Mentuhotep II.

Name of Mentuhotep II.
Statue of Mentuhoteps II; Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York
Horus name	Seanch-ib-taui Sˁnḫ-jb-t3.w (j) Who lets the heart of the two countries live (when taking office) Netjeri-hedjet Nṯrj-ḥḏt The one with the divine white crown (later name) Schema-taui Šm3-t3.w (j) unifier of the two countries (after the unification of the empire)
Sideline	Netjeri-hedjed Nṯrj-ḥḏt The one with the divine white crown Sema-taui sm3-t3.w (j) unifier of the two countries (after the unification of the empire)
Gold name	Bik-nebu-ka-suti Bjk-nbw-q3-šwtj gold falcon with high double feather (after the unification of the empire)
Throne name	Neb-hapet-Re Nb-ḥ3pt-Rˁ Lord of the rudder of the Re Neb-hapet-Re Nb-ḥ3pt-Rˁ Lord of the rudder of Re (after the unification of the empire)
Proper name	Mentuhotep (Mentu hotep) Mnṯw ḥtp [w] Month is satisfied
Royal Papyrus Turin (No.V./16.)	Neb-hapet-Re Nb-ḥ3pt-R῾ Lord of the rudder of the Re
List of Kings of Abydos (Seti I) (No.57)	Neb-hapet-Re Nb-ḥ3pt-Rˁ Lord of the rudder of the Re
Karnak King List	Neb-hapet-Re Nb-ḥ3pt-Rˁ Lord of the rudder of the Re

Mentuhotep II was an ancient Egyptian king ( Pharaoh ) of the 11th Dynasty ( Middle Kingdom ), who lived from around 2061 to 2010 BC. BC first ruled in Upper Egypt and later established the unification of the empire with Lower Egypt . In the royal papyrus of Turin , 51 full years of reign are recorded for him.

family

Mentuhotep II was the son of Antef III. and a queen yeah .

His main consorts were Tem and Neferu . As concubines apply Henhenet , Kawit , Kemsit , Sadeh and Aschait . His successor Mentuhotep III. was his son from the connection with Tem. It is uncertain whether Mijt is another wife, fiancée or daughter of Mentuhoteps II.

Domination

This king managed to unite all of Egypt between his 30th and 39th year . This was preceded by documented battles for This , Assiut and Herakleopolis . He is considered to be the founder of the Middle Kingdom and was the first king to use the complete royal titular with all five names. He changed his Horus name twice, the last one, schema-taui , then also means " unifier of the two countries " (Upper and Lower Egypt).

The ruler launched an aggressive foreign policy. Campaigns are documented for Nubia. A rock inscription of the ruler was even found in Uwainat in the far west (near today's border with Libya ).

In his 46th year of reign there is an entry for the creation of the “ Stele des Meru”.

The court

Two viziers can be assigned to this ruler with certainty. Bebi is only known from one block from the king's mortuary temple and presumably officiated around the middle of the reign. He was followed by Dagi , who is known from his grave and mentions in the mortuary temple .

Chety was the first chancellor ( treasurer ) under the ruler and organized the Sedfest for the king. Meketre was treasurer under King Mentuhotep II / III. His grave ( TT280 ) south of Deir el-Bahari was excavated in 1919/20. It contained 25 wooden models in the Serdab .

The steward was Henenu , who is also documented under the successor. The head of the sealers was Meru, who in turn is known from his grave and an inscription in Nubia, which indicates that he led a Nubian campaign by Mentuhotep II. A certain Antef is documented as a general , who presumably led an Asian campaign. The siege of an Asian fortress is depicted in his grave.

Construction activity

Mentuhotep mainly renovated temples in numerous places in Upper Egypt. He is the first Egyptian ruler to be known of a major temple building project. In Abydos he built a chapel for the dead. It is the first royal chapel in this place.

Mortuary temple

→ Main article : Mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II.

Mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II from above

In Deir el-Bahari, Mentuhotep II had a mortuary temple built, which was unique at the time. From the valley temple on the edge of the fruit land, it was reached via a 46 m wide and 1 km long brick driveway , which was surrounded by a wall and led to a temple that was partially cut into the mountain basin. In the forecourt there is a ramp that leads to a tunnel (the so-called Bab el-Hosan ). In the chamber at the end of it, the Ka statue Mentuhoteps, wrapped in linen , and an empty wooden coffin were found.

The pillar hall of the mortuary temple was crowned either by a pyramid , a mastaba , an obelisk or an ancient mound. The Egyptologists do not agree on this.

A 150 m long shaft stretched from the rear columned hall into the rock massif behind to the actual burial chamber of the king. Around 600 model figures were discovered in the side chambers of the corridor. The alabaster sarcophagus, the wooden coffin and some grave goods were found, as well as fragments of the king's skull.

A later covered corridor led from the pillared hall to the grave of the main wife Tem, which was found in 1859. Unfortunately, the gifts and scrolls that were discovered there have now been lost. Six statue shrines and the sarcophagi of six queens and princesses of Mentuhotep II (Henhenet, Kemsit, Kawit, Sadeh, Aschait and Mijt) were found on the western rear wall of the colonnade .

Black seated statue of Mentuhotep II with the red crown of Lower Egypt , painted sandstone, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 36195)

More tombs

The Pharaoh's concubines, Kawit, Henhenet, Kemsit, Sadeh and Aschait, died very young and were buried in the terrace temple. All were priestesses of the Hathor . Mijt was around five years old when she died. She was also buried in the terrace temple. Numerous members of the court and Queen Neferu were buried near the terrace temple. Neferu was the sister and wife of Mentuhotep II.

See also

• Valley festival

literature

General

• Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Egyptian Pharaohs, Volume I: Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty (3300-1069 BC). Bannerstone Press, Oakville 2008, ISBN 978-0977409440 , pp. 223-227.
• Peter A. Clayton: The Pharaohs. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-8289-0661-3 , pp. 75-76.
• Martin von Falck, Susanne Martinssen-von Falck: The great pharaohs. From the early days to the Middle Kingdom. Marix, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3737409766 , pp. 188-197.
• Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 155–157.

About the name

• Jacques Jean Clére, Jacques Vandier : Texts de la première Période Inter-médiaire et de la XIte dynastie. Volume X, Bruxelles 1948.
• Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) von Zabern, Mainz 1930ff, volume 20, plates 11b, 13, 14; Volume 24, plate 1.
• Richard Lepsius : Selection of the most important documents of Egyptian antiquity. Wigand, Leipzig 1842, plate 9.
• Richard Lepsius: Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia. Volume 2: Dept. 1. Topography and Architecture. Hinrich, Leipzig 1849-1859, p. 149b.
• Papyrus Abott column 3 / line 14.
• Jürgen von Beckerath : Handbook of the Egyptian king names. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-422-00832-2 , pp. 63–64, 194–195.

To the grave temple

Excavation publications

• Dieter Arnold : The temple of King Mentuhotep by Deir el-Bahari I. Architecture and interpretation. von Zabern, Mainz 1974.
• Dieter Arnold: The temple of King Mentuhotep by Deir el-Bahari II. The wall reliefs of the sanctuary. von Zabern, Mainz 1974.
• Dieter Arnold: The temple of King Mentuhotep by Deir el-Bahari III. The royal gifts. von Zabern, Mainz 1981, ISBN 3-8053-0316-5 .
• Dieter Arnold: The Temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el-Bahari. From the Notes of Herbert Winlock. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1979, ISBN 0-87099-163-9 .
• Edouard Naville : The XIth [eleventh] dynasty temple at Deir el-Bahari. Volumes I.-III (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 28). Egypt Exploration Fund, London 1907-1913.

General

• Rainer Stadelmann : The Egyptian pyramids. From brick construction to the wonder of the world (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 30). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1142-7 , pp. 230-233.
• Miroslav Verner : The pyramids (= rororo non-fiction book. Volume 60890). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60890-1 , pp. 426-434.
• Zahi Hawass : The Treasures of the Pyramids. Weltbild, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0809-8 , pp. 352-353.

