Kahun

▪ ancient town, Egypt

      ancient Egyptian (Egypt, ancient) town, its site lying in modern Al-Fayyūm (Fayyūm, Al-) muḥāfaẓah (governorate). It was erected for the overseers and workmen employed in constructing the nearby pyramid of Al-Lāhūn (Lāhūn, Al-), built by Sesostris II (reigned 1844–37 BCE), and it was abandoned when the pyramid was completed. Excavated by the English archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie (Petrie, Sir Flinders) (1888–90), it revealed a crisscross of streets laid out in a regular pattern, with houses built of mud brick having beamed, flat mud roofs, open courts and porticoes, and the earliest examples of a supporting wooden column, fluted and on a raised base. Cretan polychrome Kamáres ware and Cypriot black ware were also found at the site.

* * *