ABSTRACT
The purpose for which the Sed-festival was enacted appears to have been the symbolic renewing of the power of the kingship. In order to reconstruct any kind of scheme of the rites performed in the Sed-festival, it is necessary to examine the existing evidence, particularly scenes, or parts of scenes which appear to illustrate different phases of the festival. Sed-festival depictions from the Middle Kingdom are meagre, although occurrences of the festival are attested by inscriptions for most of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty. A certain amount of general information can be extracted from the surviving representations of the Sed-festival with regard to the various rites performed and the way in which they were depicted. The series starts with scenes of foundation rites, apparently for a building constructed specially for the Sed-festival, such as the palace, or ‘robing-room’.
