“The early Christian church did not celebrate Jesus’ birth. It wasn’t until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ. This was not based on any religious evidence but on a pagan feast. Saturnalia was a tradition inherited by the Roman pagans from an earlier Babylonian priesthood. December 25 was used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god. It was observed near the winter solstice. The apostles in the Bible predicted that some Christians would adopt pagan beliefs to enable them to make their religion more palatable to the pagans around them. Therefore, some scholars think the church chose the date of this pagan celebration to interest them in Christianity. The pagans were already used to celebrating on this date. The Bible itself tells us that December 25 is an unlikely date for His birth. Palestine is very cold in December. It was much too cold to ask everyone to travel to the city of their fathers to register for taxes. Also, the shepherds were in the fields (Luke 2:8-12). Shepherds were not in the fields in the wintertime. They are in the fields early in March until early October. This would place Jesus’ birth in the spring or early fall. It is also known that Jesus lived for 33.5 years and died at the feast of the Passover, which is at Easter time. He must therefore have been born six months the other side of Easter – making the date around the September/October time frames.” (Citation: “Was Jesus Born on December 25?” by All About Jesus – Article Link: https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/was-jesus-born-on-december-25-faq.htm) Christmas & The Weeping of Tammuz – LuvsCure Ministries https://luvscureministries.com/2021/12/24/christmas-the-weeping-of-tammuz/ The cult of Tammuz centred around two yearly festivals, one celebrating his marriage to the goddess Inanna, the other lamenting his death at the hands of demons from the netherworld. During the 3rd dynasty of Ur (c. 2112-c. 2004 BC) in the city of Umma (modern Tell Jokha), the marriage of the god was dramatically celebrated in February-March, Umma's Month of the Festival of Tammuz. . . . The celebrations in March-April that marked the death of the god also seem to have been dramatically performed. Many of the laments for the occasion have as a setting a procession out into the desert to the fold of the slain god. What the Bible says about Tammuz https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/805/Tammuz.htm