Magi magus named Atomos is referenced by Josephus, working at the court of Felix at Caesarea.) One of the non-canonical Christian sources, the Syriac Infancy Gospel, provides, in its third chapter, a story of the wise men of the East which is very similar to much of the story in Matthew. Unlike Matthew, however, this account cites Zoradascht (Zoroaster) as the source of the prophecy that motivated the wise men to seek the infant Jesus. Although some Islamic scholars have inferred an implicit reference, the Qur'an mentions the 'Majūs' or 'Magus' or Magians (المجوس) explicitly only once: Magi Magi (; singular
Biblical Magi tribute. The Syrian King Seleucus II Callinicus is recorded to have offered gold, frankincense and myrrh (among other items) to Apollo in his temple at Miletus in 243 BC, and this may have been the precedent for the mention of these three gifts in Gospel of Matthew (). It was these three gifts, it is thought, which were the chief cause for the number of the Magi becoming fixed eventually at three. This episode can be linked to and to , which report gifts being given by kings, and this has played a central role in the perception of the