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Timeline › 11th Dynasty

Mentuhotep III c. 2004–1992 BC

Mentuhotep III, son of Mentuhotep II, reigned about twelve years. In his 8th year his steward Henenu led an expedition of 3,000 men through the Wadi Hammamat to the Red Sea and on to Punt, recorded in a rock inscription there. He built a temple on Thoth Hill in western Thebes and added to the temple of Montu at Medamud, where reliefs of him were found that are now in the Louvre.

Throne name: Sankhkare

sꜥnḫ-kꜣ-rꜥ: “He who makes the ka of Ra live”

Sign by sign

  1. Sun N5rꜥ The sun, the sun god Ra. Day.
  2. Folded cloth S29s The sound s.
  3. Ankh S34ꜥnḫ Life. To live.
  4. Raised arms D28kꜣ The ka, a person's life force.
Now draw this cartouche yourself

Birth name: Mentuhotep

mn-ṯw-ḥtp: “Montu is content”

Sign by sign

  1. Game board Y5mn To remain, to endure (as in Amun).
  2. Ripple of water N35n The sound n. Also means 'of, to'.
  3. Tethering rope V13ṯ The sound ṯ.
  4. Quail chick G43w The sound w. Also a plural ending.
  5. Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp Offering. Peace, to be content.
  6. Bread loaf X1t The sound t. Also the feminine ending.
  7. Stool Q3p The sound p.
Now draw this cartouche yourself

Where to see Mentuhotep III's name today

Museum

Louvre, Paris

The Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities, mostly in the Sully wing, holds a whole Old Kingdom tomb chapel, the cartouches of several kings on one sphinx and a painted stela you can read sign by sign. Champollion himself was its first curator.

Names of gods (Ra, Amun, Ptah) are written first out of respect, even when they are read later. Dates are approximate; we follow Ian Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000).