| Magi and the Magian Religion |
Created Date: 30-Nov-2018 |
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Last updated: 20-Feb-2021 |
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Summary
The Magi religion is most commonly known as the State recognized and relied upon religious system in
ancient Babylon and Persia. This topic is a companion topic with the topic
about the traditions concerning kings visiting the baby Jesus.
The Magians had several responsibilities and functions, such as:
- Dream cataloguers and interpreters.
- Selectors of a king's successor.
- Priests at the temples.
- Overseers of Governmental laws and actions.
Additionally, the Magi had a priestly presence during the Seleucid,
Parthian and Sasanian ruling periods
in the Middle East areas. As time went by, they migrated and took on new roles with the Romans
and possibly other areas in ancient China.
Note that the Magian Priests could be
considered part of a modern-day Governmental Parliament or type-of Congress,
which had power and prestige with military protection and authority.
From one source, the Magi first were recognized in history around the 7th Century BC as a
tribe in Persia, and another source as 6th Century BC. The tribe selected specific men to start a priesthood
that practiced what we call today as occult practices that involved
necromancy,
albeit worship of only one god. The religion may have had a
Scythian origin.
The Magian Priests, when on duty along with potentially other times:
- Wore white robes.
- Hats that were pointed with side flaps.
- An open and viewable face that was not covered.
The proposed intention was to make them appear as those who were supposedly
cleansed from all faults, sins and indignities.
The predominate beliefs and practices of the Magians:
- No images of gods.
- Believed in a one god.
- Temples contained no monuments or shrines, just a sacred fire.
- Believed in the destruction of what they deemed to be unclean forms of
life, such as reptiles and insects.
- Held a high reverence for cleanliness in elements of their dress and
buildings.
- Disposed of the deceased priests and others by place the body in an area
for birds to eat, or the body was covered in wax then buried in a tomb or
ground.
- Had many similar elements in common with the Jews.
Wiki Source information
Some facts and theories about the Magi from wiki that is incomplete but a
good starting list:
- According to wiki, the oldest reference known about the Magi is from a
Greek reference in the 6th Century BC by Heraclitus of Ephesus who
pronounces curses on the rites and rituals of the Magi.
- Another is from 5th Century BC, est. 520 BC, from the trilingual
“Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great”, the Magi were rebels and were
referred to as Magians.
- An additional Greek reference is from the Gentlemen-soldier Xenophon in
the 4th Century BC. Xenophon’s description of the Magians are the
authorities of all religious matters in the Persian Achaemenid court. Note
that Achaemenid Empire is also called the First Persian Empire.
- There is the theory that Magi were followers of Zoroaster. According to
the Encyclopedia Britannica 7:69, it states they were not followers. At a
later period: Philo of Alexandria, Cicero, Philo and other historical men
recorded that the Magi were attached to Roman Senior Courts where they were
esteemed to have special skills.
Encylopaedia of Iranica (Persia is ancient Iran)
Excerpts from the Encylopaedia of Iranica:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/magi
- “The word “Magus” is attested in Old Persian, Elamite, Akkadian,
Aramaic, Parthian, and Sasanian documents as well as in texts of classical
antiquity. Its earliest mention is in the Bisotun inscription of Darius I
the Great (see DARIUS iii), according to which, in 522 BCE, a Magus (magu-)
by the name Gaumāta claimed to be Bardiya, son of the predecessor king,
Cyrus II the Great (see CYRUS iii), and usurped the royal power (DB I 35-70;
Schmitt, p. 51, col. I, lines 35-43, etc.). In the Babylonian version of the
same inscription, he is called “a Mede … the Maguš” (von Voigtlander, p. 14,
line 15: ma-da-a-a … ma-gu-šu). In the Elamite version of the same text he
is designated as ma-ku-iš (see Grillot-Susini et al., col. I, line 38). Thus
it seems that Elamite and Babylonian scribes could not find any equivalent
in their own languages to render Gaumāta’s title. Herodotus (3.61, etc.)
also mentions this individual under the name Smerdis, calling him a magos.
According to him, King Cambyses had installed him as steward of his
household. Later, when Cambyses was in Egypt, this Smerdis impersonated
Cyrus’s son who bore the same name Smerdis but had already been murdered
secretly by the order of his brother Cambyses. Thus he usurped the throne of
the Persian kings.”
- “According to Herodotus (1.101), Magi were one of six Median tribes and
formed the hereditary priestly clan. He adds that they occupied an
influential position at the Median court as dream interpreters and
soothsayers (1.107). Following Herodotus, many classical authors also
considered the Magi to be a Median tribe, but no satisfactory Indo-European
etymology of the word magu- has been suggested, and therefore some scholars
suppose that it was “an aboriginal addition to Median society” (Frye, 1972,
p. 87).”
- “Not only in Media, but also in Persia the Magi were the only groups of
priests, although in the Elamite regions of Iran naturally priests of
ancient local cults also functioned. It is possible that, during the
supremacy of the Medes over Iranian domains, the Median Magi also exercised
sacerdotal functions.”
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Comparison to Judaism
Analysis and theory concerning the Magi when compared to Judaism based on
external and Biblical information:
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Characteristics (during the life-time
of Daniel the Prophet) |
Magian |
Judaism |
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1 |
Monotheistic God Belief |
Yes |
Yes |
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2 |
God is good, the author of all good, but opposed by a malevolent evil
spirit |
Yes |
Yes |
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3 |
A Hereditary Priesthood, based on tribe, which was the spokesperson and mediator to God |
Yes |
Yes |
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4 |
Government depended upon the Priesthood |
Yes |
Yes |
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5 |
A sense of clean and unclean forms of life |
Yes |
Yes |
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6 |
Served several religions |
Yes |
No |
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7 |
King makers, who selected government
officials and crowned rulers |
Yes |
Yes/No ** |
** King Saul was selected by Judge Samuel in '1 Samuel 9'. King David
was selected by Judge Samuel after God rejected King Saul in '1 Samuel 16'.
King Solomon was selected by King David to be King because the Lord God told
David to select him as detailed in '1 Chron 28:1-5'.
In the Book of Daniel
This is helpful information as it applies to King Darius
| This is an excerpt from the "Three Kings visit the baby Jesus?"
regarding the Magi in the Book of Daniel with the reference to Darius. Note that there are some discussions and disagreements on
who Darius was in history outside of the Biblical Scriptures.
- In “In and Around the Book of Daniel” by Charles Boutflower, Darius may
have been Cyrus’s son who ruled Persia from 530-522 BC.
- In “Notes on some problems in the Book of Daniel”, pp 12-14, “It was
common for ancient rulers to use different names in various parts of their
realms. Thus Darius may have been a localize name for Cyrus.
- In “Darius the Mede” by Nutley, N.J. Presbyterian; Reformed Publishing
Co 1974, Darius was an alias for Ugbaru, governor of Guitium who was
appointed by Cyrus to be ruler over Babylon. This is most likely the case an
solves the problem with reconciling names in history sources. Darius is most
likely a Title and a Rank in government.
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