Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre
ca 2088 –2070 BC Winlock
ca. 2066-2014 BC Dodson
Horus name: Zematawy
Nebty name: Zematawy
Golden Falcon name: Qaishuti
Prenomen: Nebhetepre
Nomen: Mentuhotep
Burial place: Thebes (Deir el-Bahari)
Son of Inyotef III and Iah. Winlock has Nebhepetre as the son of a
king named Se’ankh-ib-tawy Mentuhotep. This king does not appear in any
of the other sources for as far as I known.
Wives:
- Amunet Buried in the temple precinct of the temple at
Deir
el-Bahari.
- As:
A concubine
mentioned in the inscriptions of the temple at Deir el-Bahari
- Ashayet Buried in tomb
DBXI.17 within the mortuary temple of her husband. Her sarcophagus and
mummy are in the Cairo museum.
- Henhenet. Buried in tomb
DBXI.15 within the mortuary temple of her husband. Died in child-birth.
- Kawit Buried in
tomb
DBXI.9 within the mortuary temple of her husband.
- Kemsit. Buried in
TT308. Title given as "sole adornment of the king" (Porter&Moss)
- Ment:
Royal Lady
mentioned on bandages of Amunet
- Neferu
II, Daughter
of Inyotef III and Iah, sister-wife of Mentuhotep II. Buried in TT319
at Deir-el-Bahari.
- Ten-net:
Royal Lady
mentioned on bandages of Amunet
- Sadhe. Buried in tomb
DBXI.7 within the mortuary temple of her husband.
- Tem, Mother of
Mentuhotep III. Buried in tomb DBXI.15 within the mortuary temple of
her husband.
Ashayet,
Henhenet, Sadhe, Kawit and Kemsit were Prophetesses of Hathor.
Scene from the sarcophagus of Ashayet
The Thinite nome had been lost, and war
must have
broken out fairly soon after Nebhepetre took the throne. Eventually
Nebhepetre
would unite the Two Lands and would become King of Upper and Lower
Egypt.
Daughter:
- Ioh ?, King’s
daughter of his body, Prophetess of Hathor. A temple relief in the
British museum (EA 1819) shows a king wearing the white crown followed
by the king's daughter Ioh. This scene probably dates to the time of
Mentuhotep II and the lady is thought by some to be his daughter. (Topological bibliography - Reliefs and
Paintings by Malek)
Building
program:
Abydos: Two red granite
altars were apparently added to the shrine of Osiris erected by Pepi
some 250
years earlier.
Deir
el-Bahari: Nebhepetre
Montuhotep erected a temple here which would later serve as an
inspiration for the
famous temple of Hatshepsut.
There were some 22 graves in the temple. One tomb belonged to Si-Iah,
son of Renoker. Another pit belonged to the treasurer Mentuhotep,
called Bewau. A prince named Intef was buried just outside the northern
court.
Several women were buried within the temple precint as well. They
include the King's Favorite Amunet, whose body was tattooed. Her
bandages not only mentioned King Mentuhotep, but also his daughter Ideh
and his ladies Ment, Ten-net and Tem.
Amunet and another concubine named As were depicted in the temple
reliefs.
One other royal family member was buried in the northern cliffs: the
Princess, the king's eldest daughter of his body, the King's Wife
Neferu,
born of Iah.
Scene from the temple of Mentuhotep (from the metmuseum).
Their description of this scene:
"During his reign, he constructed an innovative mortuary
complex that included a terraced temple with porticoes set against the
desert cliffs
of western Thebes. The temple was decorated with scenes executed in
superbly carved relief painted in brilliant colors. In this detail of a
well-preserved fragment, the king is shown wearing the white crown of
Upper Egypt, a broad collar of blue and green beads, and a false beard
attached by the strap
visible along his jawline. This is not the straight beard of the living
king but the curving divine beard indicating that he has joined the
ranks
of the gods. The name Mentuhotep ("Montu [a local Theban god] is
satisfied")
is enclosed in the oval-shaped cartouche in front of his face, and his
Horus
name, Sematawy ("Uniter of the Two Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt]"), is
seen
at the top of the rectangular device—known as a serekh—next to the
cartouche."
Deir
el-Ballas: A shrine was
erected to some god.
Thebes: In Thebes were
the Montu and Osiris temples. A crude offering table was dedicated to
the Lord of Abydos and another altar showed the Nile gods.
A small chapel dedicted to the cult of king Nebhepetre Mentuhotep was
probably ancilliary to the main middle kingdom temple (of Hathor).
Tod: A fifth dynasty
chapel dedicated to the Bull of Montu existed at this site and was
rebuilt for the hawk-headed god Montu and his wife the goddess Tenenet.
The chapel was some 17 x 23 meters and made of sandstone and limestone.
It contained a red granite statue. The chapel wall had scenes showing
the King before Montu, Satet, nekhbet and Neith of Sais or before Montu
and his wife Tenenet.
Officials from this time period
Bebi, The King's
Confidant and Overseer of the Treasury, probably later Vizier.
Dagi: The Prince,
Count, Royal Chancellor, Treasurer, Super-intendant of the Pyramid city
and later Vizier. Buried in the Deir el-Bahari Valley.
Djar, king's guard of
the inner palace. (TT366). Same as super-intendant of the harem?, Djar?
Harhotep: Treasurer.
Buried
near Khety, Ipi and Meru.
Henenu, Great steward.
(TT313).
Intef, son of Mayet. Prince and
Count,
Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt.
Ipi, Governor of
the
town and Vizier, Judge. (TT315).
Ipyet: Treasurer
mentioned in the temple of Mentohotep Nebhepetre.
Kereri: Treasurer
mentioned in the temple of Mentohotep Nebhepetre.
Khety, born of Sitre, chancellor (of
the king of Lower Egypt). Shown before Antef III and Queen Ioh, as well
as
before Mentuhotep Nebhepetre and his mother Queen Ioh.
Same as?: Khety, Treasurer of the King of Lower Egypt TT311
Khnum-erdu: Steaward of
Neferu-kayet, the King's favorite, Heiress of the South, the daughter
of a king and beloved wife of a King. Queen Neferu-kayet may be
identical to Queen Neferu. Nefreu-kayet inherited from her mother large
fortune which made her "chief of the people from Elephantine as far as
Aphroditopolis"
Meru, Overseer of
sealers (Treasurers) (TT240) Son of Iku and Nebti. The tomb contained a
stela from year 46 of Mentuhotep-Nebhepetre.
Mery-teti, count,
controller
in the Eastern Heliopolitan Nome, the royal confidant in Abydos.
Mesi: Treasurer
mentioned in the temple of Mentohotep Nebhepetre.
Nakhte: Treasurer
mentioned in the temple of Mentohotep Nebhepetre.
Neheri, Nomarch of
Hermopolis, Vizier and Commander of one of the two Herakleopolitan
divisions. His son Kay also played a role in government. (From Virtual
Egyptian Museum).Yertisen, sculptor, born
of Idet Yertisen and his wife Hepu are shown with their sons Senwosret,
Mentuhotep and Simontu, and their daughter Kem (and her son Tem-nen)
Bibliography
- Breasted,
J.H., Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol I, The First through the
Seventeenth Dynasties, 2001 (originally appeared in 1906)
- Dodson, A.,
Hilton, D., The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames &
Hudson, 2004.
- Wilkinson
R.H., The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, 2000.
- Winlock,
H.E., The Eleventh Egyptian Dynasty, JNES, 1943
- http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/chronology/mentuhotepII.html
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