Buhen ( Bohón) was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below (to the North of) the Second Cataract in what is now Northern State, Sudan. It is now submerged in Lake Nasser, Sudan; as a result of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, many of its antiquities were moved to the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum. On the East bank, across the river, there was another ancient settlement, where the town of Wadi Halfa now stands. The earliest mention of Buhen comes from stelae dating to the reign of Senusret I. Buhen is also the earliest known Egyptian settlement in the land of Nubia. Old Kingdom In the Old Kingdom (about 2686–2181 BCE), there was an Egyptian colonial town at Buhen, that was also used for copper working. This was surrounded by a massive though crude stone wall. And further evidence point to the colony having been supplied from the north. The settlement may have been established during the reign of Sneferu (4th Dynasty). Nevertheless, there is evidence of earlier, 2nd Dynasty, occupation at Buhen. An archaeological investigation in 1962 revealed what was described as an ancient copper factory. Graffiti and other inscribed items from the site show that the Egyptians stayed about 200 years, until late in the 5th Dynasty, when they were probably forced out by immigration from the south. Fortress Buhen is known for its large fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III in around 1860 BCE (12th Dynasty). Senusret III conducted four campaigns into Kush and established a line of forts within signaling distance of one another; Buhen was the northernmost of these. The other forts along the banks were Mirgissa, Shalfak, Uronarti, Askut, Dabenarti, Semna, and Kumma. The Kushites captured Buhen during the 13th Dynasty, and held it until Ahmose I recaptured it at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty. It was stormed and recaptured by indigenous forces at the end of Egypt's 20th Dynasty. The fortress itself extended more than along the west bank of the Nile. It covered , and had within its wall a small town laid out in a grid system. At its peak it probably had a population of around 3,500 people. The fortress also included the administration for the whole fortified region of the Second Cataract. Its fortifications included a moat three meters deep, drawbridges, bastions, buttresses,