|
Not
all countries
celebrate New Year
at the same time,
nor in the same way.
This is
because people in different parts of the world use different calendars.
Long ago, people divided time into days, months, and years. Some
calendars are based on the movement of the moon, others are based on the
position of the sun, while others are based on both the sun and the
moon. All over the world, there are special
beliefs
about New Year.
|
|
Long
Ago Festivals
|
|
Ancient
Egypt
In
ancient Egypt, New Year was celebrated at the time the River Nile
flooded, which was near the end of September. The flooding of the Nile
was very important because without it, the people would not have been
able
to grow crops in the dry desert.
At
New Year, statues of the god, Amon and his wife and son
were taken up
the Nile by boat. Singing, dancing, and feasting was done for a month,
and then the statues were taken back to the temple.
|
|
Babylonia
Babylonia
lay
in what is now the country of Iraq. Their New Year was in the Spring.
During the festival, the king was
stripped
of his clothes and sent away, and for a few days everyone could do just
what they liked. Then the king returned in a grand procession, dressed
in
fine robes.
Then, everyone had to return to work and
behave properly.
Thus,
each New Year, the people
made a new start to
their lives.
|
|
The
Romans
For
a long time the Romans celebrated New Year on the first of March. Then,
in 46 BC, the Emperor Julius Caesar began a new calendar. It was the
calendar that we still use today, and thus the New Year date was changed
to the first day of January. January
is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two
heads. He looked back to the last year and forward to the new one.
The
Roman New Year festival was called the Calends, and people decorated
their homes and gave each other gifts.
Slaves and their
masters ate and
drank together, and people could do what they wanted to for a few days.
|
|
The
Celts
The
Celts were the people who lived in Gaul, now called France, and parts of
Britain before the Romans arrived there. Their New Year festival was
called Samhain. It took place at the end of October, and Samhain means
'summer's end'.
At
Samhain, the Celts
gathered mistletoe
to keep ghosts away, because they
believed this was the time when the ghosts of the dead returned
to haunt
the living.
|
|
Jewish
New Year
The
Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when people
think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and they promise
to do better in the future.
Special
services are held in synagogues, and an instrument called a Shofar,
which is made from a
ram's horn is played. Children are given new
clothes, and New Year
loaves are baked and fruit is eaten to remind
people of harvest time.
|
|
Muslim
New Year
The
Muslim calendar is based on the movements of the moon, so the date of
New Year is eleven days earlier each year. Iran
is a Muslim country which used to be called Persia. The people celebrate
New Year on March 21, and a few weeks before this date, people put
grains of
wheat or barley in a little dish to grow. By the time of New
Year, the grains have produced
shoots, and this reminds the people of
spring and a new year of life.
|
|
Hindu
New Year
Most
Hindus live in India, but they don't all celebrate New Year in the same
way or at the same time.
The
people of West Bengal, in
Northern India, like to wear flowers at New
Year, and they use flowers in the colors of pink, red, purple, or white.
Women like to wear yellow, which is the color of Spring.
In
Kerala, in
Southern India, mothers put food, flowers, and little gifts
on a special
tray. On New Year's morning, the children have to keep
their eyes closed until
they have been led to the tray.
In
Central India, orange flags
are flown from buildings on New Year's Day.
In
Gujarat, in
Western India, New Year is celebrated at the end of October,
and it is celebrated at the same time as the Indian festival of Diwali.
At the time of Diwali, small
oil lights are lit
all along the roofs of
buildings. At
New Year, Hindus think particularly of the
goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.
|
