Theodor Herzl Gaster

This volume contains the translated text of the ancient Hebrew writings found in caves near the Dead Sea, plus separate introductions for each scroll as well as new translations of the Hymns and paraphrases of the Bible narratives by Professor Gaster, one of the world's leading Hebraists.

Treats of festivals, fasts, holy days--their origins, the rituals, the customs and their meaning in contemporary life. In tracing the holidays to the probably sources, the author goes back to pre-Biblical times where so many religious ideas have their common ground. Of special interest to students of comparative religion.

According to the translator and editor, these thirteen stories are literally the oldest in the world. Five are Babylonian, five Hittite, and three Canaanite. All were found written in cuneiform?

Wikipedia - "The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (retitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer. The Golden Bough was first published in two volumes in 1890; in three volumes in 1900; and in twelve volumes in the third edition, published 1906–1915. It has also been published in several different one-volume abridgments. The work was for a wide literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch's The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855). The influence of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature and thought has been substantial."

Describes the events of Passover and why and how it is celebrated each spring.