ABOVE The Deir el-Bahri temples from above, with the remains of Mentuhotep’s structure in the foreground to the left of the Temple of Hatshepsut.

The Temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri

Geoffrey Lenox-Smith explores the innovative Middle Kingdom monument that inspired Hatshepsut’s famous Deir el-Bahri temple.

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Thousands of tourists visit the Temple of Hatshepsut every day, enjoying the restored terraces that nestle under the cliffs of Deir el-Bahri on the West Bank of Luxor. Beside the Hatshepsut Temple is the ruined Temple of Mentuhotep II from the much earlier Eleventh Dynasty. But today this wonderful monument is closed to the public, and, although it is still possible to view part of the remains, it is all but ignored by the stream of visitors to its more famous neighbour.

ABOVE The Deir el-Bahri temples from above, with the remains of Mentuhotep’s structure in the foreground to the left of the Temple of Hatshepsut.
The Deir el-Bahri temples from above, with the remains of Mentuhotep’s structure in the foreground to the left of the Temple of Hatshepsut. Image: Diego Delso, delso.photo, CC-BY-SA via Wikicommons

The Great Reunifier

Mentuhotep II is remembered as one of Egypt’s great pharaohs – the founder of the Middle Kingdom. At the end of the Old Kingdom, central authority broke down and the country entered a period of uncertainty that we now call the First Intermediate Period (c.2181-2055 BC). Two power centres fought to re-establish control over Egypt: one based at Herakleopolis in the North and the other based at Thebes (Luxor) in the South. It was Thebes that emerged victorious under Mentuhotep, who reunified the country, ushering in a period of prosperity.

left Nebhepetra Mentuhotep II, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, in one of the rare surviving reliefs from his Deir el-Bahri temple. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (MMA). below Model reconstruction of the Deir el-Bahri temples in situ with the original Mentuhotep II temple on the left, Hatshepsut’s temple on the right and Thutmose III’s smaller one in the centre.
Nebhepetra Mentuhotep II, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, in one of the rare surviving reliefs from his Deir el-Bahri temple. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (MMA). Image: MMA
Model reconstruction of the Deir el-Bahri temples in situ with the original Mentuhotep II temple on the left, Hatshepsut’s temple on the right and Thutmose III’s smaller one in the centre. Image: Mariusz Caban/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology

Mentuhotep’s predecessors at Thebes (Intef I, II, and III) had built their tombs at el-Tarif to the north of Deir el-Bahri. The great bay of cliffs at Deir el-Bahri had always been sacred to Hathor, but Mentuhotep seems to have been the first to build there. He combined aspects of the southern style of architecture (the rows of columns seen in the saff tombs of the Intefs) with aspects of the northern style of architecture (as seen in the traditional Old Kingdom pyramid complexes) to produce a tomb-temple with a genuinely original design. More than 500 years later, Hatshepsut adopted and expanded this design when she built her famous temple beside that of Mentuhotep, while Thutmose III managed to insert a third temple between them.

Excavations

The first archaeologist to excavate the Mentuhotep Temple was Édouard Naville in the 1890s on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund. He published the findings of his 1903-1906 seasons in three volumes. Work on the temple continued under H E Winlock – who led the American excavations at Deir el-Bahri from 1911 to 1931 – and more recently under Dieter Arnold for the German Archaeological Institute.

below left Winlock’s plan of the temples at Deir el-Bahri, showing causeways leading up to temple courtyards in front of the temple structures. Mentuhotep’s burial chamber is at the back of the temple, carved beneath the rock face. below Today the entrance to the Bab el-Hosan is covered over, but the large gash in the ground identifies its location.
Winlock’s plan of the temples at Deir el-Bahri, showing causeways leading up to temple courtyards in front of the temple structures. Mentuhotep’s burial chamber is at the back of the temple, carved beneath the rock face. Image: H E Winlock (1942) Excavations at Deir el Bahri: 1911-1931 (flyleaf)

The temple complex

The complex is a combination of a royal tomb and a temple for the deified king and specific gods (Amun-Ra and Montu). The overall design is based on a Memphite pyramid complex, with a valley temple on the water’s edge, a one-kilometre causeway leading up to the mortuary temple, and, at the back, the royal tomb. Unfortunately, the valley temple area seems to have been levelled by Ramesses IV, who planned to build his mortuary temple there. Little remains to be seen of the Eleventh Dynasty valley temple today, although Winlock found traces of the causeway at various points along its length.

