page_title: Biblical Magi
section_title: Names
hierarchical_section_title: Biblical Magi / Names
caption_attribution_description: Herrad of Landsberg (c.1130 - July 25, 1195) was a 12th century Alsatian nun and abbess of Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains. She is known as the author of the pictorial encyclopedia Hortus deliciarum (The Garden of Delights). Herrad of Landsberg was born about 1130 at the castle of Landsberg, the seat of a noble Alsatian family. She entered the Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains, about fifteen miles from Strasbourg, at an early age. She became abbess there in 1167 and continued in that office until her death. These illustrations are from a reproduction by Christian Maurice Engelhardt, 1818. The original perished in the burning of the Library of Strasbourg during the siege of 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. The text was copied and published by Straub and Keller, 1879-1899.
context_page_description: The biblical Magi, also referred to as the Wise Men or Kings, were – in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition – 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.
  Matthew is the only one of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. Matthew reports that they came "from the east" to worship the "king of the Jews". The gospel never mentions the number of Magi, but most western Christian denominations have traditionally assumed them to have been three in number, based on the statement that they brought three gifts. In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the Magi often number twelve. Their identification as kings in later Christian writings is probably linked to Isaiah 60:1–6, which refers to "kings [coming] to the brightness of your dawn" bearing "gold and frankincense". Further identification of the magi with kings may be due to Psalm 72:11, "May all kings fall down before him".
context_section_description: The New Testament does not give the names of the Magi.  However, traditions and legends identify a variety of different names for them.  In the Western Christian church, they have all been regarded as saints and are commonly known as:
  Melchior (/ˈmɛlkiˌɔːr/; also Melichior), a Persian scholar;
  Caspar (/ˈkæspər/ or /ˈkæspɑːr/; also Gaspar, Jaspar, Jaspas, Gathaspa, and other variations);
  Balthazar (/ˈbælθəˌzɑːr/ or /bælˈθæzər/; also Balthasar, Balthassar, and Bithisarea), a Babylonian scholar.
  Encyclopædia Britannica states: "according to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India." These names apparently derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria around 500, and which has been translated into Latin with the title Excerpta Latina Barbari. Another Greek document from the 8th century, of presumed Irish origin and translated into Latin with the title Collectanea et Flores, continues the tradition of three kings and their names and gives additional details.
  One candidate for the origin of the name Caspar appears in the Acts of Thomas as Gondophares (21 – c. AD 47), i.e., Gudapharasa (from which "Caspar" might derive as corruption of "Gaspar"). This Gondophares declared independence from the Arsacids to become the first Indo-Parthian king, and he was allegedly visited by Thomas the Apostle. According to Ernst Herzfeld, his name is perpetuated in the name of the Afghan city Kandahar, which he is said to have founded under the name Gundopharron.
  In contrast, many Syrian Christians name the Magi Larvandad, Gushnasaph, and Hormisdas.
  In the Eastern churches, Ethiopian Christianity, for instance, has Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater, while the Armenian Catholics have Kagpha, Badadakharida and Badadilma.
  Many Chinese Christians believe that one of the magi came from China.
caption: The three Magi (named Patisar, Caspar and Melchior), from Herrad of Landsberg's Hortus deliciarum (12th century)
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