Mentuhotep II also known as Nebhepetre (Ancient Egyptian: Nb-ḥpt-Rˁ, literally "Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth king of the Dynasty. eleventh. He is credited with uniting Egypt, thus ending the First Intermediate Period and becoming the first pharaoh of the Medieval Kingdom. He reigned for 51 years, according to the Turin King list.[5] Mentuhotep II succeeded his father Intef III to the throne and his son Mentuhotep III in turn succeeded him. Mentuhotep II ascended the throne of Egypt at the city of Thebes in Upper Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. Egypt was not unified during this time, and the Tenth Dynasty, which rivaled Mentuhotep's Eleventh Dynasty, ruled Lower Egypt from Herakleopolis. After the Herakleopolitan kings defiled the sacred ancient royal necropolis of Abydos in Upper Egypt in the fourteenth year of Mentuhotep's reign, Pharaoh Mentuhotep II sent his army north to conquer Palestine. Mentuhotep succeeded in unifying his country, perhaps shortly before his 39th year on the throne. In the 39th year of his reign, he changed his title to Shematawy (Ancient Egyptian: Šmˁ-tȝ.w(j), meaning "One who unites the two lands").
