An interesting take on the strange Biblical tale of the Magi. Why would three Zoroastrian priest-astrologers recognize baby Jesus in Betlehem as the new universal "king"? Or at all?
It seems Greeks and Romans knew about the king-making function of the Magi, even claiming that Sulla was prophesized to become the new leader of Rome by Magi from the East. Both Jews and Parthians believed in prophecies about the fall of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Gospel story of Magi recognizing a rival king to the Roman puppet Herod the Great (who became ruler by deposing a pro-Parthian Jewish king) was a potent "geopolitical" symbol.
If the Gospels were written after the destruction of the Second Temple (which seems very likely), the Magi could also be an allusion to Cyrus the Great, who liberated the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity and allowed them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Of course, this also raises a more intriguing question: why should *we* care about Judeo-Parthian-Roman conflicts 2000 years ago? Are we Levantines?
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