Mentuhotep II was the son of Antef III and a minor consort named Iah. He was one of the most prominent pha- raohs in Egyptian history and a very able state-builder. The Canon of Turin gives him a reign of 51 years. At his start Thebes controlled the land from Aswan in the south up to the Abydos area.
After fifteen years of combat with the kings of Herakleopolis he could slowly begin moving downstream and final- ly succeeded in concurring the north and thus united the country.
He then started consolidating the nation for about twenty years up to his death, and made Egypt a pros- perous nation again.
He built a magnificent new style mortuary temple at Deir-el-Bahri in Western Thebes with a rock cut tomb for himself. The statue left was found by that location.