THE JOURNEY OF THE THREE WISE MEN

THE JOURNEY OF THE THREE WISE MEN

“The first was Melkon, king of the Persians. The second was Gaspard, king of the Indians; the third was Balthazar, king of the Arabs. The leaders of their army, vested with overall command, numbered twelve. The cavalry troops that accompanied them were twelve thousand men, four thousand from each kingdom. They had all come, by order of God, from the land of the Magi, from the regions of the East, their homeland.” Evangelium Infanciae Armenicum (5th c.)

“The three kings began to traverse the entire land in search of the one who had been born. They took with them three thousand men.” The Miracles of Jesus, Ethiopian text (8th c.)

“3 magi with a retinue of 1,000 people.” Bar Hebraeus, historian, bishop of Gouba and later of Aleppo (13th c.)