Worship of the sun, under it's myriad forms, has been around since neolothic times. Neolithic times (new stone ages) lasted from about 10,000 BCE to about 2,000 BCE (BCE=Before the Common Era, i.e., before the alleged Jesus was born. CE=Common Era).
Some of the best known sun worshippers were the Sumerians, the Egyptians and the Babylonians. They had all kinds of imaginative myths surrounding their worship. One of the common stories was that at the winter solstice (21st of December), as seen from the Middle East or thereabouts, the sun would stay low in the sky for three days and then start rising. It was said to "die" for three days and then resurrect, or rise from death.
