Welcome to New Year's, 2003 at Penney's Place! We would like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

The  new year is one of the few holidays that is celebrated by almost every culture in the world. Of course, not everyone celebrates it on the same day, and there are as many variations on how to celebrate it as there are cultures.

No matter when, where it how it is celebrated, the new year is looked upon as a time of renewal and new beginnings. All of us are familiar with those New Year's Resolutions that we rarely keep. *grin*

For those of us who are web addicts, here is a list of resolutions we know we won't keep!

A Brief History of the Celebration of New Year's Day

The tradition of celebrating the beginning of the New Year actually dates back as early as approximately 2000 B.C. - about 4000 years ago. The ancient Babylonians would begin an 11 day celebration with the first day of the New Moon after the Vernal Equinox (beginning of Spring). This was also known as Akitu. The purpose was to celebrate the Spring rains and the renewal of nature as well as of the people in the community.

Specific traditions were tied to each of the eleven days of their celebration. On the third day, the King's royal powers would be ceremoniously stripped and the Priest would hit the King in the face. The Priest would tell the King to leave and pray for his sins to be forgiven. This was known as the ritual of humiliation. Three days later, the King would return and his powers would be restored.

Ceremonies were performed to ensure that nature would support the King during the coming year. The next three days would include a plethora of activities, culminating in a grand feast on the 10th day to celebrate the restoration of order to the society.

The Ancient Romans continued the celebration of the New Year in late March, but the various emperors of the time took it upon themselves to change the calendar until it was far out of sync with the sun. In 153 B.C., in order to set the calendar right, the Roman Senate declared that the new year should begin on January 1st. However, the Roman Emperors still couldn't resist altering the calendar. It wasn't until Julius Caesar established the 'Julian Calendar' in 46 B.C. that the calendar became consistent with January 1 as the beginning of the new year.

However, in order to establish this calendar as it is today, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days to account for all the previous emperors tampering.

Let's Have Some New Year's Fun!

New Year Match Game     New Year's Jigsaw Puzzle     Alfy and the Time Capsule

New Year's Flashback     Count Down to the New Year
 

My Quilt for New Year's, 2003     New Year's Gifts from Internet Friends

Other Great New Year's Pages