The festival is a feast celebrated by the king on the first say of the Season of Coming Forth (sowing) after 30 years of rule and repeated every 3 years thereafter although some kings, including those of relatively short reigns, celebrated this earlier. The purpose of Heb-Sed was the renewal of the physical and supernatural energies of the king. The ritual continued to be practiced throughout Egypt's pharaonic history. One representation of this is the king would run alongside the Apis bull in order to prove his fitness to rule. Another was a depiction of the King holding a whip and a document similar to a will, showing that he had inherited the land of Egypt.
The oldest possible example of this Sed-festival is believed to have been found on the decoration of the ritual mace head of Narmer which is evidence that the first dynasty pharaoh Den and the Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser participated in the Sed Festival. It is believed that the kings were celebrated even after the physical death of the king. 
Other ceremonies also took place during the jubilee, such as the act of homage to the king by the "Great Ones of Upper and Lower Egypt". This festival was also an occasion for the issue of commemorative objects, including stone vases bearing the king's titulature.

Pharaohs in Old Kingdom Egypt are known for their architectural achievements (such as the development of the pyramids), technological advancements and their image in royal statuary (such as their god-king image, which separated them from the general public). Statues epitomised the Kings in many ways, however, the statues didn't explicitly show a king. Rather a depiction of an individual who held the highest office was shown. These statues were first placed in the King’s mortuary temples, where it is assumed they were brightly painted. There was red around the Kings ears and mouth, and yellow on the Queen’s face.

The nature and image of Kingship changed drastically In the Middle Kingdom period. Previously, Kings were confident in their divinity and their separation from the public, whereas kings in the Middle Kingdom preferred to be depicted as the fallible (capable of making mistakes - human) shepherd of his land. Kings also had the responsibility of building public works and ensuring the welfare of citizens. The rise of power of the Nomarchs (governors of Egyptian provinces) in earlier periods was also troublesome - rulers had to gain their support while also controlling them. Facial features in portraits show Pharaohs with creases at the mouth, furrows in forehead and hollows under eyes - perhaps a reflection of the burden of kingship?

The Pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: “Lord of the Two Lands” and “High Priest of Every Temple”. As “Lord of the Two Lands”, he owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes and defended Egypt against foreigners. As “High Priest of Every Temple”, the pharaoh represented the gods of Earth. He performed daily rituals and built temples to honour the gods. Furthermore, the pharaoh has responsibility to protect his country from attacking enemies. He command the army to fight invaders and supervised all fortresses. He also made all laws, legal decisions and decided on punishments as well as maintaining trade within and outside Egypt and supervising all traffic along the Nile. The pharaoh of Ancient Egypt was also presented as symbolic father of the land and was seen as responsible for making sure his citizens has an adequate food supply. Since pharaoh was considered to be gods on Earth, he could allegedly control the Nile River’s floods that fertilized the surrounding farmland. 

The coronation was not a single event but a collection of ceremonies and festivals that could last an entire year. For this reason, the coronation year was not counted as part of the years a king reigned. The first year of a reign began after the coronation ended.

Appearance of the king: a ceremony held after assuming the throne and repeated every two years thereafter. It had three steps:

Sed Festival: meant to restore the pharaoh’s vital life force but the details of its events are not well documented. It was first held during the coronation and the pharaoh repeated it during the thirtieth year of his/her reign. After this point, the pharaoh held it every three years but some preformed it more often.

Sokar Festival: a celebration involving the construction of a sacred boat that the pharaoh pulled to the Nile or a sacred lake. After its celebration during the coronation year, this festival took place every six years. Sokar was a god of the underworld and a guardian of royal cemeteries.