Magi
The Magi was a tribe from ancient
Media, who - prior to the absorption of the Medes into the
Persian Empire in 550 BC - were responsible for religious and funerary practices.
Later they accepted the
Zoroastrian religion, however, not without changing the original message of its founder,
Zarathustra , to what is today known as "
Zurvanism", which would become the predominant form of Zoroastrianism during the
Sassanid era . No traces of Zurvanism exist beyond the
10th century.
The best known Magi are the "
Wise Men from the East" in the
Bible, whose graves
Marco Polo claimed to have seen in what is today the district of Saveh, in
Tehran,
Iran.
Encyclopedia
The
Magi was a tribe from ancient
Media, who - prior to the absorption of the Medes into the
Persian Empire in 550 BC - were responsible for religious and funerary practices.
Later they accepted the
Zoroastrian religion, however, not without changing the original message of its founder,
Zarathustra , to what is today known as "
Zurvanism", which would become the predominant form of Zoroastrianism during the
Sassanid era . No traces of Zurvanism exist beyond the
10th century.
The best known Magi are the "
Wise Men from the East" in the
Bible, whose graves
Marco Polo claimed to have seen in what is today the district of Saveh, in
Tehran,
Iran. In English, the term may refer to a
shaman, sorcerer, or wizard; it is the origin of the English words magic and magician.
Etymology
Persian
The Greek word is attested from the 5th century BC as a direct loan from
Old Persian maguš. The Persian word is a
u-stem adjective from an Indo-Iranian root
*magh "powerful, rich" also continued in
Sanskrit magha "gift, wealth",
magha-vant "generous" .
Avestan has
maga,
magauuan, probably with the meanings "sacrifice" and "sacrificer". The
PIE root appears to have expressed power or ability, continued e.g. in
Attic Greek mekhos and in
Germanic magan ,
magts . The original significance of the name for the Median priests thus seems to have been "the powerful".
Modern Persian Mobed is derived from an
Old Persian compound
magu-pati "lord priest".
Greek use of magos
While in
Herodotus,
magos refers to the priestly caste and tribe of the
Medes said to be able to interpret dreams , it could also be used for any enchanter or wizard, and especially to charlatans or quacks , especially by philosophers such as
Heraclitus who took a sceptical view of the art of an enchanter, and in comic literature . In Hellenism,
magos started to be used as an adjective, meaning "magical", as in
magas techne "ars magica" .
English language
The plural
Magi entered the English language in ca. 1200, referring to
the Magi mentioned in , the singular being attested only considerably later, in the late
14th century, when it was borrowed from
Old French in the meaning
magician together with
magic.
History in the Persian Empire
According to
Herodotus i. 101, which lists the names of the six tribes or castes of the
Medes, the Magi were a hereditary caste of priests. They were highly influencial in Median society until the unification of the Median and
Persian Empires in 550 BC, after which their power was curtailed by
Cyrus the Great and by Cyrus' son Cambyses II. The Magi revolted against Cambyses and set up a rival claimant to the throne, one of their own, who took the name of Smerdis. Smerdis and his forces were defeated by the Persians under
Darius I. The Magi continued to exist in unified Persia, but their influence was limited after this and other political setbacks, and it was not until the
Sassanid era that they would again achieve prominence.
The
Book of Jeremiah gives a title
rab mag "chief magus" to the head of the Magi, Nergal Sharezar . It's also believed by Christians that the Jewish prophet Daniel was "rab mag" and entrusted a Messianic vision to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment .
The Magi in India
In India there is a community termed
Maga,
Bhojaka or Shakadvipi
Brahmins. Their major centers are in Rajasthan in Western India and near Gaya in Bihar. According to Bhavishya Purana and other texts, they were invited to settle in Punjab to conduct the worship of Lord Sun . Bhavishya Purana explicitly associates them to the rituals of the
Zurvanite brand of Zoroastrianism.
The members of the community still worship in Sun temples in India. They are also hereditary priests in several
Jain temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Bhojakas are mentioned in the copperplates of the
Kadamba dynasty as managers of
Jain institutions.
Images of Lord Sun in India are shown wearing a central asian dress, complete with boots. The term "Mihir" in India is regarded to represent the Maga influence.
See also
External links
- by O. Henry
- The Complete Online Library of Ancient Sources.
