Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
December 16, 2004 Thursday
History, legend and tradition
THE history of Christmas dates back more than 5000 years, the
traditions we now associate with December 25 were celebrated
centuries before the Christ child was born.
The concept of Christmas originated in ancient Egypt in the days of
King Osiris and Queen Isis around about 3000BC.
After the untimely death of King Osiris, his wife Isis claimed a
full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead stump,
symbolising the new life of the king’s spirit from his death.
On each anniversary of Osiris’s birth – the date we now know as
December 25 – Isis would leave gifts around this tree.
Isis became the Queen of Heaven and Osiris became the reborn divine
son of heaven. Through the later Phoenicians, Osiris became Baal the
sun god.
The mother and child became the Babylonian’s objects of worship, the
trend spread across the world under various names – Cybel and Deoius
in Asia, Fortuna and Jupiter in pagan Rome.
The 12 days of Christmas, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carol
singers and feasts can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
The Mesopotamians believed Marduk – the ruler of all their gods –
waged war on the monsters of chaos each winter. To help Marduk in his
struggle the Mesopotamians held a 12-day festival.
The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated Sacaea, a similar
festival featuring an exchange of roles; slaves became masters and
masters obeyed.
Early Europeans feared the sun would not return after the December
winter solstice, rituals and celebrations welcomed the sun after the
shortest day of the year.
In Scandinavia, the sun disappears for days during winter.
In ancient times, a sunless 35 days saw scouts scurry to the
mountaintops in search of the sun. At the first glimpse of light, the
great yuletide festival would be held with a special feast served
around a fire burning with the Yule log.
Across the land bonfires would be lit and apples tied to tree
branches as a reminder of the return of the warmer season.
The ancient Greeks celebrated the victory of their god Kronos against
Zeus and the Titans in December and the Roman’s celebrated their god
Saturn during the Saturnalia festival from mid-December to January 1.
The celebration involved festive feasts, visits with friends, and the
exchange of gifts called strenae or lucky fruits. The Romans decked
their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles.
As Christianity spread across the globe, church leaders became
increasingly cranky about the continuing pagan festivals. They tried
to put a stop to the fun and games but gave up and combined old
traditions with the new enlightenment.
The exact day of the Christ child’s birth is not reliably recorded
but it has been celebrated since 98AD. According to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, some Latins may have transferred the birthday of Christ
from January 6 to December 25 around 354AD. December 25 was then a
Mithraic feast or the birthday of the unconquered Sun.
The Syrians and Armenians clung to January 6 accusing the Romans of
sun worship and idolatry, claiming the December 25 festival was
invented by the disciples of Cerinthus.
In 137AD, the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child
celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350AD, Julius I – another Bishop of
Rome – chose December 25 as the day to celebrate.