Feature
History of New Year's
Leah Ally
Volume 5 Issue 3
January 14, 2025

Image Provided by Max Ching
With the arrival of the new year of 2025 and the passing of 2024, it is a milestone worth celebrating. Whether it’s by watching the ball drop at Times Square, lighting fireworks, or making New Year’s resolutions, there are countless traditions that billions of people around the world look forward to. After all, a new year is often considered a clean slate and fresh start for many. However, why is January 1st considered the “new year” and how was it decided? While many may not think about it, there is a rich history behind New Year’s, its origins, and previous celebrations.
To really understand the origins of New Year’s we must go thousands of years back to Mesopotamia. Roughly around 2000 BCE was their first New Year’s celebration, which also marked the beginning of a harvest. However, this holiday acknowledged as “Akitu” took place during the Vernal or spring equinox, where there are 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime. While Mesopotamia is credited with the earliest celebration of New Year’s, ancient Rome is believed to have played an even more important role. This is because a change in the calendar was made. The original Roman calendar only contained 10 months with March 1st considered New Year’s Day. However, this calendar was based on the lunar cycle and had become misaligned with the seasons. Therefore, a more accurate system that aligned with the solar year had to be created. Julius Caesar would go on two more months, January and February to have a 12-month calendar known as the Julian calendar. The length of the months was also adjusted during this time to better reflect the Earth’s orbit around the sun, ensuring a more consistent and predictable year. January held a lot of importance as well because it was known to honor a Roman God known as Janus, who represented the past and the future. As a result, January 1st was determined to be New Year’s Day.
Nonetheless, even more reforms would be made to the calendar to form what is known as the Gregorian Calendar. This was created by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. It was based off of the 46 B.C Julian Calendar, only with minor changes made with days. This is when December 31st was officially coined as “New Year’s Eve”. To this day, the Gregorian Calendar is what is globally followed and accepted, with exceptions of Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia, and Nepal. The Gregorian Calendar holds significant importance as it is what determines the dates of holidays, days of the week, and months.
Now that the origins of New ear’s have been established and could be better understood, it is significant to discuss some popular traditions that people did to celebrate during ancient times. It is crucial to keep in mind that New Year’s was originally often celebrated in a way that incorporated religion, and mythology yet may have similarities to current traditions. For instance, in Mesopotamia festivals and parades were very common, however these celebrations were very focused on the gods and honoring them. This symbolized the gods rising above all to enter the new year. Another interesting ritual is that the current king at the time would have to kneel to a statue of the god Marduk and confirm that he was leading the city and its civilians correctly. While this appears to be humbling for the king, it represents a sense of loyalty to his people and a reminder of his purpose as not only a ruler, but a leader. In terms of denoting religious significance to their celebrations, Rome proved to be very similar. As previously mentioned, January was significant because it served as representation of Janus the god of the future and transition. Therefore, it was common for Romans to make offerings to Janus. Additionally, they prided themselves on generosity and contributing to their society. As a result, people often gave treats and gifts to the people around them and would even work for part of the day. It is clear both Mesopotamia and Rome considered New Year’s Day to be special particularly in terms of spirituality, but they also had their own individualistic perspectives about it. People have always believed the new year to be a chance to restart or be a new beginning for themselves. This belief encourages many people to seek improvement and look forward to their future with hope. In modern times it is referred to as New Year’s resolutions, but the same ideology has been around for ages.
New Year’s has a rich history in a variety of contexts that connect to how we celebrate today. From creations of new calendars to rituals, New Year’s has been through a constantly evolving process. It is no doubt that ancient times differ from our modern society, but it is interesting to learn about what has led to our current perspectives and traditions to ring in the new year. So as we celebrate the beginning of 2025, remember that the past continues to shape our future.
Sources:
The New Year’s Holiday, Explained: From Mesopotamia to Temecula, How We Celebrate the New Year
The History of New Year’s Eve | How NYE Celebrations Started