Magi (PLUR),[a] ormagus (SING),[b] is the term for priests inZoroastrianism and earlierIranian religions. The earliest known use of the wordmagi is in the trilingual inscription written byDarius the Great, known as theBehistun Inscription.Old Persian texts, predating theHellenistic period, refer to a magus as aZurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.
Pervasive throughout theEastern Mediterranean andWest Asia untillate antiquity and beyond,mágos (μάγος) was influenced by (and eventually displaced) Greekgoēs (γόης), the older word for a practitioner ofmagic, with a meaning expanded to includeastronomy,astrology,alchemy, and other forms ofesoteric knowledge. This association was in turn the product of the Hellenistic fascination forPseudo-Zoroaster, who was perceived by the Greeks to be theChaldean founder of the Magi and inventor of both astrology and magic, a meaning that still survives in the modern-day words "magic" and "magician".
In theGospel of Matthew,"μάγοι" (magoi) from the east do homage to theChrist Child,[1] and the transliterated plural "magi" entered English fromLatin in this context around 1200 AD (this particular use is also commonly rendered in English as "kings" and more often in recent times as "wise men").[2] The singular "magus" appears considerably later, when it was borrowed fromOld French in the late 14th century with the meaningmagician.
Hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood has survived in India[3][4] and Iran. They are termedHerbad,Mobad (Magupat, i.e. chief of the Maga), andDastur depending on the rank.
The term only appears twice in Iranian texts from before the 5th century BC, and only one of these can be dated with precision. This one instance occurs in the trilingualBehistun inscription ofDarius the Great, and which can be dated to about 520 BC. In this trilingual text, certain rebels have magian as an attribute; in theOld Persian portion asmaγu- (generally assumed to be a loan word fromMedian). The meaning of the term in this context is uncertain.[5]
The other instance appears in the texts of theAvesta, the sacred literature of Zoroastrianism. In this instance, which is in theYounger Avestan portion, the term appears in thehapaxmoghu.tbiš, meaning "hostile to themoghu", wheremoghu does not (as was previously thought) mean "magus", but rather "a member of the tribe"[6] or referred to a particular social class in the proto-Iranian language and then continued to do so in Avestan.[7]
An unrelated term, but previously assumed to be related, appears in the older GathicAvestan language texts. This word, adjectivalmagavan meaning "possessingmaga-", was once the premise that Avestanmaga- and Median (i.e. Old Persian)magu- werecoeval (and also that both these were cognates ofVedic Sanskritmagha-). While "in theGathas the word seems to mean both the teaching of Zoroaster and the community that accepted that teaching", and it seems that Avestanmaga- is related to Sanskritmagha-, "there is no reason to suppose that the western Iranian formmagu (Magus) has exactly the same meaning"[8] as well. But it "may be, however", that Avestanmoghu (which is not the same as Avestanmaga-) "and Medeanmagu were the same word in origin, a common Iranian term for 'member of the tribe' having developed among the Medes the special sense of 'member ofthe (priestly) tribe', hence a priest."[6]cf[7]
Some examples of the use of magi inPersian poetry, are present in the poems ofHafez. There are two frequent terms used by him, first one isPeer-e Moghan (literally "the old man of the magi") and second one isDeyr-e Moghan (literally "the monastery of the magi").[9]
The oldest surviving Greek reference to the magi – from Greekμάγος (mágos, plural:magoi) – might be from 6th century BCHeraclitus (apudClemensProtrepticus 2.22.2[10]), who curses the magi for their "impious" rites and rituals.[11] A description of the rituals that Heraclitus refers to has not survived, and there is nothing to suggest that Heraclitus was referring to foreigners.
