Senusret II
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Senusret II was the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1897 BC to 1878 BC. His pyramid was constructed at El-Lahun. Senusret II took a great deal of interest in the Faiyum oasis region and began work on an extensive irrigation system from the Bahr Yusuf through to the future Lake Qarun by means the construction of a dyke at Lahun here and the addition of a network of drainage canals. The purpose of his project was to increase the amount of cultivable land here. 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. El-Lahun, would henceforth, remain the political capital of the 12th and 13th Dynasties of Egypt. The king also established the first known worker's village in the town of nearby town of Kahun whose New Kingdom prototype would be Deir El Medina.
Unlike his successor, Senusret II maintained good relations with the various local and influential nomarchs or provincial governors of Egypt who were almost as wealthy as Pharaoh. His Year 6 is attested in a Wall painting from the tomb of a local nomarch at Beni Hasan.
Reign Length
Of the rulers of this Dynasty, Senusret II's reign length is the most debated amongst scholars. The Turin Canon gives an unknown king of the Dynasty a reign of 19 Years (which is usually attributed to him) but Senusret's II's Highest known date is only a Year 8 red sandstone stela found in June 1932 at Toshka. Some Egyptologists prefer to ascribe him a reign of only 10 Years and assign the 19 Year reign to Senusret III instead. Other Egyptologists, however, such as J. Von Beckerath and Frank Yurco have maintained the traditional view of a longer 19 Year reign for Senusret II given the amount of work which the king performed in his reign. Yurco notes that limiting Senusret II's reign to 6 or 10 years poses major difficulties because he "built a complete pyramid at Kahun, with a solid granite funerary temple and complex of buildings. Such projects optimally took fifteen to twenty years to complete, even with the mudbrick cores used in Middle Kingdom pyramids."(p.69)Bibliography
- Mark Stone, Reading the Highest Attested Date for Senwosret II: Stela Cairo JE 59485, GM 159(1997), pp.91-100
- Frank Yurco, "Black Athena: An Egyptological Review"(p.69) in Black Athena Revisited,(editor: M. Lefkowitz), University of North Carolina Press: 1996, 544 pages (ISBN 0807845558)
- W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History,Archaeology and Society, Duckworth, London 2006 ISBN 0715634356, 48-51
External links
| Preceded by: Amenemhat II | Pharaoh of Egypt 1897 – 1878 BC Twelfth Dynasty | Succeeded by: Senusret III |
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