The Kahun Papyri are a collection of ancient Egyptian texts discussing administrative, mathematical and medical topics. Its many fragments were discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1889 and are kept at the University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

. This collection of papyri is one of the largest ever found. Most of the texts are dated to ca. 1825 BC, to the reign of Amenemhat III

Amenemhat III

Amenemhat III, also spelled Amenemhet III was a pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from c.1860 BC to c.1814 BC, the latest known date being found in a papyrus dated to Regnal Year 46, I Akhet 22 of his rule. He is regarded as the greatest monarch of the Middle Kingdom...

. In general the collection spans the Middle Kingdom of Egypt

Middle Kingdom of Egypt

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...

.

The texts span a variety of topics:

• Business papers of the cult of Senusret II
  Senusret II
  Khakeperre 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...
  
  
• Hymns to king Senusret III
  Senusret III
  Khakhaure Senusret III was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. Among his achievements was the building of the Sisostris Canal...
  
  .
• The Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus
  Kahun Gynecological Papyrus
  The Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus is the oldest known medical text of any kind. Dated to about 1800 BCE, it deals with women's health—gynaecological diseases, fertility, pregnancy, contraception, etc.It was found at El-Lahun by Flinders Petrie in 1889 and first translated by F. Ll...
  
  , which deals with gynaecological
  Gynaecology
  Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
  
   illnesses and conditions.
• The Lahun Mathematical Papyri
  Lahun Mathematical Papyri
  The Lahun Mathematical Papyri are part of a collection of Kahun Papyri discovered at El-Lahun by Flinders Petrie during excavations of a worker's town near the pyramid of Sesostris II...
  
  are a collection of mathematical texts
• A veterinarian papyrus
• A late Middle Kingdom account, listing festivals

External links

• A Kahun Mathematical Fragment, a paper by John A.R. Legon
• PlanetMath: Kahun Papyrus and Arithmetic Progressions