In Ancient Egypt, 30 years into his reign a pharaoh had to run a circuit around posts during the Sed festival to legitimize his qualifications to rule.

Heb Thirst, Thirst Festival or Festival of royal renewal was possibly the most important celebration of the rulers of ancient Egypt. The purpose of this festival seems to have been the renewal of Pharaoh's physical strength and supernatural energy.

It is documented, along with other Egyptian festivities, in the Stone of Palermo from the time of the first dynasty, lasting until the Ptolemaic period, when this ceremony was translated into Greek as "the party of thirty years". Pharaoh Ramses II, seem to have celebrated his first Heb Thirst during the 30th year of his reign and then every third year, estimating that it was the general norm to celebrate the party, although there were some exceptions.