Montuhotep II

Egyptian pharaoh (r. 2055-2004 b.c.e.)

• Born: fl. 2055-2004 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Egypt

Montuhotep II reunited Egypt after the First Intermediate Period and founded the Middle Kingdom Period.

Early Life

Not much is known about the early life of Montuhotep (MON-tew-hoh-tehp) II. He succeeded Intef III (r. 2063-2055 b.c.e.), whose son or heir he may have been. Montuhotep’s family apparently was centered in Thebes; his name, Montuhotep (“Montu is content”), refers to Montu, the Theban god of war. Montuhotep’s wives included Tem, his principal wife and the mother of his successor, Montuhotep III (Sankhkara).

Life’s Work

On gaining the throne, Montuhotep II took as his first throne name “He who gives the Breath of Life into the Heart of the Two Lands” (that is, Upper and Lower Egypt), thus revealing his ambition to rule all of Egypt, though at this time he controlled only the area from the First Cataract up to the tenth nome (province) of Upper Egypt. Nonetheless, for about fourteen years an uneasy peace was maintained between Montuhotep II and the rulers of Lower Egypt. Although details are not clear, it is thought that the revolt of the Thinite nome in Lower Egypt against its ruler enabled Montuhotep to invade Lower Egypt. That his invasion was resisted strongly is evidenced by some sixty of his soldiers who are buried in a common tomb near Montuhotep’s mortuary complex; it is thought that this location of honor may celebrate their heroism in his conquest of Lower Egypt.

The subsequent death of the ruler of Lower Egypt, Merykara, assisted Montuhotep’s conquest of Lower Egypt. He celebrated his victory by taking a new title: Netjerihedjet (“The Wearer of the White Crown of Upper Egypt Is Divine”). References to fighting in the period after this reconquest indicate that pacification of Lower Egypt took some time. Gradually, however, peace and prosperity increased throughout the reunited land and in the thirty-ninth year of his long reign, Montuhotep took again a new title, Sematawy (“He Who Unites the Two Lands”).

Once he had become ruler of all Egypt, Montuhotep made a number of administrative changes. Although Memphis was the traditional capital of the unified ancient Egypt, Montuhotep instead chose as his capital Thebes, the hometown of his dynasty. Montuhotep appointed mostly Theban men as his officials. To ensure the continued loyalty of the provincial governors (nomarchs) of Lower Egypt, Montuhotep created the office of “governor of Lower Egypt.” Moreover, Montuhotep removed certain nomarchs, presumably for their support of the former king, Merykara. Montuhotep monitored the loyalty and effectiveness of his nomarchs by regularly traveling to the various nomes. The names and duties of some of Montuhotep’s administrators are known. Meru, who held the position of chancellor, controlled the border territory of the eastern desert and its oases. Henenu, who held the position of steward (“overseer of horn, hoof, feather, and scale”), also traveled to Lebanon to acquire cedar for Montuhotep’s building projects. Khety, who had been a steward of Intef III, was in charge of the patrols of the Sinai border.

During this time Montuhotep was active in asserting Egypt’s power and prestige abroad. He led several invasions into Nubia, which had reverted to native rulers during the last years of the Old Kingdom. He was able to regain some mines and caravan trading routes by conquering Kurkur and ultimately occupied northern Nubia as far as the Second Cataract by establishing a garrison at Elephantine. To protect his western and eastern borders, Montuhotep led military campaigns against the Libyans and the nomads of the Sinai Peninsula.

Montuhotep reasserted the cult of the ruler as part of his strategy to enhance his reputation among his contemporaries and sustain his assumption of power. Two inscriptions describe him as the “son of the goddess Hathor,” and he is depicted in some reliefs with the crowns of the gods Min and Amen. His Horus name, Netjerihedjet, and details of his funerary complex at Deir el-Bahri suggest that he presented himself as a god. Also, as part of this strategy, Montuhotep carried out extensive restorations or building projects in Upper Egypt at the sites of Deir el-Ballas, Dendera, Elkab, Gebelin, and Abydos. So far, no building site of Montuhotep in Lower Egypt has been identified.

Montuhotep selected as his burial site the valley basin called Deir el-Bahri, which is on the western bank of the Nile opposite Thebes. His well-preserved funerary complex at Deir el-Bahri is oriented east and west along the path of daily rebirth and death of the sun god Ra and was built in four stages. In the first stage, the entrances to the burial chambers for Montuhotep and his wives were out in the open air, but the second stage saw the construction of his burial chamber somewhat westward. In the third stage, a huge platform was constructed with a solid central core 86 feet (22 meters) square. Early modern reconstructions of the complex imagined that a pyramid surmounted this core.

