Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays?
A brief overview of the popular celebration
Birthdays are big business in modern society. Everyone has one and they are celebrated religiously from the very first to the last. This wasn’t always the case. In fact, celebrating each and every birthday with food, gifts, and fellowship is a relatively recent development in human social society.
Even if modern people don’t go all out in celebrating their special day, everyone knows what their birthday is and acknowledges it when it comes around each and every year.
So, why do we celebrate the day of our birth? The answer begins thousands of years ago in the very earliest human societies.
The earliest account of a birthday
The first reliable account of a birthday being recognized comes to us from the Bible. In Genesis, the ancient text states that the Pharaoh was celebrating his birthday. The passage reads:
“Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: He restored…
