Biblical Magi Biblical Magi The biblical Magi ( or ; singular: magus), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, were, in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. Matthew is the only of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. Matthew reports that they came "from the east" to worship the "king of the Jews". The gospel never
Shrine of the Three Kings with the resurrected Christ above. This end also has a bust of Rainald of Dassel in the center. In the novel "Baudolino" (2000), Umberto Eco describes the discovery and subsequent donation of the Magi's relics as an elaborate 12th century hoax perpetrated by the title character. In the novel "Map of Bones" (2005) by James Rollins, the Shrine contains gold in its monatomic state, produced by the Magi, as opposed to holy relics. In the novel "The Bishop and the Three Kings," bishop-detective Father John Blackwood "Blackie" Ryan must solve the mysterious theft of the shrine (Andrew Greeley, 1998). Shrine