Mentuhotep III succeeded his father
Mentuhotep II to the throne. It is believed that, following his father's long 51 years of reign, Mentuhotep III was relatively old when he acceded to the throne and reigned for 12 years. Despite its short duration, Mentuhotep's reign is known for his expedition to Punt and architectural innovations.
Name Mentuhotep III's titulary is very similar to the third and final one of his father. Mentuhotep III is known to have had at least two praenomen: the well known
Sankhkare and also
Expedition to Punt Mentuhotep III sent an expedition to the
Land of Punt during the 8th year of his reign, something that had not been done since the
Old Kingdom. An inscription in the
Wadi Hammamat describes the expedition as being 3,000 men strong and under the command of the steward
Henenu. As they left
Coptos in direction of the
Red Sea (port of
Mersa Gawasis?), they dug 12 wells for future expeditions and cleared the region of rebels. They returned from Punt with incense, gum, and perfumes, and quarried the Wadi Hammamat for stones.
Monuments Sankhkare Mentuhotep was responsible for several building projects in the 12 years of his reign. He extended the
temple of Monthu in Medamud, a monumental decorated doorway bearing his likeness and royal titles now resides in the
Louvre. Sankhkare Mentuhotep also had a
mudbrick temple erected at
Thoth Hill in Western Thebes. The temple was built on the site of an older archaic temple. It was dedicated to the god Montu-Ra. This temple may have been destroyed by an earthquake towards the end of the
11th Dynasty. It was long presumed that his own tomb and mortuary temple was begun in
Deir el-Bahari, but never completed. However, the attribution of the monument to Amenemhat I is unproven as well. The owner of the unnamed royal burial place must remain open. == Family ==