The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals（parades） with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.
Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god - Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.
The Mesopotamian king would return to the temple of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the god. The traditions called for the king to die at the end of the year and to return with Marduk to battle at his side.
To spare their king, the Mesopotamians used the idea of a “mock” king. A criminal was chosen and dressed in royal clothes. He was given all the respect and privileges of a real king. At the end of the celebration the “mock” king was stripped of the royal clothes and slain, sparing the life of the real king.
The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey.
Early Europeans believed in evil spirits, witches, ghosts and trolls. As the Winter Solstice approached, with its long cold nights and short days, many people feared the sun would not return. Special rituals and celebrations were held to welcome back the sun.
In Scandinavia during the winter months the sun would disappear for many days. After thirty-five days scouts would be sent to the mountain tops to look for the return of the sun. When the first light was seen the scouts would return with the good news. A great festival would be held, called the Yuletide, and a special feast would be served around a fire burning with the Yule log. Great bonfires would also be lit to celebrate the return of the sun. In some areas people would tie apples to branches of trees to remind themselves that spring and summer would return.
The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.
The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of “Jo Saturnalia!” the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae （lucky fruits）。
The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.
“Jo Saturnalia!” was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians though it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.
But as Christianity spread they were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts. At first the Church forbid this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail. Eventually it was decided that the celebration would be tamed and made into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God.
Some legends claim that the Christian “Christmas” celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.
The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas. 圣誕
圣誕節的歷史可以追溯到4000年。我們的許多傳統的圣誕節前的基督孩子出生慶祝百年。圣誕節的12天，明亮的火災，尤爾日志，禮品，嘉年華會（游行）與提供花車，carolers誰唱的同時挨家挨戶去，節日假期，
游行和教會都可以追溯到早期的米所波大米。
這些傳統的許多人開始與美索不達米亞的新年慶祝活動。在米所波大米相信許多神靈，是他們的主要神-馬爾杜克。每年冬天來到，相信馬爾都將與混亂的怪物戰斗。為了幫助他的斗爭馬爾杜克的米所波大米召開了一個新年。這是Zagmuk,
新年的節日，對于12天之久。
美索不達米亞國王將回到馬爾杜克廟，發誓忠實于他的神。所謂的國王死的傳統在今年年底與馬爾杜克回到他身邊戰斗。
騰出他們的國王，用的米所波大米的“模擬”國王的想法。阿犯罪被選為王室和穿著。他是獲得一切的尊重和真正的國王特權。在慶�；顒拥慕Y束“模擬”國王被剝去了衣服和皇家被殺，不遺余力的真正的國王的生活。
波斯人和巴比倫人一個類似的慶祝節日稱為Sacaea.這一慶�；顒拥囊徊糠郑ń涣鞯牡胤�，將成為奴隸的主人和主人的服從。
早期歐洲人相信惡鬼，巫婆，鬼，巨魔。隨著冬至的臨近，其漫長寒冷的夜晚，短天，許多人擔心太陽將不會返回。特別儀式和慶典活動，歡迎回太陽。
在斯堪的納維亞在冬季，太陽會消失了很多天。經過三五天球探將被送到山頂尋找太陽的回報。當第一道曙光，看到的球探將返回的好消息。偉大的藝術節將舉行，稱為圣誕季節，和特殊的節日，應該是與圣誕節壁爐燃燒服務。
大篝火也將點燃慶祝太陽的回報。在一些地區的群眾會配合蘋果的樹枝，以提醒自己，春天和夏天將返回。
古希臘人舉行了節日類似Zagmuk人/ Sacaea節，以協助他們的神克羅諾斯誰的激戰神宙斯和他的巨人。
羅馬的慶祝他們的神土星。他們被稱為農神節始于12月中旬和1月1日結束。的呼聲！的“喬農神節”慶祝活動將包括在街道偽裝，大節聚餐，訪友，以及吉祥禮品稱為Strenae（）幸運水果交流。
羅馬人打扮與用蠟燭點燃的桂冠，并綠樹花環的大廳。同樣的主人和奴隸，交流的地方。
“喬農神節！”是一個有趣和羅馬節日的時間，但基督徒雖然令人深惡痛絕的榮譽異教的神。早期的基督徒要保持自己的基督孩子莊嚴的宗教節日，而不是一個歡樂的歡呼和生日是異教徒的農神節。
但隨著基督教的傳播，他們震驚的是異教習俗和他們之間的轉換農神節慶�；顒映掷m。起初教會禁止這種類型的慶�；顒�。但這是徒勞的。最后，決定慶祝會被制服并轉化為基督教的上帝的兒子慶祝合適的。
一些報道聲稱，基督教“圣誕節”的慶祝活動競爭的發明12異教徒的慶�；顒印５�25屆不僅是神圣的羅馬人，波斯人，而且密特拉教的宗教是基督教的主要對手之一，當時。教會終于成功地采取了歡樂，燈光，
從Saturanilia節日禮品，并給他們帶來的圣誕慶祝活動。
基督的孩子出生的確切天從來沒有被點名。傳統說，這是自公元98年慶祝。公元137年羅馬主教下令基督兒童生日宴會慶祝莊嚴。在公元350另羅馬朱利葉一，主教選擇12月，圣誕節的慶祝第25位。
