Mentuemhat

Mentuemhat or Montuemhat (c. 700 BCE – c. 650 BCE) was a rich and powerful Theban official from ancient Egypt who lived during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the Fourth Priest of Amun in Thebes.

He is known from many statues and was buried in tomb TT34 of the Theban Necropolis.

History Mentuemhat's father likely served as Mayor of Thebes during the reign of Shebitku. Mentuemhat's father Nesptah passed on the position of Mayor of Thebes to his nephew Remmakheru and later to Mentuemhat himself. Mentuemhat served during the reigns of Taharqa and Psamtik I, which cover parts of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt.

Portraiture Mentuemhet was a rich and powerful mayor and priest of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt who rebuilt the city after the Assyrians destroyed it. Mentuemhet’s power over Thebes likely is what inspired him to portray himself as a pharaoh in his statuary, like he was king of Egypt—and in the case of Upper Egypt, he de facto was. The Egyptian kings needed to appear as both a ruler and a god and were charged with maintaining stability within the kingdom. Thus Egyptian kings were almost always portrayed as cool and calm, like the Nile, and so Mentuemhet adopted such a motif into his own portraiture. All of Mentuemhet's statues were done in the style of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.

Neskhonsu Neskhonsu (Neskhons, Eskhons) was the first wife of Mentuemhat. She was the mother of the eldest son and heir Nesptah (B). The name of her father appears on an offering table found in the First Court of TT34. An inscription in the tomb appears to name her mother as the Lady of the House and Noble Lady Shepmut. Statue at Egyptian National Museum, Cairo. Statue of Montuemhat as an elder man, Cairo, JE 36933 Block statue of Montuemhat, Cairo, JE 31883 Block statue of Montuemhat with Osiris, JE 38607 Bust of Mentuemhat, Cairo, JE 31884, Life size block statue. Found in two parts. Granite. Statue of Montuemhat and his son Nesptah, Egyptian Museum, JE 37176 Statue of Montuemhat (Mentuemhet) Egyptian Museum, JE 336933 (CG 42236)

Other Relief with Anubis in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City Funerary Cone of Montuemhat, National Museum of Ireland, L1030:74