Map of the Known World at about the time that Jesus was born. On the following map, Bethlehm is in Israel– south of Jerusalem and  near the Dead Sea.

Image Credit: Crystal Links

Jesus was born in Bethlehem which, on the above map, is near the top of Judah, which is colored lime green. Judah is immediately beneath Israel, which is colored yellow.  Bethlehem is south and west of the Phoenecian trading empire on the Mediterranean sea. Phoenicia was a famous center of the purple dye industry. Conveniently, Phoenicia is colored purple on the above map.

On the above map, the red circle is about where Bethlehem would be. The upper part of Egypt, where Cairo would be now, is within the blue circle. Phoenicia is in the purple circle. Oddly, the Mediterranean Sea is colored gray. The large blue area above the Mediterranean Sea was a vast area that had not been explored. At that time, the scholars had no idea how much more there was to the world than they had explored.

FROM WHERE DID THE MAGI COME
TO SEE BABY JESUS?

The Wise Men Came from EAST

The Magi Visit the Messiah

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1

Image Credit: Geology.com

The problem with the words “east” or “west” is that these two directional points are relative. From where I am sitting at this moment, my kitchen is east, and my bedroom is west. I feel sure that the wisemen did not come from anywhere in my house–in the southern part of the USA. The Wise Men would need to cross oceans and other continents to get to Jerusalem from where I live.

Image Credit: Geology.com

*Note: Baby Jesus was born in Bethelem. The Wise Men made a first stop in Jerusalem, which is not far from Bethlehem. Bethlehem is near Jordan.

To begin to understand from where the Wise Men came, we need to focus on Bethelehm, as a destination point, and begin look eastward from there. On the above map, locate Bethlehem, which is a bit left of Jordan

The Wise Men Came from EAST of Bethlehem

“The three wise men are traditionally named as Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. Melchior is said to have come from Persia, Gaspar from India, and Balthazar from Arabia.” Google ai

On the above map, I have added Persia [circled green] and India [circled orange]. Clearly, Persia and India are east of Bethlem. One could say that India, at that time, was the Far East–per the Babylonian concept at that time.

The Magi might have come from either Persia or Indi

“Here’s some information about the Persian Empire and its location at the time of Christ’s birth:

• Location

  The Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, stretched from the Balkan Peninsula in the west to the Indus River Valley in the east. At its height, it included modern-day Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Time period

  The Persian Empire lasted from around 559 B.C.E. to 331 B.C.E. Cyrus the Great founded the first Persian Empire around 550 B.C.
• Significance

  The Persian Empire was a global hub of culture, religion, science, art, and technology for more than 200 years. It was defeated by Alexander the Great’s invading armies.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem was under Persian rule twice, once in the sixth century B.C.E. and again in the early seventh century C.E.. Google a

i

The author and illustrator Tomie dePaola grew up in the Catholic Church, and he was devout. When he was a young man, he spent time in a monastery, considering the option of joining the priesthood. He wrote several books of Bible stories, and he probably knew more about the Bible than most of the rest of us. In his book, The Story of Three Wise Men, dePaola, tells us that an opinion of the homelands of the wise kings. [I don’t believe that scholarship had improved. Rather, I believe that years of imagination and opportune re-tellings of the stories added the following details:

“By the eighth century, each of the kings had a name, an area from which he came, and a physical description. Melcior of Arabia was depicted as an old man; Gaspar of Tharsis was young; and Balthazar of Saba was shown as middle-aged.” dePaola, Introduction to Three Wise Kings.

Knowing that this is literaty speculation, I decided to see where these places lie on the map:

Image Credit: Bible Mapper Atlas

Scholars believe that Tharis was in Spain–half a world WEST of Bethlehem. Hmmm! I can’t accept that notion.

Image Credit: Britannica

Saba, which is also called Sheba–i.e. the Queen of Sheba] was now in Saudi Arabia. That area is East of Bethlehem. All of Arabia would be East of Bethlehem. Those two spots are possibilities.

It is important to remember that during the early years of Christianity, there were massive aberrations to the truth. For one thing, the early Christian leaders tied Christian holidays to the existing pagan festivals. For whatever reason, human intervention perverted what was supposed to be the Word of God.

Ancient Pagan Holidays Celebrated Today–Some of Them Are Celebrated as Christian

Again, I am suspicious of the following alterations to the story by the eighth century: