Buhen

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Buhen

Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated below the Second Cataract

Cataracts of the Nile

The cataracts of the Nile River are shallow stretches between Aswan and Khartoum where the water's surface is broken by numerous small boulders and stones lying on the river bed, as well as many small rocky islets....
. It is well known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III

Senusret III

Khakhaure Senusret III was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt....
, around the year 1860 BC (12th dynasty

Twelfth dynasty of Egypt

The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom of Egypt....
). The site may have been first established as an outpost in Nubia

Nubia

Nubia is a region in Southern Egypt along the Nile and in what is now northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt....
during the reign of Sneferu

Sneferu

Sneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru , was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt, reigning from around 2613 BC to 2589 BC....
(4th dynasty

Fourth dynasty of Egypt

The Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, also written Dynasty 4 and Dynasty IV, is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom....
). Graffiti

Graffito (archaeology)

The Graffito , , has been created by humans since Homo sapiens have been traversing this planet. There are even scratchings, doodlings, drawings, symbols, and art, etc....
and other inscribed items from the site show that the Egyptians stayed about 200 years, until late in the 5th dynasty

Fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom....
, when they were probably forced out by immigration from the south.

Senusret III conducted four campaigns into Kush and established a line of forts within signalling distance of one another; Buhen was the northernmost of these.

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Encyclopedia

Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated below the Second Cataract

Cataracts of the Nile

Senusret III

Twelfth dynasty of Egypt

Nubia

Sneferu

Sneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru , was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt, reigning from around 2613 BC to 2589 BC....
(4th dynasty

Fourth dynasty of Egypt

The Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, also written Dynasty 4 and Dynasty IV, is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom....
). Graffiti

Graffito (archaeology)

Fifth dynasty of Egypt

Uronarti

Uronarti was an ancient Egyptian settlement located below the Cataracts of the Nile. It is well known for its triangular-shaped fortress, constructed between the reigns of Middle Kingdom rulers Senusret I and Senusret III, in the ninteenth century BCE....
, Askut, Dabenarti, Semna, and Kumma. The Kushites captured Buhen during the 13th dynasty

Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom of Egypt....
, and held it until Ahmose I

Ahmose I

Ahmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. He was a member of the Thebes, Egypt royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II the Brave and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt, King Kamose....
recaptured it at the beginning of the 18th dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
. It was stormed and recaptured by indigenous forces at the end of Egypt's 20th dynasty

Twentieth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom. This dynasty is considered to be the last one of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and was followed by the Third Intermediate Period....
.

The fortress itself extended more than 150 metre

Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
s, and had within its wall a small town laid out in a grid system. At its peak it probably had a population of around 3500 people. The fortress also included the administration for the whole fortified region of the Second Cataract. Its fortifications included a moat three metres deep, drawbridge

Drawbridge

A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges....
s, bastion

Bastion

A 'bastion' is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , with the shape of a sharp point, facilitating active defense against assaulting troops....
s, buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architecture structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, especially in Germany, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral forces arising out of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing....
es, rampart

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements....
s, battlement

Battlement

A battlement, in defensive architecture such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles....
s, loophole

Loophole

A loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented. The term loophole could also refer to:* Embrasure, a slit in a castle wall* Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C....
s, and a catapult

Catapult

A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance?particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines....
. The walls of the fort were about five metres thick and ten metres high.

The fortress at Buhen today has been covered by Lake Nasser

Lake Nasser

Lake Nasser is a vast reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Strictly, "Lake Nasser" refers only to the much larger portion of the lake that is in Egyptian territory , with the Sudanese preferring to call their smaller body of water Lake Nubia ....
created by the Aswan Dam

Aswan Dam

Aswan is a city on the first Cataracts of the Nile of the Nile in Egypt.Two dams straddle the river at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam , and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam....
in 1964. Before the site was covered with water, the site was excavated by a team led by Walter B. Emery.

Buhen also boasted a temple of Horus

Horus

Horus is a god of the Ancient Egyptian religion, most commonly known by the Greek language version Horus, of the Egyptian language Heru/Har....
built by Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut , meaning, Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an Indigenous peoples Egyptian dynasty....
, which was moved to Khartoum

Khartoum

Khartoum is the Capital of Sudan and of Khartoum . It is located at the confluence point of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia....
prior to the flooding of Lake Nasser.

Buhen

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