New Year is one of the oldest holidays that have survived to this day. In different countries, it is sometimes celebrated at different times, but the very custom of celebrating the moment of the transition of the last day of one year on the first day of another unites many states.
It is difficult to say with certainty exactly when the New Year was first celebrated. Nevertheless, according to the guesses of scientists, this happened in Mesopotamia no later than the 3rd century BC. In addition, during the excavations, archaeologists found ancient Egyptian vessels, a thorough examination of which made it possible to establish that the Egyptians began to celebrate the New Year no later than in the II century BC, moreover, this holiday belonged to the category of religious. It was celebrated on the days when the Nile flooded. It was supposed to put in a big boat statues of the three most revered gods of Thebes - Amun, his wife Mut and son Khons. Then the boat was sent to sail along the Nile, and after the end of the holiday, the statues were returned to the temples.
It is also known that the New Year was celebrated in ancient Rome. There is no exact information to establish when exactly the Romans began to celebrate it. However, it is known that the first celebrations took place in Ancient Rome even before our era, moreover, the New Year was then celebrated in early March. With the introduction of the Julian calendar, which occurred in 46 BC, the celebration was postponed to January 1. On this day, it was supposed to give each other gifts, have fun, decorate the streets and houses. On New Year's Day, the masters could invite the slaves to sit with them at the same table, or even show the greatest mercy and grant freedom. It is also known that wealthy people had to prepare expensive gifts for the sovereign for this holiday.
In Russia, the New Year was first celebrated on March 1, but in the XIV century this holiday was postponed to September 1 in accordance with the peculiarities of the Greek calendar. In 1699, by decree of Peter I, the New Year was again postponed, this time to January 1. At the same time, the main attributes of the holiday were identified: Peter I ordered to put Christmas trees in houses and decorate them on New Year's, congratulate each other, wish all the best to the neighbors, give sweets to children and entertain. Thus, in Russia, the celebration of the New Year, which is most familiar to modern people, began in 1700.
