Origin of the Easter Egg

QUESTION: What is the origin of the Easter egg?

ANSWER:

Exchanging Easter eggs with one another is a custom that goes back thousands of years. Long before its association with Easter, the egg was a symbol of rebirth. Many ancient cultures used the egg to symbolize both rebirth and the universe. Ancient peoples such as the Persians, the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Gauls, and the Romans all used the egg in their springtime celebrations. Thus the origin of the Easter egg predates the origin of Christianity.

However, when Christianity spread to the lands of these ancient cultures, the exchanging of colored eggs became incorporated in the memorial celebration of Jesus' resurrection, the holy day that came to be known as Easter. These Easter eggs were colored and given as tokens to remind Christians of the tomb and Jesus' triumphant victory over death.