The book Christmas Traditions, by William M. Auld, states: “From the time of Julius Cæsar [46 B.C.E.] January 1 marked the beginning of the civil year and was a holiday season.” In addition, Auld reveals that “for at least three days feasting and merriment prevailed.”

“The earliest description of a New Year festival known to us comes from ancient Mesopotamia,” answers Theodor Gaster in his book New Year​—Its History, Customs and Superstitions. The clay tablets describing the New Year festival record “a program of ceremonies performed at Babylon since the remote days of the second millennium B.C.”

The Babylonian year started about the vernal equinox​—in the month of March. The celebration lasted 11 days and was centered around the worship of Marduk, the city god of Babylon. The vestiges of the New Year festival of Babylon, such as mummers’ plays and fertility rites, are still observed during New Year’s celebrations around the world. The mummers’ parade in the city of Philadelphia (U.S.A.) on New Year’s Day and the fertility festival held in Akita City (Japan) on the 17th of January are but two examples of such relics.