It wasn’t until the 4th century that Christians abandoned that way of thinking and began celebrating the birth of Jesus, also know as Christmas. This lasted for the first few hundred years of the existence of the Christian Church. ![]() In Christianity, it is believed that all people are born with “original sin.” That, in combination with early birthdays being tied to pagan gods, led Christians to consider birthdays to be celebrations of evil. Birthdays were first considered to be a pagan ritual in Christian culture. Female birthdays were not celebrated until about the 12th century. But an important thing to note is that only men would experience this birthday celebration. The government, however, created public holidays in honor of more famous citizens.Īny Roman turning 50 years old would receive a special cake baked with wheat flour, olive oil, grated cheese, and honey. Regular Roman citizens would celebrate the birthdays of their friends and family members. This seems to be the first time in history where a civilization celebrated the birth of non-religious figures. The ancient Romans were the first to celebrate the birth of the common “man.” Noisemakers were also used to scare away the unwanted evil. They would give gifts to bring even more good cheer that would ward off evil spirits. In addition to candles, friends and family would gather around the birthday person and protect them from harm with good cheers, thoughts, and wishes. This implies that birthday celebrations started as a form of protection. They lit candles in response to these spirits almost as if they represented a light in the darkness. They, like many other pagan cultures, thought that days of major change, such as these “birth” days, welcomed evil spirits. It is assumed that the Greeks adopted the Egyptian tradition of celebrating the “birth” of a god. Birthdays first started as a form of protection. Blowing out the candles with a wish is another way of sending that message to the gods. The candles also symbolized the sending of a signal or prayer. The lunar goddess, Artemis, was no different.Īs a tribute to her, the Greeks would offer up moon-shaped cakes adorned with lit candles to recreate the glowing radiance of the moon and Artemis’ perceived beauty. Greeks offered many tributes and sacrifices to appease these gods. Gods and goddesses were a huge part of Greek culture. You can thank Greeks for all those birthday candles. This spirit kept watch and had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday that particular individual was born. Pagans, such as the ancient Greeks, believed that each person had a spirit that was present on the day of his or her birth. This was a moment in their lives that became more important than even their physical birth. When Egyptian pharaohs were crowned in ancient Egypt, they were considered to have transformed into gods. But further study implies that this was not their birth into the world, but their “birth” as a god. and was in reference to a Pharaoh’s birthday. Scholars who study the Bible say that the earliest mention of a birthday was around 3,000 B.C.E. From this type of tracking system came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other significant events and anniversaries each year. This is what bore the first calendars, which marked time changes and other special days. ![]() They began marking these changes in time. They also noticed this pattern repeated itself over and over again. It wasn’t until ancient people began taking note of the moon’s cycles that they began paying attention to the change in seasons as well. ![]() This made it difficult for them to pay attention to the anniversary of a person’s birth.Īs time went on, everyone realized that they all experienced the effects of aging, they just didn’t have a means to mark a special milestone for it. Birthdays didn’t begin until calendars were created.Įarly civilizations had no way to keep track of time other than by using the moon, sun, or some other important event. We’ve pieced together the hypotheses of several historians, making this one huge piece of our culture a little bit more comprehensible. This widely used tradition started somewhere and that’s what we are looking to uncover here today. ![]() It’s been constantly evolving throughout, turning into what we know it to be today. Have you ever wondered where the celebration of birthdays started? In the simplest of terms, it’s a time for friends and family to come together and celebrate you, the anniversary of your birth, and another year of your life under your belt.īut there’s so much more to it than that.
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