[antiatheist]

Called The Precession of the Equinoxes or Axial Precesion, the ancient societies including Egypt were also aware of this, and even bronze age cultures may have been aware (golden hats, megalithic calendars) or atleast of the related 19 year lunisolar cycle.

iirc Christmas and other mythological holidays are related to the "birth" and "death" of the north star movements, along with the sun and venus.

[throw0101d]

> Called The Precession of the Equinoxes or Axial Precesion, the ancient societies including Egypt were also aware of this

The earliest ancients that seem to have figured it out were the Greeks around 200 BC. It is questionable/controversial whether the Ancient Egyptians knew about it:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession#Ancient_Egypt...

> iirc Christmas and other mythological holidays are related to the "birth" and "death" of the north star movements, along with the sun and venus.

Christmas is more likely linked to the day of Easter via the 'calculation hypothesis' than any astronomical event (or pagan celebration):

* https://historyforatheists.com/2024/12/pagan-christmas-again...

* https://historyforatheists.com/2023/12/interview-dr-philipp-...

[thaumasiotes]

Christmas is on the calendar day traditionally called the winter solstice; it seems unnecessary to look for another explanation than that already major event.

(The Romans at the relevant time were aware that the solstice didn't actually occur on the 25th, but the 25th was the traditional day of the solstice.)

[adrian_b]

Actually the solstice occurred on the 25th during the years immediately after the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. This is when the 25th has become the traditional date for what has later been reinterpreted as Christmas.

Before the Julian calendar, the solstices occurred on random dates of the Roman calendar, because the duration of the Roman year differed very much from the duration of the solar year.

Today it occurs around the 22th as a consequence of the Gregorian calendar reform, which has not restored the solstices and equinoxes from the beginning of the Christian era, but those from around 325 AD, when the Christian algorithm for computing the date of Easter has been established (First Council of Nicaea).

Between Julius Caesar and the 4th century AD, 3 days of offset in the solstices and equinoxes had accumulated, due to the difference in duration between the Julian year and the tropical year.