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Mentuhotep II in hieroglyphs: Nebhepetre, the king who reunited Egypt
25 October 2026
Mentuhotep II's throne name is nb-ḥpt-rꜥ, Nebhepetre, "Ra is lord of the oar": the sun disc, a basket and an oar. His birth name, mn-ṯw-ḥtp, Mentuhotep, means "Montu is content", after the falcon-headed war god of Thebes.
He ruled from Thebes for 51 years, from about 2055 BC. Egypt had split in two, with rival kings at Herakleopolis in the north. Mentuhotep defeated them and reunited the country shortly before his 39th year, which Egyptologists count as the start of the Middle Kingdom.
An oar and a basket write Nebhepetre
The sun disc (N5) is Ra, at the top of the oval in his honour. The basket (V30) is nb, "lord". The oar (P8) here writes ḥpt, an oar or rudder. Read together, nb-ḥpt-rꜥ: "the lord of the oar is Ra", or "Ra is lord of the oar", the god who steers.
It is a short cartouche, and the long oar lying across it is unusual among throne names. On a worn wall, look for the basket under the sun with the oar beside it.
Montu leads the birth name
Mentuhotep begins with Montu, spelled with the game board (Y5) for mn, the water ripple (N35), the tethering rope (V13) for ṯ and the quail chick (G43) for w: mnṯw. Then the offering mat with a loaf (R4) writes ḥtp, "content", with the loaf (X1) and stool (Q3) as its last sounds.
Montu was the god of Thebes before Amun rose to take his place. Several kings of the 11th Dynasty bore the name, and the number II is a modern label. Older books spell it Montuhotep.
He changed his Horus name as the war went on
Mentuhotep took three Horus names. He began as Seankhibtawy, "he who gives life to the heart of the Two Lands". Around his 14th year, after the northern kings attacked the holy city of Abydos, he became Netjerihedjet, "divine one of the white crown", the crown of Upper Egypt, and sent his armies north.
Once the country was his, shortly before his 39th year, he took a third name: Sematawy, "he who unites the Two Lands". Read in order, the three names tell the story of the war. He then cut back the power of the provincial governors and campaigned in Nubia.
His temple at Deir el-Bahari came first
Mentuhotep built his tomb and temple at Deir el-Bahari, in a bay of the cliffs on the west bank at Thebes. The temple, Akh-sut-Nebhepetre, rose in terraces with colonnades and a planted garden, and his tomb was cut deep into the rock behind it. Five centuries later Hatshepsut built her own terraced temple right beside it, on the same plan, and Thutmose III added another between them.
Little of his temple stands, but its ruins lie next to Hatshepsut's, and many visitors walk past them. Near the temple, a tomb held the bodies of about 60 soldiers, probably killed in his wars.
A black-skinned statue guarded his empty tomb
In 1900 Howard Carter was riding in front of the temple when the ground gave way under his horse. Below lay a hidden chamber, now called Bab el-Hosan, "the gate of the horse". Inside was a seated sandstone statue of the king, wrapped in fine linen, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt and the short white robe of the jubilee. His skin is painted black, the colour of Osiris and of rebirth.
The statue is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, catalogue number JE 36195. Beside it in the chamber lay an empty coffin with no name. His real tomb lies deep under the temple itself.
Questions
Why is Mentuhotep II important?
He reunited Egypt after the First Intermediate Period, when it had been split between Thebes and Herakleopolis. His victory marks the start of the Middle Kingdom.
Why is Mentuhotep II's statue black?
Black was the colour of the fertile Nile mud, of Osiris and of rebirth. Painting the king black linked him with Osiris. Some scholars also suggest the family had Nubian roots.
How long did Mentuhotep II reign?
51 years, according to the Turin king list, from about 2055 to 2004 BC.
Glossary
- birth name
- The name a king was given at birth, written in the second cartouche after the title "son of Ra". Egyptologists also call it the nomen.
- cartouche
- An oval ring drawn around a royal name, a loop of rope tied at one end. Kings wrote their two main names in cartouches.
- coffin
- A box for the body, of wood or stone, often shaped like a person and painted with spells, names and gods. Rich burials nested several coffins inside a sarcophagus.
- dynasty
- A line of kings counted together, usually one family. Egyptologists number Egypt's kings in about 30 dynasties, following the priest Manetho.
- First Intermediate Period
- The years after the Old Kingdom, about 2160 to 2055 BC, when Egypt split between rival kings in Herakleopolis in the north and Thebes in the south.
- Horus name
- The oldest of a king's names, written in a serekh under the Horus falcon. It names the king as the god Horus on earth.
- Lower Egypt
- The north of Egypt, the flat Nile Delta from around Memphis to the sea. It is called lower because it is downstream.
- Middle Kingdom
- The age when Egypt was united again, about 2055 to 1650 BC. Its texts became the classic form of the language that later scribes copied.
- temple
- The house of a god, where priests served the god's statue. Temples for dead kings kept up their offerings after death.
- throne name
- The name a king took when he came to the throne, written in the first cartouche after the title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". Egyptologists also call it the prenomen.
- tomb
- A burial place: a pit, a mastaba, a pyramid or rooms cut into rock. Its chapel was where the family brought offerings.
- Upper Egypt
- The south of Egypt, the narrow Nile valley from around Memphis to Aswan. It is called upper because it is upstream.
People in this article
Where to see it
- Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el-Bahari) site
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo museum
- Abydos site
Sources
More to read
- Djedefre in hieroglyphs: Khufu's son and the first son of Ra Djedefre in hieroglyphics: his cartouche read sign by sign, the first king called "son of Ra", his pyramid at Abu Rawash and his name over Khufu's boat.
- Hemiunu in hieroglyphs: how to read the name and where to see them Hemiunu in hieroglyphics: read the signs in his name and learn about his tomb at Giza and seated statue in Hildesheim.
- Amenhotep son of Hapu in hieroglyphs: how to read the name and where to see them Amenhotep son of Hapu in hieroglyphics: read the six signs in his name and find an inscribed statue at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.