Mentuhotep II
Mentuhotep II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | 2060–2009 BC[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Intef III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Mentuhotep III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | Tem, Neferu II, Ashayet, Henhenet, Kawit, Kemsit, Sadeh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | Mentuhotep III, Mayet(?) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Father | Intef III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mother | Iah | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 2009 BC ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burial | mortuary temple at Deir-el-Bahri | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | 11th Dynasty |
Mentuhotep II (
Mentuhotep II ascended Egypt’s throne in the
Following the unification, Mentuhotep II reformed Egypt's government. To reverse the decentralization of power, which contributed to the collapse of the
Mentuhotep II was buried at the Theban necropolis of Deir el-Bahari. His mortuary temple was one of Mentuhotep II’s most ambitious building-projects, and included several architectural and religious innovations. For example, it included terraces and covered walkways around the central structure, and it was the first mortuary temple that identified the pharaoh with the god Osiris. His temple inspired several later temples, such as those of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty.[9] Some depictions of Mentuhotep II seem to indicate that he suffered from elephantiasis, resulting in swollen legs.[10][11]
Family
Mentuhotep II was the son of Intef III and Intef III's wife Iah who may also have been his sister. This lineage is demonstrated by the stele of Henenu (Cairo 36346), an official who served under Intef II, Intef III and his son, which the stele identifies as Horus s-ankh-[ib-t3wy],[12][13] Mentuhotep II's first Horus name. As for Iah, she bore the title of mwt-nswt, "King's mother".[14] The parentage of Mentuhotep II is also indirectly confirmed by a relief at Shatt er-Rigal. Some scholars have suggested that Mentuhotep II was of Nubian origin. Specifically, Wildung and Lobban have argued that Egyptian iconography represented Mentuhotep II with pronounced, Nubian facial features. Crawford noted that the rulers of the 11th dynasty were based in the Theban or southern region of Upper Egypt and had close relations with Nubia.[15][16][17] Mentuhotep II had many wives who were buried with him in or close to his mortuary temple:[18]
- Neferu II ("The beautiful") was called "King's wife" and ḥmt-nswt-mryt.f, "King's wife, his beloved". She might have been Mentuhotep II's sister since she also bore the titles of sȝt-nswt-šmswt-nt-ẖt.f, "Eldest king daughter of his body", jrjt-pˁt, "hereditary princess" and ḥmwt-nbwt, "mistress of all women". She was buried in the tomb TT319 of Deir el-Bahri.
- She was buried under the terrace of Mentuhotep II's mortuary temple where E. Naville uncovered her sarcophagus in 1907.
- Sadeh, Ashayet, Henhenet and Kemsit were all Mentuhotep II's secondary wives. They bore the title of ḥmt-nswt mryt.f "King's wife, his beloved" and ẖkrt-nswt-wˁtit "Unique embellishment of the King". They were priestesses of Hathor[25] and each of them was buried in a single pit dug under the terrace of Mentuhotep II's temple.[26][27] Note that an alternative theory holds that Henhenet was one of Intef III's secondary wives, possibly the mother of Neferu II. Henhenet might have died in childbirth.
- Mwyt, a five year-old girl buried with Mentuhotep II's secondary wives. She is most likely one of his daughters.
Reign
Mentuhotep II is considered to be the first ruler of the
Early reign
When he ascended the Theban throne, Mentuhotep II inherited the vast land conquered by his predecessors from the
Reunification of Egypt
In the 14th year of his reign, an uprising occurred in the north. This uprising is most probably connected with the ongoing conflict between Mentuhotep II based in
Following the reunification, Mentuhotep II was considered by his subjects to be divine, or half divine. This was still the case during the late
Military activities outside Egypt
Mentuhotep II launched military campaigns under the command of his vizier Khety south into
Officials
The king reorganized the country and placed a vizier at the head of the administration. The viziers of his reign were Bebi and Dagi. His treasurer was Kheti who was involved in organising the sed festival for the king. Other important officials were the treasurer Meketre and the overseer of sealers Meru. His general was Intef.
Reorganization of the government
Throughout the First Intermediate Period and until Mentuhotep II's reign, the
Mentuhotep also relied on a mobile force of royal court officials who further controlled the deeds of the nomarchs.[33] Finally, the nomarchs who supported the 10th Dynasty, such as the governor of Asyut, certainly lost their power to the profit of the king. In the meantime, Mentuhotep II started an extensive program of self-deification emphasizing the divine nature of the ruler.[33]
Titulary
Mentuhotep II's self-deification program is evident from temples he built where he is represented wearing the headgear of Min and Amun. But perhaps the best evidence for this policy is his three titularies: his second Horus and Nebty names were The divine one of the white crown while he is also referred to as the son of Hathor at the end of his reign.
