Mentuhotep II
The gradual reunification of Egypt was completed during the fifty-one-year-long reign of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II. As his power base increased, he enlarged and modified his funerary temple in his home city of Thebes and altered or augmented the spelling and epithets associated with his name (Grajetzki 2006: 19; Arnold 1969: 38-42). Accordingly the execution of the temple’s different stages and accompanying tombs of female family members can be approximately dated within his reign.
Six tombs constructed at the same time for priestesses of Hathor, four of whom bore the epithet ‘‘Royal Wife,’’ were among the earliest elements of Mentuhotep II’s funerary complex to be decorated, based both on their archaeological context and the early form of the king’s titulary (Grajetzki 2006: 18, note 28; Callender 2000: 153). Stylistically they represent a further elaboration upon the Dendera style. A relief from the tomb chapel of a priestess named Kemsit (figure 39.2) features exceedingly high, almost three-dimensional raised relief. She wears a dress, shawl, broad collar, and bracelets as she sniffs a jar of scented unguent. In all, six levels of relief were necessary to accommodate the complexity of her garment. A sophisticated accomplishment, all of this had to have been planned in advance, as layer after layer of limestone was cut back. Each tiny curl of her wig, each bead on her multi-strand broad collar, and each feather on her dress were separately carved. While the high raised relief and patterning are all present on material from Dendera, at no time do the Dendera artists achieve the intricacy and sculptural quality of the royal priestesses’ style at Thebes. The tombs of the priestesses were constructed when Mentuhotep II’s
Figure 39.2 London, BM 1450. Relief from the tomb of Kemsit, Dynasty 11, painted limestone. From Deir el Bahri. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
Struggle to increase his power base and reunify the country was in progress. Nevertheless, the quantity and quality of relief sculpture (including decorated sarcophagi) make it clear that a dedicated group of artists was supported by the growing power and wealth of Thebes and its leader. These tomb chapels were concealed when the precinct was expanded.
The tomb of Mentuhotep II’s chief queen, Neferu, located in the cliffs to the north of the main structure was decorated later than those of the Hathor priestesses (Arnold 1979b: 19, note 63). A fragment from the tomb with the Horus name Sema-ta(wy), ‘‘Uniter of the Two Lands,’’ suggests its construction took place following the king’s reunification of the country, no later than his thirty-ninth regnal year (Callender 2000: 152). Stylistically, the reliefs, carved in both raised and sunk relief, continue the style of the priestesses’ tombs with some noteworthy modifications. Raised relief is lower, and jewel-like incised detail is replaced by bolder, less fussy decoration. Also, a deliberate simplification and attenuation, most noticeable in limbs and facial features, replaces earlier attempts at naturalism. What makes the Neferu reliefs easily identifiable is their distinctive facial features including the exaggerated width of the eye with a pronounced downturned inner canthus and elongated cosmetic line widening at the tip, a large aquiline nose with a deep groove at the corner of the nostril, sharply delineated lips with squared off corners, and diagonally oriented ears with the disc-shaped ear-lobes balanced by a similar fleshiness at the top of the ear. Both the Neferu reliefs and the earlier priestesses’ reliefs share the elongated legs, high waist, and small heads that characterize post-Old Kingdom material. This would change in the next and last phase of Mentuhotep Il’s funerary temple construction, which features the final form of the king’s name.
The back walls of the colonnaded halls and the chapel at the rear of the king’s funerary temple were also relief-decorated. On the former the king overcomes enemies (Russmann 2001: 87), while more intimate scenes of the king received by the gods are depicted in the chapel. Typical of reliefs of the end of Mentuhotep II’s long reign, a relief fragment showing the king embraced by Montu, a local god associated with war (figure 39.3) is exceedingly low and flat, with details supplied in paint rather than with the chisel. Although Montu as well as a goddess no longer preserved embrace the king, both do so in an awkward, stilted manner that shows association, rather than emotion. Nevertheless, the artists successfully reproduce the canon of proportion of the Old Kingdom, and accordingly, compared to earlier reliefs from the king’s reign, the heads are larger, the waists are lower, and the legs not as long. It is noteworthy that in the low, flat level of the carving and the proportions of the figures, this relief bears a closer resemblance to what is found in the funerary temples of the Old Kingdom in the Memphite region than it does to earlier reliefs of the same reign.
Figure 39.3 London, BM EA 1397. Relief showing Mentuhotep II embraced by Montu, Dynasty 11, painted limestone. From Deir el-Bahri. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
This similarity can only be a direct result of the artists having traveled north to observe the earlier material, or artists from the north, i. e. the Herakleopolitan area, coming south to work. Neither would have been possible prior to the reunification of the country. Not only the artistic evidence, but also textual evidence supports such connections (Freed 1984: 159-60). Further, at approximately this time the canon of proportion becomes fully articulated. Specifically, the Old Kingdom system of creating a figure around a central vertical line and intersecting horizontal lines was expanded into an eighteen-square grid which accommodated a standing figure from the hairline to the bottom of the foot (Robins 1994). The resulting smaller divisions made it easier for artists to make precise copies of Old Kingdom examples. Private reliefs from this time also directly copied the Old Kingdom style and iconography (Fischer 1959: 240-52).
