THE MAGI, A BRIDGE
BETWEEN RELIGIONS
THE MAGI, A BRIDGE BETWEEN RELIGIONS
The symbolism of the Magi from the East who came to honor the birth of the new “King of the Jews who has just been born” (Matthew 2.2) does not only refer to the narrative of the canonical and apocryphal Christian Gospels. It refers to the universality of cultures, civilizations and religions. It is also a unifying element that brings people together.
The New Testament itself refers us to Judaism to understand the journey of these wise men through the prophecies of Micah inscribed in the Torah. Moreover, it is to a Jewish historiographer of the first century A.D. that we owe the most credible text on the existence of the Magi. Its author, Yosef ben Matityahu (Flavius Josephus), was related to Herod’s family in law.
The city of Aksum in Ethiopia, a sacred place of the Abrahamic religions, shows us how the trail of the Magi follows the path of multiple beliefs. It is in the ancient capital of the kingdom of Aksum that the presumed tomb of the Balthazar, alias King Bazen, is located. The Christian king of Aksum came from this same lineage, and in the 7th century, he welcomed the first persecuted Muslims during the first Hijra. Aksum then became a holy place of Islam, considered as “a second Mecca.” Bilal, chosen by Prophet Mohammad as the first Muezzin, is a descendant of the same dynasty as the Magi King Balthazar.
To follow the path of these wise men is also to encounter Zoroastrianism, of which Melchior, along with other fire worshippers, was a follower. It also means getting closer to Hinduism, the religion practiced by the Pandyan kings (India & Sri Lanka), a dynasty to which Gaspard is supposed to belong.
The destiny of prophet Daniel, nicknamed “Balthazar the Magi from Babylon,” bears witness to the interreligious dialogue that would animate, a few centuries later, the Three Wise Men. A Jew deported to Mesopotamia; Christians celebrate him. Often described as the spiritual ancestor of the Magi, the Muslims erected several mosques for him. “Men came from Syria to Jerusalem to see Jesus. They were astrologers who had found in the books that on a certain day in Palestine, a child would be born without a father. The indication of this event was found in the books of Daniel,” says Al Tabari, the first Muslim to write a Universal History.
Great Islamic scholars, who have contributed to the knowledge of these wise men, have pointed out that “the story of these three messengers is reported by Christians with exaggerated details” (Al Mas’Udi). Gaspard, Melchior, and Balthazar became so popular over the centuries that political functions were attributed to them, sometimes to justify conquests or massacres. From the end of the 19th century onwards, they became children’s idols in increasingly secularized societies. What if these magi rediscovered their role as intermediaries between worlds and cultures, well beyond their simple folkloric image? By looking at the symbolism of these individuals who crossed the world to meet an unknown, a religion, a culture and a very different social environment, the magi of the 21st century can still continue their journey of wisdom and knowledge. May they continue to be models of inspiration for individuals and societies!
The New Testament itself refers us to Judaism to understand the journey of these wise men through the prophecies of Micah inscribed in the Torah. Moreover, it is to a Jewish historiographer of the first century A.D. that we owe the most credible text on the existence of the Magi. Its author, Yosef ben Matityahu (Flavius Josephus), was related to Herod’s family in law.
The city of Aksum in Ethiopia, a sacred place of the Abrahamic religions, shows us how the trail of the Magi follows the path of multiple beliefs. It is in the ancient capital of the kingdom of Aksum that the presumed tomb of the Balthazar, alias King Bazen, is located. The Christian king of Aksum came from this same lineage, and in the 7th century, he welcomed the first persecuted Muslims during the first Hijra. Aksum then became a holy place of Islam, considered as “a second Mecca.” Bilal, chosen by Prophet Mohammad as the first Muezzin, is a descendant of the same dynasty as the Magi King Balthazar.
To follow the path of these wise men is also to encounter Zoroastrianism, of which Melchior, along with other fire worshippers, was a follower. It also means getting closer to Hinduism, the religion practiced by the Pandyan kings (India & Sri Lanka), a dynasty to which Gaspard is supposed to belong.
The destiny of prophet Daniel, nicknamed “Balthazar the Magi from Babylon,” bears witness to the interreligious dialogue that would animate, a few centuries later, the Three Wise Men. A Jew deported to Mesopotamia; Christians celebrate him. Often described as the spiritual ancestor of the Magi, the Muslims erected several mosques for him. “Men came from Syria to Jerusalem to see Jesus. They were astrologers who had found in the books that on a certain day in Palestine, a child would be born without a father. The indication of this event was found in the books of Daniel,” says Al Tabari, the first Muslim to write a Universal History.
Great Islamic scholars, who have contributed to the knowledge of these wise men, have pointed out that “the story of these three messengers is reported by Christians with exaggerated details” (Al Mas’Udi). Gaspard, Melchior, and Balthazar became so popular over the centuries that political functions were attributed to them, sometimes to justify conquests or massacres. From the end of the 19th century onwards, they became children’s idols in increasingly secularized societies. What if these magi rediscovered their role as intermediaries between worlds and cultures, well beyond their simple folkloric image? By looking at the symbolism of these individuals who crossed the world to meet an unknown, a religion, a culture and a very different social environment, the magi of the 21st century can still continue their journey of wisdom and knowledge. May they continue to be models of inspiration for individuals and societies!