Senusret II

Senusret II took a great deal of interest in the Faiyum oasis region and began work on an extensive irrigation system from Bahr Yussef through to Lake Moeris through the construction of a dike at El-Lahun and the addition of a network of drainage canals.

[11] The importance of this project is emphasized by Senusret II's decision to move the royal necropolis from Dahshur to El-Lahun where he built his pyramid.

[12] Unlike his successor, Senusret II maintained good relations with the various nomarchs or provincial governors of Egypt who were almost as wealthy as the pharaoh.

[13] His Year 6 is attested in a wall painting from the tomb of a local nomarch named Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan.

[21] The Egyptologist Thomas Schneider concludes that recently discovered documents and archaeological evidence are effectively proof of co-regencies in this period.

[26] Several Egyptologists, such as Thomas Schneider, cite Mark C. Stone's 1997 article in the Göttinger Miszellen as determining that Senusret II's highest recorded regnal year was his 8th, based on Stela Cairo JE 59485.

[citation needed] Yurco notes that reducing Senusret II's regnal length to 6 years poses difficulties because: That pharaoh built a complete pyramid at Kahun, with a solid granite funerary temple and complex of buildings.

According to Jürgen von Beckerath, the temple documents of El-Lahun, the pyramid city of Sesostris/Senusret II often mention the Festival of "Going Forth to Heaven" which might be the date of death for this ruler.

[30][31][32] However, Rita Gautschy states that this Festival date did not mark the actual day of Senusret II's death, but of his funeral or burial.

[35] The oasis was located 80 km (50 mi) south-west of Memphis offering arable land[1] centred around Lake Moeris, a natural body of water.

[1] To set off this project, Senusret II developed an irrigation system with a dyke and a network of canals which siphoned water from Lake Moeris.

[35] Senusret II's reign ushered in a period of peace and prosperity, with no recorded military campaigns and the proliferation of trade between Egypt and the Near-East.

[9] Around the same time, parties of Western Asiatic foreigners visiting the Pharaoh with gifts are recorded, as in the tomb paintings of 12th-dynasty official Khnumhotep II, who also served under Senusret III.

[41] Murnane identifies that the only existing evidence for a coregency of Senusret II and III is a scarab with both kings names inscribed on it.

[citation needed] At present, no document from Senusret II's reign has been discovered from Lahun, the king's new capital city.

In 1889, the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie found "a marvellous gold and inlaid royal uraeus" that must have originally formed part of Senusret II's looted burial equipment in a flooded chamber of the king's pyramid tomb.

A figure wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt and whose face appears to reflect the features of the reigning king, most probably Amenemhat II or Senusret II. It functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut , and it is wearing a divine kilt, which suggests that the statuette was not merely a representation of the living ruler. [ 24 ]
Senusret II's royal uraeus found in his pyramid tomb.
Pectoral of Senusret II (tomb of Sithathoriunet )
Crown of Princess Sithathoriunet .
The pyramid of Senusret II at El-Lahun
Limestone slab showing the cartouche of Senusret II and the name and image of the goddess Nekhbet. From Mastaba 4, north side of Senusret II Pyramid at Lahun, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.