Today the entrance to the Bab el-Hosan is covered over, but the large gash in the ground identifies its location.

As illustrated in Winlock’s plan, the causeway ends at a main entrance gate which gives access to a large open courtyard in front of the temple, similar to those seen in the Intef tomb complexes. A series of large sycamore and tamarisk trees stood along the main axis of the courtyard, with smaller trees behind. The holes where these trees stood are still visible today. We must imagine the courtyard to be a fertile garden area with trees, flower beds, and pools of water, rather than the ruined arid area we see today.

left The statue of Mentuhotep found by Howard Carter in the Bab el-Hosan chamber is now one of the highlights of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. right Naville’s plan of the temple area showing the lower and upper columned terraces with a large pyramid structure at the centre, leading to an open court and hypostyle hall.
The statue of Mentuhotep found by Howard Carter in the Bab el-Hosan chamber is now one of the highlights of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Gate of the Horse

One interesting feature in the courtyard is the Bab el-Hosan (‘Gate of the Horse’); it gained its name after it was discovered by Howard Carter, whose horse stumbled on uneven ground and threw him off. Carter investigated the area in 1900 and uncovered three sides of stonework protecting the entrance to a passage. The original mud sealings on the door were intact. He entered and found himself in a passageway, 150 metres long, which ended in a chamber. Here he found, lying on its side, a seated statue wrapped in linen, and a wooden coffin, inscribed but without a name. A small wooden box was also found, bearing the name of Mentuhotep.

Naville’s plan of the temple area showing the lower and upper columned terraces with a large pyramid structure at the centre, leading to an open court and hypostyle hall. Image: H E Naville (1907-1913) The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari II, pl.XXI

The statue was uninscribed, but is now identified as Nebhepetra Mentuhotep II, who is shown seated and wearing a heb-sed cloak. The coffin was found to be empty. Possibly the room was intended to be the burial chamber for the king in an early phase of planning the complex. When it was later decided to bury Mentuhotep in a chamber beyond the back of the temple, the Bab el-Hosan chamber became a dummy burial chamber, an early form of Osirian cenotaph.

The main temple

Naville’s plan of the temple highlights the innovative architecture. On each side of the front ramp are colonnades, each column marked with the king’s name.

right The Mentuhotep II Temple, seen from the Temple of Hatshepsut. A large ramp, flanked by the remains of columns from the Lower Colonnade leads up to the platform of the Upper Colonnade.
The Mentuhotep II Temple, seen from the Temple of Hatshepsut. A large ramp, flanked by the remains of columns from the Lower Colonnade leads up to the platform of the Upper Colonnade.

At the top of the ramp is an upper platform with a colonnade on three sides. Inside is an ambulatory supported by rows of octagonal columns.

What stood in the centre of this area is debated. Naville believed that a pyramid stood there, as the name of the temple was written with the pyramid determinative.

ABOVE Each column on the Lower Colonnade identifies the king who built the temple: the Horus Sematawy (‘He who unites the Two Lands’) and the Son of Ra, Mentuhotep (‘Montu is satisfied’). above right The octagonal columns in the ambulatory beside the central mound.
Each column on the Lower Colonnade identifies the king who built the temple: the Horus Sematawy (‘He who unites the Two Lands’) and the Son of Ra, Mentuhotep (‘Montu is satisfied’).

Winlock seemed happy to go along with this idea, but Arnold disagrees: he argues that the temple was topped by a low mound to represent a mastaba or the primeval mound. As he points out, the names of the Intef tombs were also written with pyramid determinatives, but there were no pyramids in those structures. He believes that the weight of a pyramid would have been too much for the upper platform to support. Majority opinion today agrees with Arnold, viewing the central structure as a low mound or a flat-topped mastaba.

The octagonal columns in the ambulatory beside the central mound.

