Magi
Magi (PLUR),[a] or magus (SING),[b] is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.
Pervasive throughout the
In the Gospel of Matthew, "μάγοι" (magoi) from the east do homage to the Christ Child,[1] and the transliterated plural "magi" entered English from Latin in this context around 1200 CE (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 from Old French in the late 14th century with the meaning magician.
Hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood has survived in India[3][4] and Iran. They are termed Herbad, Mobad (Magupat, i.e. chief of the Maga), and Dastur depending on the rank.
Iranian sources
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 trilingual
The other instance appears in the texts of the
An unrelated term, but previously assumed to be related, appears in the older Gathic
Some examples of the use of magi in
Greco-Roman sources
Classical Greek
The oldest surviving Greek reference to the magi – from Greek μάγος (mágos, plural: magoi) – might be from 6th century BC
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 BC
As early as the 5th century BC, Greek magos had spawned mageia and magike 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 of magos to denote a conjurer and a charlatan.[15] Already in the mid-5th century BC, Herodotus identifies the magi 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 the
Roman period
Once the magi had been associated with "magic" – Greek magikos – it was but a natural progression that the Greeks' image of Zoroaster would metamorphose into a magician too.
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 the Zo-, even as the living 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 a Chaldean. The alternate Greek name for Zoroaster was Zaratas / Zaradas / Zaratos (cf. Agathias 2.23–5, Clement Stromata I.15), which – according to Bidez and Cumont – derived from a Semitic form of his name. The Suda's chapter on astronomia notes that the Babylonians 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.
Christian tradition
The word mágos (Greek) and its variants appear in both the
In addition to the more famous story of
One of the non-canonical Christian sources, the Syriac 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. [24]
Jewish tradition
In the
Islamic tradition
In Arabic, "Magians" (
In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party used the term majus during the Iran–Iraq War as a generalization of all modern-day Iranians. "By referring to the Iranians in these documents as majus, the security apparatus [implied] that the Iranians [were] not sincere Muslims, but rather covertly practice their pre-Islamic beliefs. Thus, in their eyes, Iraq's war took on the dimensions of not only a struggle for Arab nationalism, but also a campaign in the name of Islam."[31]
Indian tradition
In India, the
Varahamihira specifies that installation and consecration of the Sun images should be done by the Magas.
Possible loan into Chinese
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 a
Mair's suggestion is based on a proposal by
See also
- Anachitis ('stone of necessity') – stone used to call up spirits from water by Magi in antiquity
- Epiphany (January 6) – a Christian holiday marking the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child
- Fire temple – Zoroastrian place of worship
Notes
- ^ /ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/
- Old Persian: 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 maguš)
References
- ^ About a year and half old, not a newborn (Matthew 2:11)
- ^ Matthew 2 in Greek
- ^ The Origins of Zoroastrian Priesthood in India, Parsi Khabar, April 29, 2009
- ^ DASTUR FIROZE M. KOTWAL (July 1990), "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PARSI PRIESTHOOD", Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 165-175.
- ISBN 978-0-674-02399-4.
- ^ a b Boyce, Mary (1975), A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I, Leiden: Brill, pp. 10–11
- ^ S2CID 161954467., p. 36.
- ^ a b c Zaehner, Robert Charles (1961). The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. New York: MacMillan. p. 163..
- ^ "پیر مغان حافظ كیست، دیرِ مغان حافظ كجاست؟". IRNA (in Persian). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-674-99103-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ISBN 978-90-429-1227-4.
- ^ Herodotus (1904). The Histories of Herodotus. D. Appleton. p. 41.
- ^ Herodotus (1904). The Histories of Herodotus. D. Appleton. p. 54.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-134-63368-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-1101-6.
- ^ Herodotus (1904). The Histories of Herodotus. D. Appleton.
- ISBN 978-90-474-3271-5.
- ISBN 978-0-19-814477-9.
- ISBN 9780199577804.
- ^ a b c Beck, Roger (2003). "Zoroaster, as perceived by the Greeks". Encyclopaedia Iranica. New York: iranica.com..
- ^ a b Beck, Roger (1991). "Thus Spake Not Zarathushtra: Zoroastrian Pseudepigrapha of the Graeco-Roman World". In Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz (eds.). A History of Zoroastrianism. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Vol. 3. Leiden: Brill. pp. 491–565. Abteilung I, Band VIII, Abschnitt 1, p. 516
- ^ Gospel of Matthew2:1–12:9; Acts of the Apostles 8:9; 13:6,8; and the Septuagint of Daniel 1:20; 2:2, 2:10, 2:27; 4:4; 5:7, 5:11, 5:15).
- ^ Drum, W. (1910), "Magi", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company
- ^ Hone, William (1890). "The Apocryphal Books of the New Testament". Archive.org. Gebbie & Co., Publishers, Philadelphia. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ISBN 9780812245707.
- ISBN 9780520385726.
- ISBN 9780192598882.
- ^ Secunda, S. (2016). " This, but Also That": Historical, Methodological, and Theoretical Reflections on Irano-Talmudica. Jewish Quarterly Review, 106(2), 233-241.
- ^ Secunda, S. (2005). Studying with a Magus/Like Giving a Tongue to a Wolf. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 19, 151-157.
- ^ Secunda, S. (2012). Parva—a Magus. In Shoshannat Yaakov (pp. 391-402). Brill.
- ^ Al-Marashi, Ibrahim (2000). "The Mindset of Iraq's Security Apparatus" (PDF). Cambridge University: Centre of International Studies. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-11.
- ISBN 978-0-12-397913-1.
- ^ Biswas, Dilip Kumar (September 1949). Law, Narendra Nath (ed.). "The Maga Ancestry of Varahamihira". The Indian Historical Quarterly. 25 (3): 175.
- ^ Chattopadhyaya, Sudhakar (June 1950). Law, Narendra Nath (ed.). "The Achaemenids and India". The Indian Historical Quarterly. 26 (2): 100–117.
- .
- ^ Ming-pao yueh-kan 25.9 (September 1990). English translation: Questions on the Origin of Writing Raised by the 'Silk Road', Sino-Platonic Papers, 26 (September, 1991).
Further reading
- Lendering, Jona (2006), Magians, Amsterdam: Livius.org, retrieved 2024-01-06.