Better preserved are the descriptions of the mid-5th century BCHerodotus, who in his portrayal of theIranian expatriates living inAsia Minor uses the term "magi" in two different senses. In the first sense (Histories 1.101[12]), Herodotus speaks of the magi as one of the tribes/peoples (ethnous) of theMedes. In another sense (1.132[13]), Herodotus uses the term "magi" to generically refer to a "sacerdotal caste", but "whose ethnic origin is never again so much as mentioned."[8] According toRobert Charles Zaehner, in other accounts :
"We hear of Magi not only inPersia,Parthia,Bactria,Chorasmia,Aria,Media, and among theSakas, but also in non-Iranian lands likeArabia,Ethiopia, andEgypt. Their influence was also widespread throughoutAsia Minor.It is, therefore, quite likely that the sacerdotal caste of the Magi was distinct from theMedian tribe of the same name."[8]
As early as the 5th century BC, Greekmagos had spawnedmageia andmagike to describe the activity of a magus, that is, it was his or her art and practice.[14] But almost from the outset the noun for the action and the noun for the actor parted company. Thereafter,mageia was used not for what actual magi did, but for something related to the word 'magic' in the modern sense, i.e. using supernatural means to achieve an effect in the natural world, or the appearance of achieving these effects through trickery or sleight of hand.[14] The early Greek texts typically have the pejorative meaning, which in turn influenced the meaning ofmagos to denote a conjurer and a charlatan.[15] Already in the mid-5th century BC, Herodotus identifies themagi as interpreters of omens and dreams (Histories 7.19, 7.37, 1.107, 1.108, 1.120, 1.128[16]).[17]
Other Greek sources from before theHellenistic period include the gentleman-soldierXenophon, who had first-hand experience at the PersianAchaemenid court. In his early 4th century BCCyropaedia, Xenophon depicts the magians as authorities for all religious matters (8.3.11),[18] and imagines the magians to be responsible for the education of the emperor-to-be.Apuleius, aNumidianPlatonist philosopher, describes magus to be considered as a "sage and philosopher-king" based on itsPlatonic notion.[19]
Once the magi had been associated with "magic" – Greekmagikos – it was but a natural progression that the Greeks' image of Zoroaster would metamorphose into a magician too.[20] The first centuryPliny the Elder names "Zoroaster" as the inventor of magic (Natural History xxx.2.3), but a "principle of the division of labor appears to have spared Zoroaster most of the responsibility for introducing the dark arts to the Greek and Roman worlds. That dubious honor went to another fabulous magus,Ostanes, to whom most of the pseudepigraphic magical literature was attributed."[20] For Pliny, this magic was a "monstrous craft" that gave the Greeks not only a "lust" (aviditatem) for magic, but a downright "madness" (rabiem) for it, and Pliny supposed that Greek philosophers – among themPythagoras,Empedocles,Democritus, andPlato – traveled abroad to study it, and then returned to teach it (xxx.2.8–10).
"Zoroaster" – or rather what the Greeks supposed him to be – was for the Hellenists the figurehead of the 'magi', and the founder of that order (or what the Greeks considered to be anorder). He was further projected as the author of a vast compendium of "Zoroastrian"pseudepigrapha, composed in the main to discredit the texts of rivals. "The Greeks considered the best wisdom to be exotic wisdom" and "what better and more convenient authority than the distant – temporally and geographically – Zoroaster?"[20] The subject of these texts, the authenticity of which was rarely challenged, ranged from treatises on nature to ones onnecromancy. But the bulk of these texts dealt with astronomical speculations and magical lore.
One factor for the association with astrology was Zoroaster's name, or rather, what the Greeks made of it. His name was identified at first with star-worshiping (astrothytes "star sacrificer") and, with theZo-, even as theliving star. Later, an even more elaborate mytho-etymology evolved: Zoroaster died by the living (zo-) flux (-ro-) of fire from the star (-astr-) which he himself had invoked, and even that the stars killed him in revenge for having been restrained by him.[21] The second, and "more serious"[21] factor for the association with astrology was the notion that Zoroaster was aChaldean. The alternate Greek name for Zoroaster was Zaratas / Zaradas / Zaratos (cf.Agathias 2.23–25,ClementStromata I.15), which – according to Bidez and Cumont – derived from a Semitic form of his name. TheSuda's chapter onastronomia notes that theBabylonians learned their astrology from Zoroaster.Lucian of Samosata (Mennipus 6) decides to journey to Babylon "to ask one of the magi, Zoroaster's disciples and successors", for their opinion.
