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The
History of Christmas
The
history of Christmas dates back over 4000
years. Many of our Christmas traditions were
celebrated centuries before the Christ child
was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the
bright fires, the yule log, the giving of
gifts, carnivals (parades) with floats,
carolers who sing while going from house to
house, the holiday feasts, and the church
processions can all be traced back to the
early Mesopotamians.
 Many
of these traditions began with the
Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The
Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as
their chief god - Marduk. Each year as
winter arrived it was believed that Marduk
would do battle with the monsters of chaos.
To assist Marduk in his struggle the
Mesopotamians held a festival for the New
Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's
festival that lasted for 12 days.
The
Mesopotamian king would return to the temple
of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the
god. The traditions called for the king to
die at the end of the year and to return
with Marduk to battle at his side.
To
spare their king, the Mesopotamians used the
idea of a "mock" king. A criminal
was chosen and dressed in royal clothes. He
was given all the respect and privileges of
a real king. At the end of the celebration
the "mock" king was stripped of
the royal clothes and slain, sparing the
life of the real king.
The
Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a
similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of
that celebration included the exchanging of
places, the slaves would become the masters
and the masters were to obey.
Early
Europeans believed in evil spirits, witches,
ghosts and trolls. As the Winter Solstice
approached, with its long cold nights and
short days, many people feared the sun would
not return. Special rituals and celebrations
were held to welcome back the sun.
In
Scandinavia during the winter months the sun
would disappear for many days. After
thirty-five days scouts would be sent to the
mountain tops to look for the return of the
sun. When the first light was seen the
scouts would return with the good news. A
great festival would be held, called the
Yuletide, and a special feast would be
served around a fire burning with the Yule
log. Great bonfires would also be lit to
celebrate the return of the sun. In some
areas people would tie apples to branches of
trees to remind themselves that spring and
summer would return.
The
ancient Greeks held a festival similar to
that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to
assist their god Kronos who would battle the
god Zeus and his Titans.
The
Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their
festival was called Saturnalia which began
the middle of December and ended January
1st. With cries of "Jo
Saturnalia!" the celebration would
include masquerades in the streets, big
festive meals, visiting friends, and the
exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae
(lucky fruits).
The
Romans decked their halls with garlands of
laurel and green trees lit with candles.
Again the masters and slaves would exchange
places.
"Jo
Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time
for the Romans, but the Christians though it
an abomination to honor the pagan god. The
early Christians wanted to keep the birthday
of their Christ child a solemn and religious
holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as
was the pagan Saturnalia.
But
as Christianity spread they were alarmed by
the continuing celebration of pagan customs
and Saturnalia among their converts. At
first the Church forbid this kind of
celebration. But it was to no avail.
Eventually it was decided that the
celebration would be tamed and made into a
celebration fit for the Christian Son of
God.
Some
legends claim that the Christian
"Christmas" celebration was
invented to compete against the pagan
celebrations of December. The 25th was not
only sacred to the Romans but also the
Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of
Christianity's main rivals at that time. The
Church eventually was successful in taking
the merriment, lights, and gifts from the
Saturanilia festival and bringing them to
the celebration of Christmas.
The
exact day of the Christ child's birth has
never been pinpointed. Traditions say that
it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD.
In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the
birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a
solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of
Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the
observance of Christmas.
Source:
www.holidays.net
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