The New Year is always celebrated with joy by people all over the world. Usually, the turn of the Christian year which takes place from December 31 to January 1 is celebrated with festive parties, making resolutions, and so on. Then, how did the history of the Christian New Year celebration begin?
Pioneered by the people of Mesopotamia
The celebration of the turn of the year or the new year has been carried out by the Mesopotamian people around 2000 BC. They celebrate the turn of the year when the sun is directly above the equator, which is now March 20. Such a traditional celebration is called Nowruz, which is still practiced today in some Middle Eastern countries. After that, civilizations around the world were also recorded as celebrating the new year based on different events. For example, in China, the new year is marked when the second new moon occurs after the winter solstice.
New Year Celebration on January 1st
New Year's celebrations on January 1 were first held in 46 BC, during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar. At that time, Julius Caesar decided to change the Roman calendar which consisted of 10 months (304 days), which was made by Romulus in the 8th century. In designing the new calendar, Julius Caesar was assisted by Sosigenes, an astronomer from Alexandria, Egypt. Sosigenes suggested that a new calendar be based on the revolution of the sun, as the ancient Egyptians did. After that, January 1 was officially designated as the first day of the year, where a year consists of 365 quarter days. The name January is taken from the name of the god in Roman mythology, namely the god Janus, who has two faces facing forward and backward. The Romans believed that Janus was the god of beginnings as well as the god of entrances. Julius Caesar also agreed to add 67 days to 45 BC, so that 46 BC began on January 1. In honor of the god Janus, the Romans held a celebration every December 31 at midnight to welcome January 1. In addition, Julius Caesar ordered once every four years, one day was added in February. This calendar became known as the Julian Calendar, after Julius Caesar.
New Year's Eve Celebration
When the Julian Calendar was first implemented, it had not yet entered the Christian year. The New Year is calculated from the birth of Isa Al-Masih of Nazareth, which was adopted in Western Europe around the 8th century. In its development, the Julian Calendar was modified in such a way as to become the Gregorian Calendar. The Gregorian calendar created by Dr. Aloysius Lilius was approved by the supreme leader of Catholics in the Vatican, Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. This Gregorian Calendar system was later established by countries around the world. Since then, every December 31 night, New Year's Eve celebrations have been celebrated all over the world. However, some Muslim figures are of the opinion that celebrating the New Year according to Islam is not allowed. Meanwhile, in the view of other scholars, the celebration of the new year can be celebrated with reasonable limits and as a sign of gratitude to God.
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