KAHUN

ancient Egyptian town, its site lying in modern al-Fayyum muhafazah (governorate). It was erected for the overseers and workmen employed in constructing the Pyramid of Illahun, built by Sesostris II (reigned 184437 BC), and it was abandoned when the pyramid was completed. Excavated by the English archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie (188890), it revealed a criss-cross of streets with houses built of unburnt brick having beamed, flat mud roofs, open courts and porticoes, and the earliest example of a supporting wooden column, fluted and on a raised base. Cretan polychrome Kamres ware and Cypriot black ware were also found at the site.