In the later relief style of Mentuhotep II the strong fold at the nostril and the broad, undifferentiated lips outlined by a thin ridge (vermilion line) remain, but other aspects of the facial features become smaller and more naturalistic. Eyes are narrower, lack a pronounced inner canthus, and the width of the cosmetic line remains constant. The ears return to vertical.
With the exception of small-scale wooden statuary, there is little sculpture in the round from the end of the Old Kingdom until the reign of Mentuhotep II. The king incorporated life-size images of himself in the pose of Osiris in both underground (Saleh and Sourouzian 1987: no. 67) and above-ground contexts in his funerary temple. A standing figure of the king which stood outside is reminiscent of the preOld Kingdom, Archaic period style in that the body is hardly differentiated from the stone. In the absence of examples to copy, the artist was unable to render the human body naturalistically (figure 39.4). The head is a compact rectangle on a short, stocky neck, the crossed arms hug the columnar body, and hefty legs with massive feet distribute the weight of the stone. Rectangles define the knees. The facial features are only superficially carved, so that they have a flat, one-dimensional appearance. In comparison to the cubic mass of the head, the eyes, while large, are only thinly outlined. Brows form a thin, straight band above the eye, dipping slightly as they continue toward the ear and run parallel to the similarly thin cosmetic lines. High cheekbones are the most prominent feature of the face and define furrows extending from broad nostrils toward thick, straight lips encircled by a thin ridge. Like the latest of Mentuhotep II’s reliefs the statue has a depression at the corners of the eyes, a pronounced fold at the nostrils, and broad lips rimmed by a vermillion line.
Mentuhotep II’s reunification of the country could not have been accomplished without trusted military (Saleh and Sourouzian 1987: no. 70) and administrative officials, and some of them also had decorated tombs and sculptures in Thebes. Mery was Mentuhotep II’s steward, the official in charge of the royal estate, one of the most important offices of the time (Grajetzki 2006: 21-2). Mery’s statues (Russmann 2001: 89) bear a striking resemblance to Mentuhotep II’s own, although on a smaller scale. The square shape of Mery’s face is further emphasized by an enveloping curled wig cut straight across the forehead and at the level of his lips. He too hugs his arms to his chest - in this case a gesture of servitude - and has overlarge legs and feet. The lack of definition in his arms and torso makes it appear as if the body has no skeletal structure. Like figures in all but the latest of the Mentuhotep II reliefs, Mery has a high waist.
Figure 39.4 New York, MMA 26.3.29. Statue of Mentuhotep II, Dynasty 11, sandstone. From Deir el-Bahri. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1926.
Mentuhotep III
The bold sculptural style of Mentuhotep II changed during the reign of his successor Mentuhotep III, when heavy volumes gave way to a refined delicacy (figure 39.5). Mentuhotep II’s stocky mass is replaced by the elegant elongation of Mentuhotep III’s many statues from the Montu temple at Armant, south of Thebes, the only site at which sculptures of this king have been found. It is also the first clearly documented instance of statuary associated with a temple, rather than a tomb. This custom continued throughout the Middle Kingdom and later.
The low, flat relief style of the end of Mentuhotep II’s reign becomes even lower and flatter during the reign of his successor. Remarkably, details that were only added in paint during the previous reign are now precisely and intricately carved, making them some of the most beautiful reliefs Egyptian artists ever produced. An example from Tod, now in the Louvre (Bisson de la Roque 1937: fig. 35) shows the king beside a table piled with food offerings. His pleated kilt is overlaid with an intricately beaded apron and a dagger inserted under his belt hangs in front of the apron. His bracelet and multi-strand broad collar are also made of individually incised beads. All the contrasting patterning, as well as the highly modeled muscles of the legs, fit harmoniously together and bear testimony to the increasing skills and sophistication of the artists.
Figure 39.5 Boston, MFA 38.1395. Mentuhotep III, Dynasty 11, sandstone. From Armant, Egypt Exploration Society in recognition of a contribution to the Robert Mond Expedition from the Harriet Otis Cruft Fund; Photograph © 2010 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A unified Egypt provided ready access to the Memphite area monuments, so it is hardly surprising that Mentuhotep III’s body proportions reproduce exactly those of the Old Kingdom. Itinerant artists from the north may well have found employment in the Theban area and instructed their Theban counterparts. Reliefs of Mentuhotep III have been found, like those of Mentuhotep II, in temples from Abydos south to Elephantine (Freed 1984: 178; Grajetzki 2006: 20). Whereas Mentuhotep II’s reliefs differ from site to site, those of Mentuhotep III display a remarkable uniformity. This is indicative of a talented, centrally supported artistic school producing a standardized image of the king. In this way it was recognizable and revered by all.
World History
