People - Ancient Egypt: Mentuhotep IV (Nebtawyre)
MIDDLE KINGDOM 11th Dynasty (1992-1987) This period is marked with foreign trade and enormous
building projects. There is a refinement in the making of jewelry. Prosperity and renaissance
existed for a long period of time, but eventually, internal problems become apparent.
Mentuhotep IV (Nebtawyre) in Tour Egypt
MENTUHOTEP IV NEBTAWYRE THE LAST KING OF EGYPT'S 11TH DYNASTY
by Jimmy Dunn.
Though Mentuhotep III Sankhkare (Mentuhotep II in a number of texts) is said by both the Saqqara and Abydos king lists as being the last
of the 11th Dynasty rulers, followed immediately by Amenemhet I who founded the 12th Dynasty, the fragmentary papyrus known as the Royal
Canon of Turin says there was a period of seven years without a king after Mentuhotep III. Egyptologists believe that it was Nebtawyre
Mentuhotep IV who fit within this slot for a short reign of about six years. Mentuhotep was this king's birth name, meaning "The God
Montu is Content". His Throne name, Nebtawyre, means "Lord of the Two Lands is Re". Unfortunately, no images of this king are known to
us from reliefs or statuary.
Because his name is missing from all of these kings lists, many presume that he may have usurped the throne. His mother was a commoner
with no royal titles other than "king's mother', so it is possible that he may not even have been a member of the royal family. We
know virtually nothing about any other of his family members. It should also be noted that inscriptions from the Hatnub travertine
quarry suggest that some of the nomarchs (provinces) in Middle Egypt might have been troublesome at about this time.
We should also note that the temple on the West Bank at Thebes cupped in a spectacular amphitheater of cliffs just a short walk from the
mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which has traditionally been ascribed to Amenemhet I, is now believed by some scholars to be
attributable to Mentuhotep IV. If so, this would be about the only building established by this king.
This is a shadowy king and records regarding his reign are rare. From the reign of Amenemhet I, we find a fragment of a slate bowl
discovered at Lisht in the first nome with both the name of Nebtawyre Mentuhotep and Amenemhet I. However, we do know that a vizier
under Mentuhotep IV was one Amenemhet, who is well attested from a long inscription that he left in the Wadi Hammamat, He acted as
Governor of the South under Mentuhotep IV, and most Egyptologists seem to believe that he is one and the same as King Amenemhet.
As vizier to Mentuhotep IV, he records that he went with an army of 10,000 (some sources say 1,000) men into the Wadi to seek and
retrieve a fine flock of stone suitable for the lid of the king's sarcophagus. The text says that they were led to the block by a
pregnant gazelle which, having dropped its young on to the stone to mark it, was immediately sacrificed on the block. A second
miraculous event was also recorded when, after a ferocious rainstorm at Wadi Hammamat, a well 10 cubits square was revealed that was
full of water to the brim. In such barren terrain, this would certainly have been a spectacular discovery.
Apparently, the block was successfully detached from the surrounding rock and safely taken to Thebes. However, during their expedition,
they were also charged with finding a more favorable port on the Red Sea. Apparently, the port they found was Mersa Gawasis (Kuser),
which was not established until the reign of Amenemhet II as the embarkation point for expeditions to Punt.
Regrettably, one of the reasons this king remains so obscure is that his tomb, and the sarcophagus made from the block as well as his
mummy, has never been found. Perhaps Mentuhotep IV was never able to use the stone since it appears that Amenemhet, with the backing of
his 10,000 (or 1,000) men, overthrew his master and proclaimed himself king, founding the 12th Dynasty. It has been suggested by Richard
Tidyman tht the name of the new capital, Lisht, was a direct reference to this event, and that the literary texts known as the Prophecy
of Neferti and the Instruction of Amenemhat I should be considered in the light of evidence for a civil war accompanying the takeover.
However, there is really no direct evidence of such revolt and it is also possible that Mentuhotep IV simply died without an heir.
Mentuhotep IV in Wikipedia
Nebtawyre Mentuhotep IV was the last king of the 11th Dynasty. He seems to fit into a 7 year period in
the Turin Canon for which there is no recorded king, and is known from a few inscriptions in Wadi
Hammamat that record expeditions to the Red Sea coast and to quarry stone for the royal monuments.
Despite being obscure (he is absent from the official king lists in Abydos), the inscriptions show the
organization and makeup of a large expedition. The leader of an expedition to Wadi Hammamat, during the
second year of Mentuhotep IVís reign, was his vizier, Amenemhat, who is assumed to be the future king
Amenemhet I, the first king of the 12th Dynasty, and Mentuhotep's immediate successor. It is assumed by
some Egyptologists that Amenemhet either usurped the throne or assumed power after Mentuhotep IV died
childless. There is currently no archaeological or textual evidence to prove that Mentuhotep was deposed
by his Vizier or that he chose Amenemhet to be his designated successor. Mummy or the burial place have
not been found.
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