HEB-SED

also called Sed Festival, one of the oldest feasts of Egypt, celebrated by the king after 30 years of rule and repeated every three years thereafter. The festival was in the nature of a jubilee, and it is believed that the ceremonies represented a ritual reenactment of the unification of Egypt, first accomplished by Menes. From numerous wall reliefs and paintings and from the Heb-Sed court in the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser, in Saqqarah, much information has been gleaned about the festival. The king first presented offerings to a series of gods and then was crowned, first with the white crown of Upper Egypt and then with the red crown of Lower Egypt. Finally, the king, dressed in a short kilt with an animal's tail in back, ran a ritual course four times and was then carried away in a great procession to visit the chapels of the gods Horus and Seth. Reconstruction of the Heb-Sed building at Saqqarah was under way during much of the 20th century.