Ancient Egypt

Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre

ca 2088 –2070 BC Winlock
ca. 2066-2014 BC Dodson

Horus name: Djematawy
Nebty name: Djematawy
Golden Falcon name: Qaishuti
Prenomen: Nebhetepre
Nomen: Mentuhotep

Burial place: Thebes (Deir el-Bahari)

• Ment: Royal Lady mentioned on bandages of Amunet
• Ten-net: Royal Lady mentioned on bandages of Amunet

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.

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)

1. Breasted, J.H., Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol I, The First through the Seventeenth Dynasties, 2001 (originally appeared in 1906)
2. Dodson, A., Hilton, D., The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, 2004.
3. Wilkinson R.H., The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, 2000.
4. Winlock, H.E., The Eleventh Egyptian Dynasty, JNES, 1943
5. http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/chronology/mentuhotepII.html