Mentuhotep II changed his titulary twice during his reign:
First titulary |
Second titulary |
Third titulary
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Horus name
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S.ˁnḫ-ib-tȝwy "Horus, he who invigorates the heart of the two lands" |
Nṯrj-ḥḏt "The divine one of the white crown" |
Smˁ-tȝ.w(j) "He who unifies the two lands" | ||||||||||||||
Nebty name
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Nṯrj-ḥḏt "The divine one of the white crown" |
Smˁ-tȝ.w(j) "He who unifies the two lands" | |||||||||||||||
Golden Horus name
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Bjk-nbw-qȝ-šwtj "The Golden Falcon, lofty in plumes" | ||||||||||||||||
Prenomen
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Nb-ḥpt-Rˁ "The Lord of the rudder is Re" |
Nb-ḥpt-Rˁ "The Lord of the rudder is Re" | |||||||||||||||
Nomen
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Mn-ṯw-ḥtp "Montu is satisfied" |
Mn-ṯw-ḥtp "Montu is satisfied" |
Mn-ṯw-ḥtp "Montu is satisfied" |
In general, the titularies of Mentuhotep II show a desire to return to the traditions of the Old Kingdom. In particular he adopted the complete five-fold titulary after his reunification of Egypt, seemingly for the first time since the 6th Dynasty, though known records are sparse for much of the First Intermediate Period that preceded him. Another proof that Mentuhotep II paid great attention to the traditions of the Old Kingdom is his second Nomen, sometimes found as
This reference to Hathor rather than Re is similar to the titulary of
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Monuments
Mentuhotep II commanded the construction of many temples though few survive to this day. In doing so, Mentuhotep followed a tradition started by his grandfather
Abydos
At Abydos, a well preserved funerary chapel called the Mahat chapel was found in 2014.
Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep II in hieroglyphs | |||||||||||||||
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3ḫ-swt-nb-ḥpt-Rˁ AkhsutnebhepetRe "Transfigured are the places of Nebhepetre" | |||||||||||||||
3ḫ-swt-Jmn Akhsutamun "Transfigured are the places of Amun"[37] | |||||||||||||||
Mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II
Mentuhotep II's most ambitious and innovative building project remains his large mortuary temple at
However, the most profound innovations of Mentuhotep II's temple are not architectural but religious. First, it is the earliest mortuary temple where the king is not just the recipient of offerings but rather enacts ceremonies for the deities (in this case Amun-Ra).[39] Second, the temple identifies the king with Osiris. Indeed, the decoration and royal statuary of the temple emphasizes the Osirian aspects of the dead ruler, an ideology apparent in the funerary statuary of many later pharaohs.[40]
Finally, most of the temple decoration is the work of local Theban artists. This is evidenced by the dominant artistic style of the temple which represents people with large lips and eyes and thin bodies.[41] At the opposite, the refined chapels of Mentuhotep II's wives are certainly due to Memphite craftsmen who were heavily influenced by the standards and conventions of the Old Kingdom. This phenomenon of fragmentation of the artistic styles is observed throughout the First Intermediate Period and is a direct consequence of the political fragmentation of the country.[41]
Situation
The temple is located in the cliff at
Discovery and excavations
In the early 19th century, the ruins of the temple of Mentuhotep II were completely covered with debris. They consequently went unnoticed until the second half of the century, in spite of extensive excavations performed on the nearby
The next important excavation works took place from 1903 to 1907 under the direction of Henri Édouard Naville, who worked there on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund. He was the first to undertake a systematic exploration of the temple. About ten years later, between 1920 and 1931, Herbert E. Winlock further excavated the temple for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. However, his results were published only in the form of preliminary reports in summary form.[46] Finally, from 1967 to 1971, Dieter Arnold conducted research on the site on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute. He published his results in three volumes.[47]
Foundational offerings
Under the four corners of the temple terrace, H. Winlock discovered four pits during his 1921–1922 excavations. These pits were dug into the ground before the construction of the temple for the purpose of foundation rituals. Indeed, when H. Winlock discovered them, they still contained many offerings: a cattle skull, pitchers and bowls filled with fruits, barley and bread and a mud brick bearing Mentuhotep II's name.[48]
Further excavations of the pits undertaken in 1970 by Dieter Arnold revealed more food offerings such as bread and beef ribs, but also some bronze objects, a faience scepter and sheets of fabric. The sheets were marked in red ink at the corner, seven with the name of Mentuhotep II and three with that of Intef II.[49]
Architecture
Causeway and courtyard
Similarly to the mortuary complexes of the Old Kingdom, Mentuhotep II's mortuary complex comprised two temples: the high temple of Deir el-Bahri and a valley temple located closer to the Nile on cultivated lands. The valley temple was linked to the high temple by a 1.2 km long and 46 m wide uncovered causeway. The causeway led to a large courtyard in front of the Deir el-Bahri temple.
