26 Facts About Mentuhotep II

Mentuhotep II, known under his prenomen Nebhepetre, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty.

Mentuhotep II is credited with reuniting Egypt, thus ending the turbulent First Intermediate Period and becoming the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom.

Mentuhotep II reigned for 51 years, according to the Turin King List.

Mentuhotep II ascended Egypt's throne in the Upper Egyptian city of Thebes during the First Intermediate Period.

Mentuhotep II created new governmental posts whose occupants were Theban men loyal to him, giving the pharaoh more control over his country.

Mentuhotep II was buried at the Theban necropolis of Deir el-Bahari.

Mentuhotep II's temple inspired several later temples, such as those of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Some depictions of Mentuhotep II seem to indicate that he suffered from elephantiasis, resulting in swollen legs.

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.

Mentuhotep II is considered to be the first ruler of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

When he ascended the Theban throne, Mentuhotep II inherited the vast land conquered by his predecessors from the first cataract in the south to Abydos and Tjebu in the north.

The 14th year of Mentuhotep II's reign is indeed named Year of the crime of Thinis.

Mentuhotep II launched military campaigns under the command of his vizier Khety south into Nubia, which had gained its independence during the First Intermediate Period, in his 29th and 31st years of reign.

In particular, Mentuhotep II posted a garrison on the island fortress of Elephantine so troops could rapidly be deployed southwards.

Mentuhotep II's treasurer was Kheti who was involved in organising the sed festival for the king.

Mentuhotep II changed his titulary twice during his reign: the first time in his 14th regnal year, marking the initial successes of his campaign against Herakleopolis Magna to the north.

In general, the titularies of Mentuhotep II show a desire to return to the traditions of the Old Kingdom.

Mentuhotep II commanded the construction of many temples though few survive to this day.

In doing so, Mentuhotep II followed a tradition started by his grandfather Intef II: royal building activities in the provincial temples of Upper Egypt began under Intef II and lasted throughout the Middle Kingdom.

However, the most profound innovations of Mentuhotep II's temple are not architectural but religious.

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.

Consequently, and until the construction of the Djeser-Djeseru some five centuries later, Mentuhotep II's temple was the final destination of the barque of Amun during the festival.

Mentuhotep II was the first to undertake a systematic exploration of the temple.

Mentuhotep II 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.

Mentuhotep II's immortality is no longer innate; it has to be bestowed on him by the gods.