A settlement founded in the Old Kingdom on the west bank of the Nile in Lower Nubia, opposite Wadi Halfa near the 2nd cataract. In the Middle Kingdom, Buhen was strengthened with mudbrick fortifications and turned into a fortress. From here a military garrison controlled the region to the north of the 2nd cataract. In the New Kingdom, when the border with Nubia lay much further to the south, the place had little or no military presence. The city god of Buhen was Horus. On top of the remains of a temple from the Middle Kingdom is now a sanctuary from the New Kingdom built by Hatshepsut and expanded under Tuthmosis III. In the early New Kingdom the fortress was expanded and a second temple, dedicated to Isis, was built by Ahmose I and expanded and rebuilt by Amenhotep II.