Mentuhotep I

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mentuhotep I[1]
Montuhotep I, Mentuhotep-aa
Sitting statue of Mentuhotep I from Elephantine, now in Cairo
Sitting statue of Mentuhotep I from Elephantine, now in Cairo
Pharaoh
Reignc. 2135 BC
PredecessorIntef the Elder
SuccessorIntef I
Royal titulary
Horus name
Hor Tepia
Ḥr.(w)-tp [j] ˁ
Horus the ancestor
G5
D1 p
D36 Z1
Nomen
Mentuhotepaa
mnṯw-ḥtp(w)ˁ3
Mentuhotep the great (litt. Montu is content, the great)[2]
<
mn
n
V13		 wHtp
t p		 O29V
>

Alternative form: Itnetjeru Mentuhotepaa Merysatetnebetabu
It-nṯrw mnṯw-ḥtp(w)ˁ3 mry sṯt nbt Abw
Father of the gods, Mentuhotep the great, beloved of
Satet, lady of Abu

<
M17t Z1
f		 R8AY5
n
V13		 wR4
t p		 O29Vsstit
t		 nb
t		 AbbwN25
O49		 mrM17M17
>
ConsortQueen Neferu I
ChildrenIntef I ? Intef II ?
Fatherpossibly Intef the Elder
Dynasty11th dynasty

Mentuhotep I (also Mentuhotep-aa, i.e. "the Great"

First Intermediate Period. Alternatively, Mentuhotep I may be a fictional figure created during the later Eleventh Dynasty, which rose to prominence under Intef II and Mentuhotep II
, playing the role of a founding father.

Identity

Mentuhotep was possibly a local Egyptian nomarch at Thebes during the early first intermediate period, ca. 2135 BC. The

Karnak king list found in the Festival Hall of Thutmose III preserves, in position No. 12, the partial name "Men-" in a royal cartouche, distinct from those of Mentuhotep II (No. 29) or Mentuhotep III (No. 30). The available fragments of the Karnak list do not seem to represent past pharaohs in any chronological order, and thus one cannot ascertain if or when this "Men-" pharaoh lived. Many scholars have argued from the list that a Mentuhotep I, who might have been merely a Theban nomarch, was posthumously given a royal titulary by his successors; thus this conjectured personage is referred to conventionally as "Mentuhotep I".[4][5][6][7]

The fact that no contemporary monument can safely be attributed to a king "Mentuhotep I" has led some Egyptologists to propose that he is a fictional ancestor and founder of the Eleventh dynasty, invented for that purpose during the later part of the dynasty.

Karnak king list
showing the partial name "Men..." in a cartouche (No. 12).

On the base of a statue from the sanctuary of Heqaib on Elephantine, a Mentuhotep is referred to as "Father of the gods".[8][9] This title probably refers to Mentuhotep's immediate successors, Intef I and Intef II who reigned as kings over Upper Egypt. From this title, many Egyptologists argued that this Mentuhotep was probably the father of Intef I and II,[4][8][10] and also that he was never a pharaoh, as this title was usually reserved for the non-royal ancestors of pharaohs.[5][6][7][8]

The throne name of Mentuhotep is unknown; since he might not have been a king, or no subsequent 11th Dynasty king bore any throne name until Mentuhotep II, it is probable that he never had one. His Horus name Tepi-a, "The ancestor" was certainly given to him posthumously.[11]

Family

See also: Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt family tree

Mentuhotep's wife might have been

Herakleopolitan
kings in the early first intermediate period. However, the kings on the remaining fragments are not listed in chronological order, so this is not at all certain.

Reign

As Theban nomarch, Mentuhotep's dominion perhaps extended south to the

10th Dynasty ruling over Lower Egypt and their powerful nomarch allies in Middle Egypt, in particular Ankhtifi
.

References

  1. ^ Annales du Service des Antiquités de l´Egypt Le Caire. Nr. 55, 1900, p. 178.
  2. ISBN 0-500-28628-0
  3. ISBN 978-0715634356
    , pp. 10–11
  4. ^
    ISBN 0 521 077915
    , p. 476
  5. ^ a b Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell Books, 1992), p. 143.
  6. ^
    ISBN 3-8053-2310-7
    , pp. 76–77.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978 90 04 11385 5
    , p. 30.
  8. ^ a b c Labib Habachi: "God's fathers and the role they played in the history of the First Intermediate Period", ASAE 55, p. 167ff.
  9. ^ Labib Habachi: The Sanctuary of Hequaib, Mainz 1985, photos of the statue: vol. II, pp. 187-89.
  10. ^ Louise Gestermann: Kontinuität und Wandel in Politik und Verwaltung des frühen Mittleren Reiches in Ägypten, Wiesbaden 1987, p. 26.
  11. ^ The name is preserved only on an old drawing of Émile Prisse d'Avennes, see Habachi, Figure 4.
Preceded by
As nomarch of Thebes:
Intef the Elder
 Pharaoh of Egypt
Eleventh Dynasty 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mentuhotep_I&oldid=1200089204"