General Notes

Pharoah of Egypt (XI Dynasty)

The fifth ruler of the 11th Dynasty was king Mentuhotep II the second (and probably oldest surviving) son of Montuhotep I and his queen Tem. His throne name was Sankhkare (picture below left) and he was probably a mature man when he entered office after the long reign of his father. Despite his short reign of a dozen years he has left remains telling about his deeds.
He seems to have been engaged in arts and buildings. Monuments of his are known from Abydos, Elkab, Armant, el-Tod, Elephantine and western Thebes. He strengthened the borders in the north against intruders from Asia and the Middle East and developed the Red Sea region by continuing quarrying projects along the connecting path at Wadi Hammamat.

When Mentuhotep II took over from his father he had a prosperous country to rule. The inner stability was solid and he could continue is fathers monuments and send an expedition of 3.000 men to the southern land Punt, going the path starting at Dendera through the mountains to the Red Sea. At western Thebes he erected a small temple to the god Horus on the ground where a sanctuary from the first dynasty once had stood. In its quite remote location it wasn't found until 1904. The complex is made of mud brick and had once an entry with pylons and surrounding walls. He began building his tomb near his father's gigantic monument at Deir el Bahri, but it was unfinished when he died and consists of a causeway and a sloping passageway stopping a bit into the rock. Graffiti inscriptions in the vicinity indicates that his last resting place still might be nearby.



Mentuhotep II's Horus temple at Western Thebes.
The entrance (yellow) with the pylons (red) and 
an open courtyard (grey) with a small sanctuary.

Considering the rather short time king Mentuhotep II had on the throne (twelve years) he must have been a very ambitious ruler with monuments built all over the country. Some of them were probably initiated by his predecessor and their artful decorations were usually of high artistic quality, an interest that he obviously adopted from his father.
In one of the few statues left of him (a head shown through his name at menu left) he is depicted (if it's a portrait) with a rather broad face and wearing the traditional headdress of the pharaoh - the nemes, a striped cloth which was worn exclusively by kings.