Senusret II
| Senusret II | |
|---|---|
| Senwosret II, Sesostris II | |
 Head of a statue of Senusret II from Karnak | |
| Pharaoh | |
| Reign | Co-regent of five years; sole reign of around fifteen years.[1][note 1] (Twelfth Dynasty) |
| Predecessor | Amenemhat II |
| Successor | Senusret III |
| Consort | Khenemetneferhedjet I, Nofret II, Itaweret (?), Khenmet (?) |
| Children | Senusret III, Senusret-sonbe, Itakayt, Neferet, Sithathoryunet |
| Father | Amenemhat II |
| Burial | 29°14′10″N 30°58′14″E / 29.23611°N 30.97056°E |
Khakheperre 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 Bahr Yussef through to Lake Moeris through the construction of a dike at El-Lahun and the addition of a network of drainage canals. The purpose of his project was to increase the amount of cultivable land in that area.[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. This location would remain the political capital for the 12th and 13th Dynasties of Egypt. The king also established the first known workers' quarter in the nearby town of Senusrethotep (Kahun).[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.
Reign[]
Co-regency[]
Co-regencies are a major issue for Egyptologists' understanding of the history of the Middle Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty.[14][15] The French Egyptologist Claude Obsomer wholly rejects the possibility of co-regencies in the Twelfth Dynasty.[16] Author Robert D. Delia,[17] and German Eyptologist Karl Jansen-Winkeln[18] have investigated Obsomer's work and have concluded in favour of co-regencies.[19] Jansen-Winkeln cites a rock stele found at Konosso as irrefutable evidence in favour of a co-regency between Senusret II and Amenemhat II, and by extension proof of co-regencies in the Twelfth Dynasty.[20] The American Egyptologist William J. Murnane states that "the co-regencies of the period are all known ... from double-dated[note 2] documents".[22] The German Egyptologist Schneider concludes that recently discovered documents and archaeological evidence are effectively proof of co-regencies in this period.[23]
Some sources ascribe a co-regency period to Senusret II's rule, with his father Amenemhat II as his co-regent. The British Egyptologist Peter Clayton ascribes at least three years of co-regency to Senusret II's reign.[24] The French Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal assigns nearly five years of co-regency prior to sole accession to the throne.[1]
Length of reign[]
The lengths of the reigns of Senusret II and Senusret III are one of the main considerations for discerning the chronology of the Twelfth Dynasty.[15] The Turin Canon is believed to assign a reign of 19 years to Senusret II and 30 years of reign to Senusret III.[25] This traditional view was challenged in 1972 when the American Egyptologist William Kelly Simpson observed that the latest attested regnal year for Senusret II was his 7th, and similarly for Senusret III his 19th.[25]
Kim Ryholt, a professor of Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen, suggests the possibility that the names on the canon had been misarranged and offers two possible regnal lengths for Senusret II: 10+ years, or 19 years.[26] Several Egyptologists, such as Thomas Schneider, cite Mark C. Stone's article, published in the Göttinger Miszellen in 1997, as determining that Senusret II's highest recorded regnal year was his 8th, based on Stela Cairo JE 59485.[27]
Some scholars 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 Jürgen von Beckerath and Frank Yurco, have maintained the traditional view of a longer 19-year reign for Senusret II given the level of activity undertaken by the king during his reign.[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. Such projects optimally took fifteen to twenty years to complete, even with the mudbrick cores used in Middle Kingdom pyramids.[28]
At present, the problem concerning the reign length of Senusret II is irresolvable but many Egyptologists today prefer to assign him a reign of 9 or 10 years only given the absence of higher dates attested for him beyond his 8th regnal year. This would entail amending the 19-year figure which the Turin Canon assigns for a 12th dynasty ruler in his position to 9 years instead. However, Senusret II's monthly figure on the throne might be ascertained. 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.[29] These documents state that this Festival occurred on IV Peret day 14.[30][31][32]
Domestic activities[]
The Faiyum Oasis, a region in Middle Egypt, has been inhabited by humans for more than 8000 years.[33] It became an important centre in Egypt during the Middle Kingdom.[33] Throughout the period, rulers undertook developmental projects turning Faiyum into an agricultural, religious, and resort-like centre.[33] 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.[33]
Senusret II initiated a project to exploit the marshy region's natural resources for hunting and fishing, a project continued by his successors and which "matured" during the reign of his grandson Amenemhat III.[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.[9][1] The land reclaimed in this project was then farmed.[34]
Cults honouring the crocodile god Sobek were prominent at the time.[33]
Activities outside Egypt[]
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. These foreigners, possibly Canaanites or Bedouins, are labelled as Aamu (ꜥꜣmw), including the leading man with a Nubian ibex labelled as Abisha the Hyksos (