of the century, in spite of extensive excavations performed on the nearby Djeser-Djeseru of Hatshepsut. Thus it was only in 1859, that Lord Dufferin and his assistants, Dr. Lorange and Cyril Clerke Graham, started to excavate the southwest corner of the hypostyle hall of Mentuhotep's temple. Clearing the immense mass of debris, they soon discovered the plundered grave of Queen Tem, one of Mentuhotep's wives. Realising the potential of the site, they then gradually worked their way to the sanctuary, where they found the granite altar of Mentuhotep with a representation of Amun-Re and various other finds such as the grave of Neferu TT319. Finally, in 1898, Howard Carter discovered the Bab el-Hosan cache in the front court, where he uncovered the famous black seated statue of the king. The next important excavation works took place from 1903 to 1907 under the direction of Henri Édouard Naville, who worked there on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund. He was the first to undertake a systematic exploration of the temple. About ten years later, between 1920 and 1931, Herbert E. Winlock further excavated the temple for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. However, his results were published only in the form of preliminary reports in summary form. Finally, from 1967 to 1971, Dieter Arnold conducted research on the site on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute. He published his results in three volumes. Foundational offerings Under the four corners of the temple terrace, H. Winlock discovered four pits during his 1921–1922 excavations. These pits were dug into the ground before the construction of the temple for the purpose of foundation rituals. Indeed, when H. Winlock discovered them, they still contained many offerings: a cattle skull, pitchers and bowls filled with fruits, barley and bread and a mud brick bearing Mentuhotep II's name. Further excavations of the pits undertaken in 1970 by Dieter Arnold revealed more food offerings such as bread and beef ribs, but also some bronze objects, a faience scepter and sheets of fabric. The sheets were marked in red ink at the corner, seven with the name of Mentuhotep II and three with that of Intef II. Architecture Causeway and courtyard Similarly to the mortuary complexes of the Old Kingdom, Mentuhotep II's mortuary complex comprised two temples: the high temple of Deir el-Bahri and a valley temple located closer to the Nile on cultivated lands. The valley temple was linked