Relief with Birds in the Papyrus Thicket ca. 2030-2000 B.C. Middle Kingdom The importance of the temple of King Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri is second only to the one of King Djoser's step pyramid complex at Saqqara. Seen from its formal garden in front the monument had the appearance of a stepped structure with two superimposed terraces with colonnades, towered by a central cube-like "primeval hill," on top of which - as some scholars believe, others question - may have been a pyramid. The central "cube" was surrounded on all four sides by columned halls. Further west, and cut into the rock face, followed an open courtyard and then Egypt's earliest hypostyle hall. At the westernmost end of this hall a niche contained a colossal statue of the king and in front of it screen walls sheltered a small sanctuary with an altar. Reliefs in the hypostyle hall were carved in sandstone, while limestone reliefs decorated the pillared halls around the central "cube" and the upper and lower portic