Dazed over the Day's

Sunday

So where do we get all the names of the days from that we have today, and why do we consider Sunday the first day of the week?  Why is church held for Christians on a Sunday and other religions celebrate on other days.   Rome had an awful lot to do with all of this as you will see if you read on.

The names of the days of the week have been taken from Teutonic and Roman deities. During the first Century CE after Jesus was crucified and martyred some 500 years later,  Rome decided that Saturday would be dedicated as the first day.  This experienced changes over time.  Sunday venerated the Sun, so this day became the allotted first day of the week due to its contemporary importance.  Sun worship was rife at that same time which is still evidenced today  in many church cathedrals in with the etching and statues and windows clearly depicting an astrological flavour.

Sunday
 dies solis (Latin)  meaning "sun's day":  A well venerated "Pagan Roman" church holiday.  It is also known as Dominica (Latin) which means the Day of God.  The three languages of French, Spanish, and Italian which all came about because of  Latin.  Noticeably the Latin root meanings can be seen in those languages.  English is derived from both Old Germanic and Latin and a smattering of others.
French: dimanche; Italian: domenica; Spanish: domingo
German: Sonntag; Dutch: zondag.

Monday
 Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, "the moon's day".  Day two was sacred to the goddess of the moon.
French: lundi; Italian: lunedi. Spanish: lunes. from Luna, "Moon"
German: Montag; Dutch: maandag.

Tuesday
The Norse god Tyr.   Rome  venerated their War-God Mars  (dies Martis)
French: mardi; Italian: martedi; Spanish: martes.
The Germans call Dienstag (meaning "Assembly Day"), in The Netherlands it is known as dinsdag, in Danmark as tirsdag and in Sweden tisdag.

Wednesday
To honor Wodan (Odin).
Rome venerated the God Mercury dies Mercurii,
French: mercredi; Italian: mercoledi; Spanish: miércoles.
German: Mittwoch; Dutch: woensdag.

Thursday
The Norse God Thor is responsible for Thursday like Thorsday. The Norse language refers to this day as Torsdag.  Rome named this day after Jupiter their most venerated god who was also known as Jove. dies Jovis ("Jove's Day")
French: jeudi; Italian: giovedi; Spanish: jueves.
German: Donnerstag; Dutch: donderdag.

Friday
The day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg.
Old High German - frigedag.
Rome committed Friday to the most sacred goddess Venus. (dies veneris).
French: vendredi; Italian: venerdi; Spanish: viernes.
German: Freitag ; Dutch: vrijdag.

Saturday
This day was "Saturn's Day" - (dies Saturni, Saturnalia) This is the day Rome honored Saturn.
Anglo-Saxon: sater daeg.
French: samedi; Italian: sabato; Spanish: sábádo.
German: Samstag; Dutch: zaterdag.
Swedish: Lördag; and in Danish and Norse: Lørdag ("washing day").

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week

Images @ Eminpee Fotography