The Sumerian goddess
Inanna, or
Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian
Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth.
Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the
sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome.