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"We Three Kings"

© Meg Greene Malvasi

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying `Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.' " With these words, written almost two thousand years ago, the Gospel According to Matthew began a tale that remains among the most popular and intriguing Christmas legends of all time. Guided by the unusual star they had seen in the heavens, the wise men had crossed great distances to do homage to the infant whom scripture prophesied would be the "ruler who will shepherd My people Israel." The narrative of the wise men has endured from that time to this, and has inspired numerous paintings, stories, songs, and even an opera.

Who were the wise men, the kings, or the Magi, as they have been variously known? Were they historical figures or merely the fictional products of a writer's imagination? Matthew reveals little about them. He does not even identify them by name. In fact, in different versions of the story, they have been called by many names. The Syrian tradition identifies them as Larvandad, Hormisdas, and Gushnasaph, while in the Armenian tradition they are known as Kagba and Badadilma. In Latin versions of the story most familiar to western Europeans and Americans they are called Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. The Christian writer Origen, who died circa A. D. 254, was the first to use these names. By the sixth century, the story of the Wise Men had emerged as a popular and appealing legend.

Each individual is supposed to have represented one of the different races of the earth. White-haired Gaspar, the oldest, was European. Balthasar, a middle-aged man often depicted with a black beard, was Asian. Melchior, who is shown as young and beardless, was African. These characteristics, however, have proven to be interchangeable, depending on the artist's rendition of the legend.

Historians now believe that, whatever their names, these men were not kings at all. Instead, the other terms often applied to them, "wise men" or "Magi," seem to offer a more accurate description. Magi were priests in a religion known as Zoroasterism, which had originated in the ancient kingdom of Persia, located in present-day Iran. The Magi were thought to be endowed with secret knowledge inaccessible to ordinary people. This included a knowledge of medicine, astrology, magic, and alchemy, which was the "science" of turning base metals such as lead into precious metals like gold. Quite often, these priests found themselves in the service of a king, who had ample use for their special talents.

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