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[[File: pryamide-sesostris3.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left| The Ruins of Senusret III’s Pyramid near Dashur]]

Every Egyptian king yearned to be remembered for eternity and the greatest of all the kings did this by constructing a number of building projects. The Old Kingdom pharaohs are remembered for the pyramids and those of the New Kingdom have the many temples of Upper Egypt as a testament to their greatness and although the monuments of the Middle Kingdom have not withstood the test of time as well as their predecessors and successors did, Senusret III certainly did his part. In particular, Senusret III is remembered for constructing numerous canals throughout Egypt that connected Egypt to its Nubian colonies and eventually the Red Sea. The king’s priority was building a canal that bypassed the first cataract just south of Abu/Elephantine (modern Aswan), which marked the traditional boundary between Egypt and Nubia. The cataracts are so named because they are narrow, rocky sections of the Nile River that are impassable by boats, which meant that in ancient times a military or trade expedition would have to disembark, portage the cataract, and then reembark and continue up river. Since the first cataract canal had such high military and economic importance, Senusret III made sure that it was regularly maintained. A year eight inscription details some of the maintenance work done on the canal as well as its name and size:

“Year 8 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Kekure, living forever. His majesty commanded to make the canal anew, the name of this canal being: ‘Beautiful-Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure-[Living]-Forever,’ when his majesty proceeded up-river to overthrow Kush, the wretched. Length of this canal, 150 cubits; width, 20; depth, 15.” <ref> Breasted, p. 292</ref>