The Pyramid of Senusret II,
The first systematic excavations were carried out between 1888 and 1890 by the English archaeologist Flinders Petrie. In doing so, he discovered the pyramid city of Lahun, which he excavated over a large area. In the second excavation season, the entrance to the pyramid was discovered and the underground chamber system explored. After turning to other sites for a while, Petrie returned to Illahun in 1914, 1920 and 1921 to carry out further excavations in the vicinity of the pyramid. To this day, Petrie's investigations represent the most important research contribution to the Senusret II pyramid. Between 1991 and 1997 a team from the Royal Ontario Museum under the direction of Nicholas Millet carried out some small-scale excavations in the pyramid city and on the upper structure of the pyramid.
A surrounding foundation trench carved into the rock formed the basis for the fine limestone cladding of the tomb. In addition, a drainage channel filled with gravel has been installed.
Unfortunately, as with all Egyptian pyramids, the limestone cladding has been removed and burned into fertilizer over the centuries. Without this protective cover, the mud bricks are very susceptible to weathering and so the structure looks crumbling today.
Senusret II built his pyramid (The Pyramid of Lahun) in the Twelfth Dynasty, and he built his pyramid in Lahun at the entrance to Bahr Youssef (Yusuf Canal) in the same area. The rib measures 106 meters long, 42 degrees slope 35 feet, and 48.6 meters high.
Research history
In modern times, the Senusret II pyramid was first documented by Dominique-Vivant Denon during Napoleon's Egypt expedition 1798–1801. A new documentation of the pyramid was carried out in 1839 by John Shae Perring. The publication took place in 1842 by himself and by Richard William Howard Vyse. Karl Richard Lepsius visited Lahun during his Egypt expedition 1842–1846 and in May 1843 documented the ruins there. He added the Senusret II pyramid to his list of pyramids under the number LXVI.
The first systematic excavations were carried out between 1888 and 1890 by the English archaeologist Flinders Petrie. In doing so, he discovered the pyramid city of Lahun, which he excavated over a large area. In the second excavation season, the entrance to the pyramid was discovered and the underground chamber system explored. After turning to other sites for a while, Petrie returned to Illahun in 1914, 1920 and 1921 to carry out further excavations in the vicinity of the pyramid. To this day, Petrie's investigations represent the most important research contribution to the Senusret II pyramid. Between 1991 and 1997 a team from the Royal Ontario Museum under the direction of Nicholas Millet carried out some small-scale excavations in the pyramid city and on the upper structure of the pyramid.
Surname
A distinctive feature of the 12th Dynasty pyramids is the use of different names for different parts of the pyramid complex. While the facilities of the Old Kingdom only had one name for the entire royal tomb complex, the facilities of the 12th Dynasty had up to four names, which denoted the actual pyramid, the mortuary temple, the cult facilities of the district and the pyramid city. Two names have been recorded for the Senusret II pyramid. The name of the actual pyramid is unknown. In older literature it was given the name Cha-Senweseret ("Senusret appears"), which was taken over by Mark Lehner and Miroslav Verner in the 1990s. Dieter Arnold, on the other hand, was able to prove at the end of the 1980s that Cha-Senweseret referred to the pyramid city of the Senusret I pyramid in Lischt. The district of the Senusret II pyramid with the mortuary temple and the cult complex was called Sechem-Senweseret ("Senusret is mighty"). The pyramid city was named Hetep-Senweseret ("Senusret is at peace").
The superstructure
The core of the pyramid consists of a four-tiered limestone stump, which was provided with a limestone frame, formed from transverse and radial walls. The cavities formed in this limestone skeleton were filled with clay bricks. Mud bricks then also formed the top of the structure.
A surrounding foundation trench carved into the rock formed the basis for the fine limestone cladding of the tomb. In addition, a drainage channel filled with gravel has been installed.
Unfortunately, as with all Egyptian pyramids, the limestone cladding has been removed and burned into fertilizer over the centuries. Without this protective cover, the mud bricks are very susceptible to weathering and so the structure looks crumbling today.
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