What is Nowruz? Zoroastrians – West Asian holidays
Persepolis may have been built in the 500s BC as a place to celebrate Nowruz. What is the holiday of Nowruz? Zoroastrianism became much more popular suddenly when the Persian kings [...]
Persepolis may have been built in the 500s BC as a place to celebrate Nowruz. What is the holiday of Nowruz? Zoroastrianism became much more popular suddenly when the Persian kings [...]
Mordecai is leading Esther (on the horse) to talk to the Persian king. A fresco from the world's oldest preserved synagogue at Dura-Europos in Syria (244 AD) How did Purim [...]
Hanukkah history: a Canaanite amphora, for olive oil or wine (Bronze Age, about 1300 BC) A harvest festival Like all other farming communities, Jewish people celebrated harvest festivals when important crops were safely [...]
A Valentine from Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife in 1415 AD The Roman Lupercalia The earliest holiday that might conceivably have something to do with Valentine's Day is [...]
History of Thanksgiving: A map of Wampanoag village at Plymouth Bay in 1613 AD, just *before* the Puritans arrived. See the growing corn around each house? Green Corn Ceremony Beginning [...]
History of Halloween: Pumpkins growing When did Halloween get started? Halloween is a pretty new holiday - American children didn't start trick-or-treating on Halloween until about eighty years ago. Halloween [...]
A tree in Germany (late 1700s, by Joseph Keller) - History of Christmas trees Evergreens and the winter holidays Because Christmas is related to old celebrations of the winter solstice, evergreen trees have always [...]