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Bas-relief of Mithras looking to Sol Invictus as he slays the bull. Inscription top line: Soli Invicto Deo. It is often stated (e.g. by Encyclopaedia Britannica, [20] [21] the Catholic Encyclopedia, [22] [c] and others [23] [24]) that Mithras was born on December 25. Beck (1987) [25] argues that this is unproven. He writes:
"The Mithraic Mysteries had no public ceremonies of its own. The festival of Natalis Invicti, held on 25 December, was a general festival of the Sun, and by no means specific to the Mysteries of Mithras." [44] Mithraic initiates were required to swear an oath of secrecy and dedication. [45]
In AD 362, the emperor Julian wrote in his Hymn to King Helios that the Agon Solis was held in late December, between the end of the Saturnalia and the New Year. [54] Julian says it is dedicated to Helios and the "Invincible Sun". [55] Most scholars therefore date the festival to December 25 and associate it with the Natalis Solis Invicti. [56]
December 25 was commonly indicated as the date of the winter solstice, [e] with the first detectable lengthening of daylight hours. The Philocalian calendar of AD 354, part VI, gives a festival of NATALIS INVICTI on 25 December. There is limited evidence that this festival was celebrated before the mid-4th century.
The day on which the day-name and month-name dedications intersect is (like all other such intersections) dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, and is celebrated with a Jashan (from Avestan Yasna, "Worship") in honor of that Divinity. In the case of Mithra, this was Jashan-e Mehregan, or just Mehregan for short.
The Bible never states when Jesus was born, [161] [162] [163] but, by late antiquity, Christians had begun celebrating his birth on 25 December. [162] In 274 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelian had declared 25 December the birthdate of Sol Invictus, a sun god of Syrian origin whose cult had been vigorously promoted by the earlier emperor Elagabalus.
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Likewise there is, in fact, no source that corroborates the often repeated assertion that December 25th was a feast in Mithraism. What all this adds up to, is that December 25th is attested as a Christian feast day earlier than as a feast day of the sun god - namely in the 330s. Initially Christmas is attested only in Rome itself.