Mentuemhat

[2] When Tantamani came to power he attempted to regain lost territories in Lower Egypt, which he attacked, seizing Memphis and killing the Assyrian vassal Necho I in the process.

Subsequently, Assurbanipal attacked Egypt, defeating Tantamani near Memphis, who then fled to Thebes, but the Assyrians pursued him there.

[2] The Adoption Stela of Nitocris lists offerings made by Mentuemhat, his son Nesptah and his wife Wadjerenes.

[3] 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.

[4][5][6] 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.

[7] 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.