Stela of Intef

2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

On its top ledge, this stela proclaims the name of King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (ca. 2051–2000 B.C.), the founder of the Middle Kingdom. In the same line, the stela's owner, Intef, refers to himself as "his (the king's) servant." Intef also recounts that he was overseer of a fortress and served in the region of Herakleopolis, the capital city of the minor kings who ruled northern Egypt before the country's reunification under Mentuhotep II. Mentuhotep II could only have appointed an official there after having eliminated the last of these rulers during his reunification of Egypt (around 2021 B.C.)