by Leslie Cox; Monday; January 1, 2024

Did you know…

            …the earliest New Year’s festivals were held in Mesopotamia dating back as early as about 2000 BCE?

Evidence revealed the festival was held during the first new moon after the spring equinox in Babylonia…around the middle of March.

In Assyria, the New Year festival was celebrated during the new moon nearest to the autumn equinox…about the middle of September.

The Phoenicians, Persians and Egyptians celebrated their New Year festival on the autumn equinox…around September 21.

The early Greeks celebrated their festival on the winter solstice…around December 21.

According to the Roman republican calendar, their New Year festival was celebrated on March 1, but was officially switched to January 1 after 153 BCE.

The January 1 date for New Year’s was carried over into the Julian calendar in 46 BCE.