May each day of the new year bring you much to be thankful for, much to be happy about, and much to look forward to! New Year The arrival of a new year is celebrated in various different ways all over the world and, in some countries, on different dates. However, most western countries now regard 1 January as being the start of the new year despite it having no religious or agricultural significance. The first recorded celebration of the New Year was about 4000 years ago in Babylon, which was in what is now known as Iraq. It was celebrated on 23 March (although there was no written calendar at that time) which the start of spring, when new crops were planted and people could look forward to the harvest that would follow. The Babylonian celebrations lasted for eleven days with different festivities taking place on each day. One of the main events was for the king to be stripped of his clothes and sent away, allowing everyone to do as they wished. At the end of the celebratory period the king would return, dressed in fine robes, at which point everyone had to return to work and behave properly again. This allowed people to make a new start to their lives each year. In ancient Egypt, the New Year was celebrated towards the end of September, when the River Nile flooded. This was because the flooding allowed crops to be grown in the arid desert. Statues of the god Amon and his wife would be taken up the Nile by boat and there was singing, dancing and feasting for a month before the statues were taken back to their temples. The Romans continued to observe the New Year on 25 March, the start of spring. Unfortunately, due to a number of changes in the calendar by various emperors, the date soon became out of synch with the sun and in 153 BC the Roman Senate declared 1 January to be the beginning of the new year. This didn't stop different emperors playing about with the calendar until, in 46 BC, Julius Caesar established what became known as the Julian calendar. However, in order to bring it into synchronisation with the sun the previous year had to last for 445 days! The Roman New Year festival was called the Calends and people celebrated by decorating their homes and giving each other gifts. Slaves and their masters ate and drank together and people could do what they wanted to for a few days. January was named after the Roman god Janus, who is always shown as having two heads - one looking back to the old year and the other looking forward to the new one. The Celts New Year festival was called Samhain (meaning 'summer's end') which took place at the end of October. At this time they would gather mistletoe to keep the ghosts of the dead away and stop them from returning to haunt the living. Up until the Middle Ages the Christian Church remained opposed to recognising the celebration of New Year and it is only in the last 400 years or so that it has been celebrated as a holiday by many western nations. Around the world these celebrations include New Year's Day parades with decorated floats and bands and in a number of places - including Canada and the United Kingdom - there is a traditional New Year's Day swim where people of all ages put on their bathing suits and plunge into the icy cold water. In many places it is traditional to celebrate the arrival of the new year in the company of family and friends and therefore on New Year's Eve many people hold parties which last until late into the night. At midnight a toast is drunk to the year ahead and round the world many people sing 'Auld Lang Syne'. However, not many people know that it was partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, being based on earlier variations of the song which were sung prior to 1700. It was first published in 1796 after his death and means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days." AULD LANG SYNE by Robert Burns Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syne. And here's my hand my trusty frien', and gie's a hand o' thine; we'll take a right gude-willi waught for days of auld lang syne. For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syne. Back To Main Index Back To Christmas Index