Excavations
Sir William Mathew Flinders Petrie was two weeks into his archaeological work at the pyramid site of Hawara, when he heard that another European had plans to work at the nearby Illahun, and Medinet Gurob. Petrie doubted the integrity of this individual and quickly dispatched a small number of his workmen to both sites in order to claim them as his own, and thus save them from destruction.
This was a less than desirable work system that continued for eleven weeks, until February 11 1889, when he finished work at Hawara and was free to begin a concentrated effort at the other two sites. At Illahun, work initially started at the pyramid and the Valley Temple of Senwosret II. It was here that Petrie found Twelfth Dynasty foundation deposits, at the centre of the temple area, sunken within a hole carved in the bedrock. Petrie decided that the adjoining town of Kahun was of the same age, and decided to survey the area.
In Petrie's first publication, Kahun, Gurob and Hawara (1890), he produced a 1:1200 plan of the south west part of the town, and the Valley Temple and its associated 'Porters Lodge'. In Illahun, Kahun and Gurob (1891) he published the complete plan of his excavations (1:1500).
Excavations started at the southern end of the 'Western Quarter' of the town. Each row of terrace housing was successively ranked alphabetically, with the first, most southern row of terraces, being called Rank A. In his first season Petrie moved northwards from Rank A, and cleared six rows of terraces, ending with Rank F in May 1889. It was within the early ranks that Petrie found a lot of finely written papyri (The 'Lahun Papyri'). Petrie discovered similar rows of houses on the east side of the thick wall that runs north to south and bisects the town into two units. He called this area Rank N, and in the first season excavations progressed northwards up to the area around the 'Maket Tomb'. About 100 metres east of this area lies Rank P and Q. Petrie made small test excavations at this central part of the town, mid-way through the first season, and decided to work more thoroughly in this area during the next season of fieldwork.
In "Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara" he makes a note on page 53, "The final clearance of the towns of Kahun and Gurob has taken place while this was in the press." Therefore all finds illustrated in the plates, must be from the areas he worked in during the first season.
Petrie returned to Kahun for his Second Season on October 3 1889, and worked here for ten weeks. For the first month Petrie worked in the northern part of the town, where the largest houses lie. In the first week of November he discovered the Nineteenth Dynasty rock-cut tomb, that contained several coffins and mummies of family members, including a lady named Maket, hence the tomb is referred to as the 'Maket Tomb'.
After the clearance of the tomb Petrie continued working in Rank N, and progressing northwards. Excavations continued in the largest northern houses ('Mansions'), Ranks P and Q, and resumed in the Western Quarter, moving northwards from Rank F. Petrie did not complete his investigation of the eastern side of the town, as he said it had been largely demolished in Roman times. On December 19 1889, Petrie declared he had finished clearing the town, and spent the last two weeks of the season working through the rubbish heaps outside of the town's enclosure wall.
He returned to the site in 1914, 1920 and 1921, to complete his investigation of the Pyramid of Senwosret II. The mortuary complex consisted of the king's pyramid, eight rock mastaba tombs, a queen's pyramid on the north side, four rock cut burials (the 'Princesses') on the south side and a Mortuary Temple at the east. The excavation results were published in Lahun I, The Treasure (1920), and in Lahun II (1923). However, some further work was conducted at the town site in places that were not touched in the previous seasons. This included: the Valley Temple, and its surrounds; parts of the eastern sector, whence some granaries were found and planned; and a few buildings near Rank P.