The courtyard was adorned by a long rectangular flower bed, with fifty-five
Left and right of the processional walkway were at least 22 seated statues of Mentuhotep II wearing, on the south side, the White Crown of Upper Egypt and on the north side the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. These were probably added to the temple for the celebration of Mentuhotep II's Sed festival during his 39th year on the throne.[52] Some headless sandstone statues are still on site today. Another was discovered in 1921 during Herbert Winlock's excavations and is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[53]
Front part of the temple
West of the causeway is the main temple, which consisted of two parts. The front part of the temple is dedicated to Monthu-Ra, a merger of the sun god
On the temple terrace, a 60-metre-wide, 43-metre-deep and 5-metre-high podium supports the upper hall surrounding an ambulatory and the core building. The ambulatory, separated from the upper hall by a 5-cubit-thick wall, comprised a total of 140 octagonal columns disposed in three rows.[56] For most of these columns, only the base is still visible today.[57]
The courtyard of the ambulatory was completely filled by the core building, a massive 22 m large and 11 m high construction. This edifice, located at the center of the temple complex, was excavated in 1904 and 1905 by Edouard Naville. He reconstructed it as a square structure topped by a small pyramid, a representation of the primeval mount which possibly resembled the superstructures of the royal tombs at Abydos. This reconstruction, supported by H. E. Winlock, was contested by D. Arnold, who argued that, for structural reasons, the temple could not have supported the weight of a small pyramid. Instead, he proposed that the edifice was flat-roofed.[58]
Rear part of the temple
Behind the core edifice was the center of the cult for the deified king. The rear part of the temple was cut directly into the cliff and consisted of an open courtyard, a pillared hall with 82 octagonal columns and a chapel for a statue of the king.[59] This part of the temple was dedicated to Amun-Ra.
The open courtyard is flanked on the north and south sides by a row of five columns and on the east side by a double row totalling sixteen columns. At the center of the open courtyard lies a deep dromos leading to the royal tomb. Archaeological finds in this part of the temple include a limestone altar, a granite stele and six granite statues of Senusret III.[60] To the west, the courtyard leads to the hypostyle hall with its ten rows of eight columns each, plus two additional columns on both sides of the entrance. The hypostyle hall is separated from the courtyard by a wall and, being also higher, is accessed via a small ramp.[61]
On the west end of the hypostyle hall lies the holiest place of the temple, a sanctuary dedicated to Mentuhotep and Amun-Ra leading to a small
In the Old Kingdom, the king had been the lord of the pyramid complex, [...] now he is reduced to a human ruler dependent on the gods' goodwill. His immortality is no longer innate; it has to be bestowed on him by the gods..[64]
Royal tomb
As mentioned above, the open courtyard of the rear part of the temple presents a dromos in its center. This dromos, a 150 m long straight corridor, leads down to a large underground chamber 45 m below the court which is undoubtedly the tomb of the king. This chamber is entirely lined with red granite and has a pointed roof. It contained an alabaster chapel in the form of an Upper-Egyptian Per-wer sanctuary.[65] This chapel was once closed by a double door now missing. It contained a wooden coffin and ointment vessels which left traces in the ground. Most of the grave goods that must have been deposited there are long gone as a result of the tomb plundering. The few remaining items were a scepter, several arrows, and a collection of models including ships, granaries and bakeries.[66]
Gallery
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Head statue of Mentuhotep II originally in Thebes, now on display in the Museo Gregoriano Egiziano, Vatican.
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Mentuhotep II receives offering,Musée du Louvre.
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Cylinder seals of Mentuhotep II,Musée du Louvre.
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Mentuhotep II's cartouche on the Abydos king list.
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Aerial view of Mentuhotep II's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari.
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Shade-bearer of Neferu, Mentuhotep II's royal wife, in the typical regional artistic style of the 11th Dynasty.
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Model of granary from Mentuhotep II's tomb
References
- ISBN 0-7864-2562-8.
- ^ Alan H. Gardiner: The royal canon of Turin.
- ^ "Ancient Egypt - Dynasty XI". www.narmer.pl.
- ISBN 0-500-28628-0
- ^ a b "The Ancient Egypt Site". www.ancient-egypt.org.
- ^ a b Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom, p. 19
- JSTOR 3793107.
- ^ OCLC 34552368.
- ^ ISBN 9780191604621.
