Ancient site · Faiyum
El Lahun Pyramid
A pyramid complex and ancient town in Faiyum founded by Senusret II, preserving a rare picture of everyday life in the Middle Kingdom.
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The story
El Lahun is a town and pyramid complex in Faiyum founded by Senusret II, whose pyramid stands near the modern town and is often called the Pyramid of Lahun. The site was lived in during the Middle Kingdom until the late Thirteenth Dynasty and was occupied again in the New Kingdom. Its ancient name meant "Mouth of the Canal", and in Ptolemaic times it was known as Ptolemais Hormos. The site includes the pyramid, cemeteries, a valley temple and the town of Kahun, and has yielded Middle Kingdom pottery along with administrative papyri and seals.
Good to know
- The ancient name of the site meant "Mouth of the Canal".
- The name "Kahun" is a modern coinage by the archaeologist Flinders Petrie.