Three wise men from the east came with precious gifts
In the Bible it says that Jesus was born in a stall in Bethlehem. The three wise men came to honour him. Were they foreign kings, learned men, astrologists or perhaps magicians?
Astrologer is an interpretation of the original word mager and can mean that the wise men came from Persia (known today as Iran).
The wise men are named in St. Matthew's gospel in the Bible. There is no mention of how many there were, only that they came from the east and brought with them three gifts.
In a Greek legend from around 500 the are named as Melchior, king of Arabia, Kaspar, king of Tarsus and Balthazar, king of Ethiopia.
And they brought with them precious gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Frankincense is the wood or the bark of a tree of the Commiphora family (also known as the incense tree). When it burns it gives off a perfumed smoke. Myrrh is the dried sap of the same tree, in golden-brown lumps. It can be burned like incense, or used as ointment or for embalming.
