4000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages [Hardcover]

Earl Count (Author), Alice Count (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

What if our entire civilization could write its own memoirs and tell the complete story of Christmas past? Surprisingly, the tale would begin not in Bethlehem, but two thousand years earlier in the cradle of civilization. It would be a nostalgic story involving Christians and non-Christians alike. Babylonians Greeks, and Romans - whose ancient customs became part of the Christmas celebration - would people its pages. We would see early Europeans hanging fir sprigs and winter greenery to renew life and protect against the cold blasts of Arctic wind. People who had not yet learned of the Christ child would be burning Yule logs. Of course, the most important chapter in these memoirs would take place in a manger surrounded by Wise Men and marked with a brilliant star. But the tale would continue on for another two thousand years as generation after generation added to the customs of Christmas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Ulysses Press (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569750874
• ISBN-13: 978-1569750872
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An explaination of solstice and christmas celebration, December 25, 1999

By 

P. Maki (Brooklyn, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 4000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages (Hardcover)

I bought 4000 Years of Christmas because I'm very interested in the history of Christmas and winter solstice celebration and wanted some background on where it all began. Carl and Alice Count's book, 4000 Years of Christmas, answered much for me. It linked the pre-Christian Mesopotamian 12 days of merry-making and their need to have a rebirth of their king each year to fight the old gods who were reclaiming the earth in order to renew the land. The Counts then explained how these celebrations were adopted by the Greeks and Romans, and how separately these early Mesopotamian celebrations moved north via trade routes up the Danube River to an emerging Northern culture. The Counts further reveal that Christ's birth day was not celebrated for nearly 400 years, and that the Roman Saturnalia celebration -- a celebration developed out the Mesopotamian one, was held at the winter solstice to honor the renewing of light and the end of the long nights -- and that 4th Century Christians chose the finale day of Saturnalia (December 25) as the day of Christ's birth in hope of garnering peasant support. The interesting tie they make is that of the change in the perception of Gods -- from ones that are abitrary and sometimes vindictive to one like Jesus Christ who offers love, grace, kindness to all -- including children. After exploring the Christian development, the Counts explore the development of the Germanic god Woden and the Scandinavian god Odin, explaining how they evolved into Santa Claus and mixed with the Christian celebations, and how the history of St. Nickalus was developed. In short, this is good reading and it offers a nice, short synopsis of the development of our familar winter Christmas celebrations and how Christian and early pagan celebrations evolved.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Christmas Gift, October 2, 2002

By 

William Evenson (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 4000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages (Hardcover)

This is a delightful, well-rounded explanation of the development of the holiday we know as Christmas. Readers interested in learning about the origins of our celebration will likely be well pleased with what these authors have to offer. Those who seek reinforcement of their own viewpoints or advocacy of particular religious interpretations of the season might look elsewhere.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The hopes and fears of all the years, November 30, 2004

By 

James A. Altman (Stanley, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 4000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages (Hardcover)

A quick, fascinating read into the anthropology of religion as seen through the lens of a single holiday. As Joseph Campbell would illustrate in much greater detail in his landmark work,"The Hero with a Thousand Faces," Dr. Count demonstrates the underlying unity in all the divergent historical religious sources of Christmas traditions. Humankind has shared common hopes, fears, and the need for redemption throughout history, which share resolution in remarkably parallel religious practices around the date set for Christmas. Rather than see this as a challenge to Christian primacy, Count sees the parallel hopes and fears behind these divergent practices finding their most complete resolution in the context of the Christian celebration. It is as Phillips Brooks wrote, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met [in Bethlehem]," in the birth of the Christ Child.