Currently, it is thought that the top of the core was level and represented the primordial mound of creation in Egyptian mythology. Surrounding this core was an ambulatory of a triple row of octagonal sandstone columns that were, in turn, enclosed by a thick wall of limestone blocks. In the back of the ambulatory, cut into the cliffs, was the rear section of the complex. Extending westward (in the direction of the setting sun and hence symbolizing the afterlife) was an open courtyard, with pillared porticoes on all but the western side. Here, in the final stage of construction, was the entrance of the king’s burial chamber in the form of a corridor running underground 490 feet (150 meters) into the cliff and terminating in a granite-lined chamber that held a shrine made of calcite. Above this chamber was a hall of ten rows of eight columns. A larger-than-life-size statue of the king stood in a niche in the middle of the western wall. During the fourth stage, the complex was made more impressive by additional colonnades and walls that protected the complex from rock and debris falling from the cliff. Statues of Montuhotep may have been placed along the inner sides of the inner walls. Other statues of the king, depicting him either standing or seated, were placed along the processional way of the forecourt between trees planted in deep beds. Those statues still extant show the king wrapped in the knee-length sed-festival cloak, holding the crook and flail of kingship in his hands crossed on his chest. Statues on the south side wore the white crown of Upper (southern) Egypt; those on the north side the red crown of Lower (northern) Egypt. On the front part of the temple’s terrace were images of Montu and Amen, deities that Montuhotep identified with himself.

The design of this complex did not follow the mortuary temple plans of the Old Kingdom, but more probably drew on traditional Theban tombs, which also had large forecourts. The rock-cut tombs of Thebes also had pillared façades. Montuhotep did use, however, the traditional themes of the royal burials in the brightly painted reliefs that adorned the temple. These themes present, symbolically, the king as the restorer of order over chaos. Montuhotep spears hippos in the swamps, hunts desert animals, and defeats enemies in battle. He is also shown embraced by various deities and performing cult rituals. In another scene Montuhotep sits on his throne, which is adorned by the sema-tawy motif (the union of Upper and Lower Egypt), while the deities Seth and Nekhbet of Upper Egypt and Horus and Wadjit of Lower Egypt hand him the symbol of “millions of years.” Montuhotep II reigned fifty-one years. He was succeeded by his second son, Montuhotep III.

Significance

The unique plan of Montuhotep’s mortuary temple was the inspiration for the basic plan of the mortuary complex of Hatshepsut (c. 1525-c. 1482 b.c.e.) that was built adjacent to it at Deir el-Bahri. His unification of Upper and Lower Egypt restored peace and prosperity and resulted in a resurgence of art, literature, and architecture of such high quality that the Middle Kingdom is generally considered the high point of Egyptian civilization.

Kings of the Eleventh Dynasty (all Egypt)

2055-2004

• Montuhotep II (Nebhepetra)

2004-1992

• Montuhotep III (Sankhkara)

1992-1985

• Montuhotep IV (Nebtawyra)

Bibliography

Grimal, Nicolas. A History of Ancient Egypt. Boston: Blackwell Publishers, 1995. Discusses Montuhotep’s reign within the overall political, cultural, and economic context of Egyptian history. Bibliography and index.

Habachi, Labib. “King Nebhetpetre Mentuhotpe: His Monuments, Place in History, Deification, and Unusual Representations in the Form of Gods.” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 19 (1963): 16-52. Examines in detail his monuments and artifacts, titularies, inscriptions, and iconography as king and as deity.

Kemp, Barry J. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. New York: Routledge, 1989. Examines city planning during the Middle Kingdom, including Thebes and Nubian forts, with detailed maps and plans. Bibliography and index.

Lichtheim, Miriam. The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Vol. 1 of Ancient Egyptian Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. Lichtheim’s translations are in clear English that give some idea of Egyptian style of phrasing. Each translation has a short preface describing the monument and aspects of the literary work and notes to the translation. The Middle Kingdom literature includes monumental inscriptions, coffin text, didactic literature, songs and hymns, and prose tales. Bibliography and indexes.

Parkinson, R. B., ed. and trans. Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Parkinson gives well-chosen selections from every kind of Middle Kingdom literature. His lucid translations include hymns, autobiographies, wisdom literature, etc., but also some “conversations ” between workers in tomb wall-paintings (line-drawing of these paintings accompany these texts) as our best examples of “every-day” speech. His discussion of types of Egyptian writing systems and literary genres are clear even to the non-expert. Bibliography.

Robins, Gay. The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997. Extensively illustrated mostly with color photos, this volume surveys Egyptian art and architecture and covers the Middle Kingdom in two chapters. Bibliography and index.

Shaw, Ian, ed. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. This well-illustrated volume provides detailed historical coverage of all of Egyptian history. The chapter on the Middle Kingdom (written by Gae Callender) examines in some detail the reign of Montuhotep II and includes information on Egyptian culture of the period.

Strudwick, Nigel, and Helen Strudwick. Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1999. An in-depth survey of the monuments of Thebes, from prehistory through the post-dynastic period, with numerous photos (many in color), maps, and plans. The authors also include information on religious festivals and life in the city. Bibliography and index.