Questions of detail

• Labib Habachi : King Nebhepetre Menthuhotp: His Monuments, Place in History, Deification and Unusual Representations in the Form of Gods. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) Vol. 19, von Zabern, Mainz 1963, pp. 16-53.
• William C. Hayes : The Scepter of Egypt. Volume I, cap. X, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 1963, ISBN 0-87099-190-6 .
• Farouk Gomaá: Egypt during the First Intermediate Period (= supplements to the Tübingen Atlas of the Middle East. Series B, Spiritual Science. No. 27). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 978-3-88226-041-0 .
• Oleg D. Berlev: The Eleventh Dynasty in the Dynastic History of Egypt. In: Studies Polotsky. 1981, pp. 361-377.
• Hans Goedicke : The Unification of Egypt under Monthuhotep Neb-Hepet-Re (2022 BC). In: Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. Volume 12, 1982, pp. 165-183.
• Dieter Arnold, Jürgen Settgast : First preliminary report on the work undertaken by the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo in Asasif (1st and 2nd campaign) In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. Vol. 20, von Zabern, Mainz 1965, p. 50 f. with Fig. 2.
• Dieter Arnold: Report on the work undertaken by the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo in the Mentuhotep Temple and in El-Târif. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. Vol. 28, von Zabern, Mainz 1972, pp. 13-31.
• Erhart Graefe : Investigations of the Monthuhotep-Aufweg in the area of ​​the Belgian concession in front of the pylon of the grave no. 196 (Theben-West) In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo department. Vol. 36, von Zabern, Mainz 1980, pp. 175-191.
• Zbigniew E. Szafranski: Buried Statues of Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre and Amenophis I at Deir el-Bahari. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. Vol. 41, von Zabern, Mainz 1985, pp. 257-264 and Pl. 38 f.
• Manfred Bietak : On the Nubian archers from Assiut: a contribution to the history of the First Intermediate Period. In: Mélange Mokhtar I. Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, 1985, ISBN 2-7247-0019-8 , pp. 87-97 u. pl. I-II.
• Elke Blumenthal : The "God Fathers" of the Old and Middle Kingdom. In: Journal for Egyptian Language and Antiquity. No. 114, 1987, pp. 16-21.
• Louise Gestermann: Continuity and Change in Politics and Administration of the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-447-02728-2 , pp. 29-98.
• Louise Gerstermann: Hathor, Harsomtus and MnTw-Htp.w II. In: Festschrift Westendorf II. 1984, pp. 763-776.
• Sylvie Cauville, Annie Alley: Fouilles de Dendera. Premiers results. In: Bulletin de l´Institut Francais d´archéologie orientale. (BIFAO) Volume 88, Cairo 1988, pp. 25-32.
• Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronology of the pharaonic Egypt. Zabern, Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-8053-2310-7 , pp. 6, 24-25, 27-30, 56, 73, 139-143, 188.
• Sheldon L.Gosline: A Supraporte from the Sanctuary of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep's Temple In: Göttinger Miszellen . (GM) 136, Göttingen 1993, pp. 29-42.

Web links

Commons : Mentuhotep II.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Mentuhotep II. On Digital Egypt (engl.)
• Website on the topic of Mentuhotep II.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Alan H. Gardiner: The royal canon of Turin. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1997, ISBN 978-0-900416-48-4 , illustration 2.
2. ↑ Annual figures based on Wolfgang Helck .
3. ^ Joseph Clayton, Aloisia de Trafford; Mark Borda: A hieroglyphic inscription found at Jebel Uweinat mentioning Yam and Tekhebet . In: Sahara: preistoria e storia del Sahara . tape 19 , 2008, ISSN  1120-5679 , p. 129-134 .
4. ↑ Ayman Damarant, Yasir Abd el-Raziq, Ashraf Okasha, Josef Wegner, Kevin Cahail, Jennifer Wegner: A new temple: the mahat of Nebhetepre at Abydos. In: Egyptian Archeology. No. 46, spring 2015, pp. 3–7.

predecessor	Office	successor
Antef III.	Pharaoh of Egypt 11th Dynasty	Mentuhotep III.