11 Pre-Islamic Iranian Astral Mythology, Astrology, and the Star of Bethlehem
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Abstract
The present contribution analyzes the story of the magi and their star as trans¬mitted by Matthew 2:1–12, with a special focus on the cultural relations between the Jewish and Iranian worlds. It further emphasizes the importance of these cultural relations in the framework of early Christianity, whose relevant Iranian horizon has not generally been given due consideration, at least outside of a restricted circle of spe¬cialists. The presence of the magi in Bethlehem, according to Matthew’s pericope, inevitably invites us to reflect on the origins of these wise men, who were able to recognize a special sign in the heavens and follow it in order to worship the newborn savior of the world. A number of historical events and earlier Mazdean religious doctrines provide a good cultural back¬ground for the mention of this priestly collegium in a Christian source at the end of the first century ce. This chapter offers a short overview of Iranian astral lore as well as its astrological Late Antique traditions and describes the main lines of some eschatological doctrines concerning the Mazdean expectation of the virgin birth of Zoroaster’s son. All these data are fundamental to a reconstruction of the historical meaning of the magi in the perspective of a person living in Palestine or the Middle East during and shortly after Jesus’ life. The final part of the chapter shows that many current explanations for the astral phenomenon appearing in Bethlehem are inadequate, as in the case of the millenarian doctrine of the Saturn/Jupiter conjunctions, which was not elaborated by Iranian astro¬no¬mers until Sasanian times. The author finally proposes a philological evaluation of the Greek text in the light of strict historical and comparative criticism, from which it appears that the text contains a strong symbolic and religious meaning, while strict astronomical interpretations are fre¬quen¬tly linguistically inappropriate and in some cases reflect a confessional mirage that counters historical reality, or at least historical plausibility.