ^ a b Lehner 2008, p. 176.
  30. ^ Verner 2001, pp. 412–413.
  31. ^ Lehner 2008, pp. 175–176.

Sources

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