- ^ "History of Parasitology". Cairo University Parasitology Department. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Statue of King Mentuhotep II in the Jubilee Garment (c. 2051-2000 B.C.) From Thebes, Deir el-Bahri". Research Gate. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Clere, J.J.; Vandier, J. Textes de la premiere periode intermediaire et de la XIeme dynasty. Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca X. Vol. 1.
Complete Stele on p. 21
- ^ Gauthier, Henri (1906). "Quelques remarques sur la XIe dynastie". BIFAO (5): 39.
- ISBN 0-500-05145-3.
- ^ Wildung, D. About the autonomy of the arts of ancient Sudan. In M. Honegger (Ed.), Nubian archaeology in the XXIst Century. Peeters Publishers. pp. 105–112.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6578-5.
- S2CID 238718279.
- ^ Dodson, Aidan Marc; Hilton, Dyan (February 2010) [September 2004]. The complete royal families of ancient Egypt. London, UK: Thames and Hudson.
- ^ Roth, Silke (2001). Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende der 12. Dynastie. Wiesbaden, DE: Otto Harrassowitz.
- ^ "Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Web Site - deir_el_bahri_068".
- ^ Arnold, Dieter (1974). Der Tempel des Königs Mentuhotep von Deir el-Bahari. Mainz, DE: Philipp von Zabern.
3 vols.
- ^ "Sarcophagus of Kawit". Wikimedia Commons.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-4988-4– via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-90-04-17197-8.
- ^ Callender. Shaw, Ian (ed.). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. p. 141.
- ^ "Sarcophagus of Henhenet". Metropolitan Museum.
- ^ "Shrine of Henhenet". Metropolitan Museum.
- ^ Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 139.
- ^ a b c Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 140.
- ^ M. Collier, B. Manley and R. Parkinson; How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself
- ^ 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, 19, 2008, ISSN 1120-5679, pp. 129–134
- ^ Callender, In Ian Shaw (edit.), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 140-141.
- ^ a b Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 140-141.
- ^ , Callender, In Ian Shaw (edit.), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 141.
- ^ Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.): The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt p.127
- ^ Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom, p. 20-21
- ^ Dieter Arnold Mentuhotep. vol. 2, p.90.
- ^ a b Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.): The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p. 142–143
- ISBN 0-8014-3399-1 [1]
- ^ "Search results for "osiride statue" - Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org.
- ^ a b Callender, In: Ian Shaw (edit.): The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt p. 144
- ISBN 0-8014-3399-1 [2]
- ^ After Hatchepsut's reign, the barque of Amun visited all the royal cult complexes on the west bank that were still in activity.
- ^ "Discovery of Bab el-Hosan". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
- ^ "Mentuhotep II, The Gateof the Horseman". ib205.tripod.com.
- ^ D. Arnold: Mentuhotep. vol. 1, p. 70f.
- ^ D. Arnold: Der Tempel des Königs Mentuhotep in Deir el-Bahari. 3 vols.
- ^ Dieter Arnold: The Temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el-Bahri, p. 49 ff, Dieter Arnold: Dictionary of Egyptian architecture p. 95f
- ^ Dieter. Arnold, Mentuhotep vol 3, p. 52
- ^ Winlock quote after Dieter Arnold, The Temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el Bahari 1979 p. 21ff
- ^ Robichon-Varille quote after Dieter Arnold, The Temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el Bahari 1979 p. 21
- ISBN 0-8014-3399-1
- ^ T. Kühn, Der königliche Tempel- und Grabbezirk Mentu-hotep II. in Deir el-Bahari p. 21
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep vol. 1, p. 16f
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep vol. 1, p. 11
- ^ Similar to the column of Intef II in Karnak
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep. vol. 1, p. 16f
- ^ Dieter Arnold: Mentuhotep vol. 1, p. 27ff.; Dieter Arnold: Lexikon der Baukunst p. 159, and Höveler-Müller Am Anfang war Ägypten p. 142.
- ISBN 0-8014-3399-1 [3]
- ^ Dieter Arnold: Mentuhotep. vol. 1, p. 33.
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep vol. 1, p. 34f.
- ^ Dieter Arnold,Mentuhotep vol. 3, p. 15
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep vol. 3, p. 33f
- ISBN 0-8014-3399-1 [4]
- ISBN 1-86064-465-1
- ^ Dieter Arnold, Mentuhotep vol. 1, p. 44
Further reading
- Gae Callender: The Middle Kingdom Renaissance, In: Ian Shaw (edit.): The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, ISBN 0-19-815034-2, pp. 148–183
- W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History, Archaeology and Society, Duckworth, London 2006 ISBN 0-7156-3435-6, 18-23
- Habachi, Labib 1963. King Nebhepetre Menthuhotp: his monuments, place in history, deification and unusual representation in the form of gods. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 19, 16-52.
External links
Media related to Mentuhotep II at Wikimedia Commons