The Sed-festival (Heb Sed)

Renewal of the kings' Reign

By Dr. Sameh M. Arab

The Sed festival (Heb Sed), named after the jackal god "Sed", was the most important
celebration of kingship

in ancient Egypt. Its origin rooted in the pre-dynastic times (before 3150 BC) and lasted until the
Ptolemaic

Period, celebrating the continued rule of the pharaoh. The festival started during the month of
Choiak, the

fourth month of the inundation season. Some kings have built a whole new festival temple
dedicated to this

purpose, while others reconstructed a festival hall on already existing temple.

Frontal view Heb Sed Court at King Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara

The festival aimed to renew the reigning king's power that had become depleted over time,
endangering the

continued existence of the state. This was a replacement of the more ancient ritual of killing the
king who

became unable to continue his reign effectively because of ageing. The rituals represented a
symbolic burial of

the old king and a repeat coronation to continue to reign as a new king. The ceremonies also
represented a

reenactment of the unification of Egypt by Menes, founder of the First Dynasty.

The first festival was traditionally celebrated in the king's 30th regnal year, since 30 years was a
round number

signifying a generation. The festival was then repeated every three years thereafter. Amonhotep
III (18th

Dynasty) who reigned for 37 years - celebrated three Sed festivals, while Ramses II (19th
Dynasty) - who

reigned for 67 years - celebrated 13 or 14 festivals, as he often left 2 instead of 3 years between
his Heb Seds.
Pharaohs who did not reign that long had to be content with promises of "millions of jubilees" in
the afterlife.

However, several kings celebrated their first Sed at a much earlier date. Hatshepsut (18th
Dynasty) held her

first jubilee during her 16th regnal year, as she counted her 4 years of co-regency with
Thuthmose II (her

husband and the preceding king) and the 7 years co-regency with his son Thuthmose III. She thus
marked the

30 years count since the death of her father, Thutmose I, from whom she derived all of her
legitimacy to rule

Egypt. The festival was commemorated at Karnak, where blocks from the reconstructed Red
Chapel show her

as king, and running with the Apis bull between the markers.

Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) dedicated his festival to the solar-god Aton on his 3rd regnal year.
Since a Sed-

festival was a royal jubilee intended to reinforce the pharaoh's divine powers and religious
leadership, this gave

him advantage against the powerful priests of Amon-Ra. His early celebration coincided with the
festival that

his father, Amenhotep III would have celebrated in his 40th year as king. There is a possibility
that Akhenaton

has celebrated another Sed later during his 17 years of kingship.

The ceremony implied certain temple rituals and offerings in cycles of scenes that are best
preserved in the Sun

Temple of King Niusera (5th Dynasty) in Abu-Ghurab (6 miles southwest of cairo, near Abu-Seer).
On the first

day, the king presented offerings to the gods; then was seated and crowned on a raised platform
provided with

two thrones that represented Upper and Lower Egypt. Images of provincial deities in a series of
shrines were

shown beside the double throne, specifically the cobra-goddess Wadjet of the Delta town of
Buto, and the

vulture goddess Nekhbet of el-Kab; symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt. The priests carried the
statues of the

gods and presented offerings, in a sign of giving thanks for past loyalty or to secure good
relationships in the

future.

the platform on the west side of the complex where the king was seated

The king was then attired a short kilt with a bull's tail in its back, which probably gave the festival
a less formal

name: "The Feast of the Tail". In the open space between the two rows of shrines, the king ran a
ritual race

alongside the Apis Bull four times as the ruler of Lower Egypt wearing the Red Crown, and four
times as that of

Upper Egypt wearing the White Crown. The course was bounded by two points symbolizing the
borders of Egypt

to reinforce his dominion over the whole kingdom, and at the same time he dedicates it to the
gods. In doing

so, he proved that he was still physically able to rule the country, and was thus rejuvenated and
reborn. Finally,

he was carried in a procession to visit the chapels of the gods. He was carried first as king of
Lower Egypt by

the "Great Ones of Upper and Lower Egypt" to the chapel of Horus, where he receives the crook
and the flail.

Next, as king of Upper Egypt, he was carried to the two chapels of Horus of Edfu and Seth of
Ombos, where he

was handed a bow and arrow, with which he shoots an arrow in each one of the four directions.

