The Kahun

Kahun was built, c.1895 BC, to house the workmen employed in building the pyramid and temples of King Sesostris II. However, it was also occupied by officials who supervised the pyramid building programme, and later, by priests and other personnel who served in the temples. The kings of the 12th Dynasty developed various irrigation projects in this area, and Kahun would also have played a significant role in these concerns. It undoubtedly became a prosperous and important centre, and it would be wrong to regard it simply as a pyramid workmen’s town. In antiquity, both the town and the temple, which adjoined it and was part of the pyramid complex, were known by the name of ‘Hetep-Sesostris’—‘Sesostris is pleased, or satisfied’. However, Petrie, on discovering the site in 1887, asked an old man what the town was called.