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(babylonians?)
(the magi (/ˈmædʒaɪ/ or /ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular: magus; greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the (three) wise men or (three) kings, were, in the ‘gospel of matthew’ and ‘christian tradition’, a group of ‘distinguished foreigners’ who visited ‘jesus’ after his birth, bearing gifts of ‘gold’, ‘frankincense’ and ‘myrrh’)
(they are regular figures in traditional accounts of the ‘nativity’ celebrations of ‘christmas’ and are an important part of ‘christian tradition’)
(according to ‘matthew’, the only 1 of the 4 ‘canonical gospels’ to mention the ‘magi’, they came “from the east” to worship the “king of the jews”)
(the phrase from the east (ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν), more literally from the rising [of the sun], is the only information ‘matthew’ provides about the region from which they came)
(although the account does not mention the number of ‘magi’, the 3 gifts has led to the widespread assumption that there were 3 men)
(in ‘eastern christianity’, especially the ‘syriac’ churches, the ‘magi’ often number ’12’)
(their identification as ‘kings’ in later christian writings is probably linked to ‘psalms 72:11’, “may all kings fall down before him”)
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