Three Centuries Before Christ's Birth, People Celeberated 25 December, Archaeologists Claim

Independent (UK) ^ | 12-24-2003 | Dr David Keys

[blam]

Three centuries before Christ's birth, people celebrated 25 December, archaeologists claim

By David Keys Archaelology Correspondent
24 December 2003

Archeologists say they have traced the origins of the first Christmas to be celebrated on 25 December, 300 years before the birth of Christ. The original event marked the consecration of the ancient world's largest sun god statue, the 34m tall, 200 ton Colossus of Rhodes.

It has long been known that 25 December was not the real date of Christ's birth and that the decision to turn it into Jesus's birthday was made by Constantine, the Roman Emperor, in the early 4th century AD. But experts believe the origins of that decision go back to 283 BC, when, in Rhodes, the winter solstice occurred at about sunrise on 25 December.

The event was preserved by academics on Rhodes or in Alexandria, and seems to have been passed to Caesar by the Hellenistic Egyptian scientists, who advised him on his calendrical reforms.

The date was chosen because the emperor seems to have believed that the Roman sun god and Christ were virtually one and the same, and the sun's birthday had been decreed as 25 December some 50 years earlier by one of Constantine's predecessors, the Emperor Aurelian. He, in turn, seems to have chosen 25 December because, ever since Julius Caesar's calendar reforms of 46 BC, that date had been fixed as the official winter solstice, even though the real date for the solstice in Caesar's time was 23 December.

Dr Alaric Watson, one of the British historians involved in the current research and author of the major book on the period, Aurelian and the Third Century, said: "Constantine's choice of 25 December as the day on which to celebrate the birth of his divine patron, Christ, must be viewed in terms of the tradition on which Aurelian had drawn and which may well have originated in the celebration of the winter solstice at Rhodes some six centuries earlier.

"Constantine clearly saw his divine patron, initially Sol Invictus but later Christ, in much the same way as Aurelian had done. The imagery of Christ, like that of the ruler cults of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, owed much to solar theology."

Jesus's real date of birth is not known, although various different pre-4th century traditions and computations put it either in the January to March period or in November.

[blam]

Ping.

[dandelion]

Jeez, like I guess they never heard of Saturnalia or Winter Solstice...

[MHGinTN]

I was under the impression that The Lion Of Juda was born in late July or August.

[dead]

Then Jesus taught them how to spell "celebrated".

[Khepera]

SO?

[ex-snook]

Maybe they found a coin marked 300 BC??

[troublesome creek]

A blinding flash of the obvious.

[Michael121]

Science seems to always go OUT OF ITS WAY to attack religion.

I am sure we can find someone celebrating the 4th of July before the US.... but we call it INDEPENDANCE DAY.... the druids mught have called it Tree Hugging or Human sacrifice day......

Science needs to find better uses for its time and money.... how about GETTING US TO MARS..... Better Space Ships......Better Coffee.....better cheese.....any of these would be worthwhile human endeavors...

[Ichneumon]

Many people would be surprised to learn how recently Christmas as we know it is (even leaving aside the whole "Santa Claus" mythos and focusing simply on the religious aspect), and how it was not always considered a "proper" religious day:

In colonial New England Thanksgiving, not Christmas, was the important seasonal holiday. Puritans passed an anti-Christmas law in 1659, repealed 1681. Christmas celebration was resisted by the Congregationalist Cotton Mather (1663-1728). First recorded post-repeal celebration was in 1686. Christmas was declared a holiday in Louisiana, 1837. Christmas was unimportant in the United States until 1880's when the church relented. In 1885 a law was enacted giving federal employees Christmas day off. Christmas declared a legal holiday in U.S. late (1894 or in this century).

The above passage is from American Christmas Origins, a fascinating look at the evolving nature of the holiday and its traditions.

[StonyBurk]

Pastor Arnold Murray ,Shepherds Chapel does an interesting
study of the biblical record of Christs' birth and suggests
(as have others that Christ was concieved in late Dec. and
a babe in the manger in March.Bears consideration for its'
logic.Our modern centrism ignores the fact that in the
Scripture there is evidence the Jews did recognize life
in the womb.

[steplock]

Yeah --- and WHAT else have you discovered? (the scientists?) The sun rises in east and sets in the west?

Halloween is a pagan holiday? What else have these ignorant excuses discovered that everyone else (over 40) has know all their lives?

[Campion]

Malachi 4:2

[nutmeg]

read later bump

[Ichneumon]

Science seems to always go OUT OF ITS WAY to attack religion.

Okay, I'll bite: Where's the "attack" that you managed to see somewhere in the historical account?

[Campion]

And then there's Revelation 1:16.

[icydanger]

great links, Ty
i was wondering

it doesn't seem like an attack from archeology to me, we are simply looking at roots of rituals.

[Revolting cat!]

It's a well known historical fact that at the time, they were celebrating the birth of Batboy!

[Ichneumon]

What else have these ignorant excuses discovered that everyone else (over 40) has know all their lives?

Gee, you actually already knew the details about how, when, and by whom the pre-Christian holiday originated, and the Christian holiday was linked to it? Somehow I don't think so.

Yes, most people know that the Christian holiday co-opted the pre-existing pre-Christian holiday. But the above article adds to our knowledge about the exact manner in which that occurred.

Why does this make you cranky?

[joesnuffy]

One of the decrees sent out from Caesar Augustus that Judeans must return to their birth places to register for tax purposes has been found..
Which was the reason that Joseph took his pregnant wife to Bethlehem...and due to the crowd
ended up in the stable where it was prophesied Jesus would be born