Djoser performing the ritual run with Apic Bull

"Raising The Djed Pillar" was an important part of the Heb Sed ceremony that started during the
beginning of

the 12th Dynasty (or perhaps as early as the 6th) to represent Osiris's triumph over Set. The
pillar stood on a
shrine, and with the help of the priests, the king would raise a wooden djed column using ropes.
Offerings were

presented before the pillar and below the ropes, and re-enactments of the myth of Osiris and
Isis were

performed. Later, a poem describing Isis and Nephthys' search for Osiris was added to the
ceremony.

This ritual symbolized the myth of Osiris and Isis. The myth tells the story of Set killing his
brother Osiris,

placed him in a coffin which he threw in the Nile. Hapi, the Nile god carried the coffin to the sea,
where

eventually it was cast ashore of Byblos in Syria. The waves cast it into a tree on the shore, which
became a

resting place for the hidden body of Osiris. The Phenecian king, intrigued by the tree's quick
growth and

unaware of its content, ordered it cut down and installed as a pillar in his palace. Isis, her sister
Nephthis and

the jackal Anubis went ranging allover in search of the coffin. After a long quest Isis reached
Byblos and went

to serve into the kings palace. In return for her caring of their young prince, the king gave her
the pillar as a

gift. Isis extracted the coffin out, and consecrated the pillar which became known as the Pillar of
Djed.

Seti I offering the Djed Pillar to Isis at Seti I temple at Luxor

Amenhotep III altered the ritual to take place on the great artificial lake he built at Malkata,
where he and

statues of various deities sailed along in barges in order to symbolically recreate the voyage of
the sun god

through the underworld. Probably this was a reviving of a more ancient tradition, as a limestone
relief shows

Senusert I (12th Dynasty) celebrating his Sed festival while holding an oar, with an inscription
that reads,
"hastening by boat to Min, the god in the midst of the city".

The festival is believed to have originated from the very beginning of Egypt's recorded history
during the Pre-

dynastic era. The oldest example of this Sed festival is believed to be that found on the
decoration of the ritual

mace head of King Narmer (1st Dynasty), though it is possible that it does not represent the Heb
Sed. A small

ebony label found attached to a jar from the tomb of King Den (1st Dynasty) at Abydos depicted
the king

running around the ritual course and carrying the Heb Sed insignia. To the left of the figure is a
platform raised

on few steps on which a double shrine stood. The king is once again depicted in the shrine sitting
on a throne

and wearing the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.

From the 4th Dynasty onwards, there are much evidence that the festival was celebrated over
periods of time.

One of the more remarkable signs of the Heb Sed can be found at the Djoser (3rd Dynasty) Step
Pyramid

complex at Saqqara, where remnants of the Heb Sed court were found, as well as an inscription
on a false

doorway inside the pyramid. Also at Saqqara, reliefs were found at the tomb of Pepi I (6th
Dynasty) that

showed the king performing the ritual run. At the Bent Pyramid at Dahshour, Snefru (4th
Dynasty) is seen on a

stele wearing the Heb Sed robe. Karnak also show some traces of a small Heb Sed temple of
Amonhetep II

(18th Dynasty) as well as the "Festival Temple of Thutmose III".

Akhenaton's celebration is found in the colonnaded court of the Temple of Aton at Karnak. Aton
is seen taking

part in a Sed festival of its own, contrary to the tradition of gods giving Sed festivals to the king
and never
taking part in the ritual themselves. It remained to be celebrated by the later Libyan-era kings
(22nd Dynasty)

such as Shoshenq III, Shoshenq V, Osorkon I, and Osorkon II. The later built a massive temple for
the goddess

Bastet at Bubastis, with a red granite gateway decorated with scenes of this jubilee that showed
him seated in

his Heb Sed kiosk and wearing the typical robe for the ceremony. Carved reliefs from the Greek
Period at Kom

Ombo also show Ptolemy VIII receiving Heb Sed symbols from the god Horus.

Pictures 1, 2 & 3 are from the Heb Sed Court at King Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara.

Picture 4 is from Seti I's Temple at Luxor.