December 25 was Saturnalia in Roman times which is where the idea of the gift giving comes from. Whether the Christians used this date to convert the Romans from their own belief system to Christianity is a moot point. Is that what Saturanlia is about, and is it related to it.

Egyptian/Babylonian traditions pre-date Roman and I've studied a little about both cultures but I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out to me :)