In theTalmud, instances of dialogue between theJewish sages and various magi are recorded. The Talmud depicts the Magi as sorcerers and in several descriptions, they are negatively described as obstructing Jewish religious practices.[22][23] Several references include the sages criticizing practices performed by various magi. One instance is a description of the Zoroastrian priests exhuming corpses for their burial practices which directly interfered with the Jewish burial rites.[24] Another instance is a sage forbidding learning from the magi.[25][26][27]
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The wordmágos (Greek) and its variants appear in both theOld andNew Testaments.[28] Ordinarily this word is translated "magician" or "sorcerer" in the sense of illusionist or fortune-teller, and this is how it is translated in all of its occurrences (e.g.Acts 13:6) except for theGospel of Matthew, where, depending on translation, it is rendered "wise man" (KJV,RSV) or left untranslated asMagi, typically with an explanatory note (NIV). However, early church fathers, such asSt. Justin,Origen,St. Augustine andSt. Jerome, did not make an exception for the Gospel, and translated the word in its ordinary sense, i.e. as "magician".[29] The Gospel of Matthew states thatmagi visited the infantJesus to do him homage shortly after his birth (2:1–2:12). The gospel describes how magi from the east were notified of the birth of a king inJudaea by the appearance of his star. Upon their arrival inJerusalem, they visitedKing Herod to determine the location of theking of the Jews' birthplace. Herod, disturbed, told them that he had not heard of the child, but informed them of a prophecy that theMessiah would be born inBethlehem. He then asked the magi to inform him when they find the child so that he himself may also pay homage to the child. Guided by theStar of Bethlehem, the wise men found the infant Jesus in a house. They paid homage to him, and presented him with "gifts of gold and of frankincense and of myrrh." (2.11) In a dream they are warned not to return to Herod, and therefore return to their homes by taking another route. Since its composition in the late 1st century, numerous apocryphal stories have embellished the gospel's account.[citation needed]Matthew 2:16 implies that Herod learned from the wise men that up to two years had passed since the birth, which is whyall male children two years or younger were slaughtered.
In addition to the more famous story ofSimon Magus found in chapter 8, theBook of Acts (13:6–11) also describes another magus who acted as an advisor ofSergius Paulus, the Romanproconsul atPaphos on the island ofCyprus, a Jew named Bar-Iesous (son of Jesus), or alternativelyElymas. (Another Cypriot magus named Atomos is referenced byJosephus, working at the court ofFelix atCaesarea.)
One of the non-canonical Christian sources, theSyriac Infancy Gospel, provides, in its third chapter, a story of the wise men of the East which is very similar to much of the story in Matthew. This account cites Zoradascht (Zoroaster) as the source of the prophecy that motivated the wise men to seek the infant Jesus.[30]
In Arabic, "Magians" (majus) is the term forZoroastrians. The term is mentioned in the Quran, insura 22 verse 17, where the "Magians" are mentioned alongside theJews, theSabians and theChristians in a list of religions who will be judged on theDay of Resurrection.[31]
In India, theSakaldwipiya Brahmins are considered to be the descendants of the ten Maga (Sanskritमग) priests who were invited to conduct worship ofMitra (Surya) at Mitravana (Multan), as described in theSamba Purana,Bhavishya Purana and theMahabharata. Their original home was a mythological region calledŚākadvīpa. According toVarahamihira (c. 505 – c. 587), the statue of the Sun god (Mitra), is represented as wearing the "northern" (Central Asian) dress, specifically with horse riding boots. SomeBrahmin communities of India trace their descent from the Magas. Some classical astronomers and mathematicians of India such are Varahamihira are considered to be the descendants of the Magas.[32][33]
Varahamihira specifies that installation and consecration of the Sun images should be done by the Magas.al-Biruni mentions that the priests of the Sun Temple at Multan were Magas. The Magas had colonies in a number of places in India, and were the priests atKonark,Martanda and other sun temples.[34]
Victor H. Mair (1990) suggested that Chinesewū (巫 "shaman; witch, wizard; magician") may originate as a loanword fromOld Persian *maguš "magician; magi". Mair reconstructs anOld Chinese *myag.[35] The reconstruction of Old Chinese forms is somewhat speculative. Thevelar final-g in Mair's *myag (巫) is evident in several Old Chinese reconstructions (Dong Tonghe's *mywag, Zhou Fagao's *mjwaγ, andLi Fanggui's *mjag), but not all (Bernhard Karlgren's *mywo and Axel Schuessler's *ma).
Mair adduces the discovery of two figurines with unmistakably Caucasoid or Europoid features dated to the 8th century BC, found in a 1980 excavation of aZhou dynasty palace inFufeng County,Shaanxi Province. One of the figurines is marked on the top of its head with an incised☩ graph.[citation needed]
Mair's suggestion is based on a proposal byJao Tsung-I (1990), which connects the "cross potent"bronzeware script glyph forwu巫 with the same shape found in Neolithic West Asia, specifically a cross potent carved in the shoulder of a goddess figure of theHalaf period.[36]
In the 1980s,Saddam Hussein'sBa'ath Party used thequranic termmajus during theIran–Iraq War as anethnic slur againstIranians, both verbally and even in official documents. A 2000 paper elaborated the usage'spropaganda significance:
"By referring to the Iranians in these documents asmajus, the security apparatus [implied] that the Iranians [were] notsincere Muslims, but rathercovertly practice their pre-Islamic beliefs. Thus, in their eyes, Iraq's war took on the dimensions of not only a struggle forArab nationalism, but also acampaign in the name of Islam."[37]