The statute was found in the beginning of the 20th century by the archaeologists who excavated Egyptian burial complexes. It was supposedly created between 2050 and 2000 BC and is now kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was a very unusual find; it was very well preserved, and thus, a lot of information could be collected from it. There were more than twenty statues of King Mentuhotep II found around the same location. They were apparently made by the person who constructed the burial for King Mentuhotep II. In his article, Cyril Aldred claims that in the statue of there is an influence of art from the previous dynasty that he overthrew: “Indeed, Inyotefnakhte, the chief sculptor of Nebhepetre, had evidently served under the last of the Heracleopolitan kings.” (31) All of the statues found there were wearing different crowns – white and red. This was significant, because as scholars know, King Mentuhotep II was famous for uniting Lower and Upper Egypt into one state like it used to be long before him. It is known that Egypt was divided into two parts earlier in history, and it was extremely hard to unite it back, because the two parts were not always in a good relationship. However, King Mentuhotep II managed to bring together these two parts of one country, and he started a new period in Egyptian history called the Middle Kingdom. “Mentuhotep II is commemorated as the ruler who reunified the country after the First Intermediate Period and thus restored Egypt to its original state first created during the late Predynastic and early Dynastic Period” (‘Statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II in the Jubilee Garment | Middle Kingdom | The Met."’) Thus, he can be called the first king of the Middle Kingdom Egypt, although several sources disagree.
Mentuhotep II was not just a prominent political leader, but he was also a military leader who was able to capture fortresses and cities. Of course, uniting such a big country required a lot of effort and military skills. “A great stela from his courtyard tomb, just to the south of that of Seher-towy, tells how he captured the border fortress of Thinis and ravaged its northern boundary as far as the nome of Aphroditopolis” (Hayes 151) When the viewers look at the sculpture, they can see that every facial feature was created with significant mastery and effort. The main sculptor of Nebhepetre, just like other sculptors and viewers, considered the pharaoh to be divine. And so, every part of his face and body should be godlike. We know that in Egypt, people considered pharaohs to be coming from Heaven. This sculpture shows King Mentuhotep II in an Osirid pose. His knees are close together and his hands are crossed on his chest. He also supposedly had the beard of Osiris, the King of Netherland. The article called “Statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II in the Jubilee Garment | Middle Kingdom | The Met", which analyzes a lot of information known about King Mentuhotep II, claims that his face was painted red. This is not the first sculpture that represents the king with a red skin. It is known that Osiris too was always depicted having green, blue or red skin. Such unusual color of skin hinted at, again, the divine origin of the king.
The statue was made of sandstone and colored after. Such statues essentially lost their color because of the time, but sandstone survived really well in the dry desert that covers a huge part of Egypt. The location of Egypt and its humidity is perfect for preserving this kind of statues. It is also important to note that the statute of King Mentuhotep II is almost one hundred feet tall, and thus, it was extremely difficult to transport it. However, for Egyptians the statues of their pharaohs had to be enormous. On one hand, it was because the higher they got, the closer to Heaven they were (the same thing pharaohs were trying to reach when building pyramids, where each new one was bigger than the previous one). On the other hand, they wanted to exhibit their statues, and when political leaders or traders came to Egypt to do business, they could see how well developed their art was, and how respected their pharaohs were. This statue was supposed to be an everlasting memory of the great king who managed to do something that no one could do before him for a long time. And, of course, he had to be seen from everywhere so that everyone remembered him.
It is interesting how the funerary art of Egypt moved from building pyramids to creating simple burial complexes but putting stress on the statues. Before, every pharaoh felt like it was his or her duty to build a huge pyramid; it often took decades to get it done. But starting from a little before Mentuhotep II, it became more popular to create statues. The tradition repeated itself: the higher the statue got, the more important the pharaoh was. In the case with King Mentuhotep II, thanks to this statue, we can see how great this ruler was and how important he was to the civilians. He literally looks down on the people below him; however, he was respected and thought to be a very just ruler.
I have talked about the statute of King Mentuhotep II found in Africa in the beginning of the 20th Century. The sculpture is famous because it is very well preserved and it depicts one of the most important pharaohs in the history of Egypt. Mentuhotep II had a lot of achievements in his political and military life, and probably the most important one was uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. By looking at the sculpture of King Mentuhotep II, we can truly understand the level of artistic development at the very start of the Middle Kingdom Egypt.
Works Cited
"Statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II in the Jubilee Garment | Middle Kingdom | The Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I.e. The Met Museum. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Hayes, William Christopher. The Scepter of Egypt: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Aldred, Cyril. "Some Royal Portraits of the Middle Kingdom in Ancient Egypt." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970): 27-50. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