Royal ladies

At the back of the ambulatory, six shrines for young females were found. Five of the ladies seem to have been in their 20s when they died; the other was aged around five. They were all ‘unique royal favourites and priestesses of Hathor’. Each had a limestone shrine erected to commemorate them, behind which was their tomb. The exterior of each shrine was decorated with carved reliefs and painted in bold colours. The stone sarcophagi found in these ladies’ tombs are finely decorated as well. For example, the sarcophagus of Ashayet can be seen in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The interior of this sarcophagus retains much of its original colour, including a scene where Ashayet is shown sitting and holding a lily flower or ‘lotus’ to her nose, while a scribe reads a liturgy to her. Why these six females were given the honour of burial in the temple is a matter of debate. Perhaps they were a human form of paddle doll, with Mentuhotep wanting to celebrate his devotions to Hathor in perpetuity with real human beings rather than figures made of wood.

below left Édouard Naville’s view of how the temple would have looked. His idea of a pyramid in the centre is now a minority opinion. below The area of the shrines and tombs of the six royal females at the back of the central mound.
Édouard Naville’s view of how the temple would have looked. His idea of a pyramid in the centre is now a minority opinion. Image: H E Naville (1907-1913) The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari II, pl.XXIII
The area of the shrines and tombs of the six royal females at the back of the central mound.

Burial chamber

Behind the tombs of the royal females, we enter the peristyle Middle Court. The dominant feature here is the entrance to the Royal Tomb. Naville describes an empty 150 metre passage leading to a chamber, which held an alabaster shrine. This is presumably the intended burial chamber for the king, although no body was found here.

Beyond the Middle Court with its surrounding columns, we pass into a hypostyle hall, fully populated with ten rows of eight columns. At the back is a walled room containing an altar in front of a speos, which would probably have contained a statue of Mentuhotep. From the south-west area of the Hypostyle Hall, there is access to the tomb of Queen Tem, the ‘king’s beloved wife’.

ABOVE The sarcophagus of Ashayet in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. ABOVE RIGHT The colour has survived on the interior scenes of Ashayet’s sarcophagus. Here the scribe Intef (on the right) recites a liturgy to his mistress Ashayet (seated in the middle).
The sarcophagus of Ashayet in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The colour has survived on the interior scenes of Ashayet’s sarcophagus. Here the scribe Intef (on the right) recites a liturgy to his mistress Ashayet (seated in the middle).

The entire temple area would have been decorated with painted reliefs. It has been estimated that less than 5 per cent of the reliefs survive, a few of which are still visible at the site today, while other fragments reside in museums around the world. The themes of the decoration seem to follow those of a Memphite pyramid complex, including fishing and fowling in the marshes, agricultural activity, and foreign campaigns.

Conclusion

Mentuhotep created a completely new genre of tomb-temple in a multilevel construction, marking a transition between the pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom and the mortuary temples and separate tombs of kings in the New Kingdom.

below The entrance to the passage leading to the Royal Burial Chamber is today locked and sadly encumbered by rubbish. The sanctuary cut into the cliff face at the end of the temple would probably have held a statue of the king. BELOW right Some blocks of stone in situ retain their painted colour, but most painted blocks have been dispersed to international museums.
The entrance to the passage leading to the Royal Burial Chamber is today locked and sadly encumbered by rubbish. The sanctuary cut into the cliff face at the end of the temple would probably have held a statue of the king.
Some blocks of stone in situ retain their painted colour, but most painted blocks have been dispersed to international museums.

I hope that, in the future, the structure is made safe and opened to the public for visits. Without Mentuhotep’s innovative monument, there would be no Hatshepsut Temple in the form that we see it today.

Geoffrey Lenox-Smith is a chartered accountant from London who holds the Certificate in Egyptology from Birkbeck, University of London. He makes frequent visits to Egypt and is a regular AE contributor.

Further reading
H E Naville (1907-1913) The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari (in 3 parts; Egypt Exploration Fund).
H E Winlock (1942) Excavations at Deir el Bahri: 1911-1931 (Macmillan).
D Arnold (1979) The Temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el-Bahari (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
All photos: by the author, unless otherwise stated