Who Were the Medes of Ancient Persia?
The Medes were an ancient group of Iranian tribes who settled northwestern Persia and eventually rose to briefly oversee the Median Empire from Turkey to Afghanistan. One of the tribes of the Medes was known as the “Magi,” who are assumed to be a tribe of hereditary, priestly shaman or wise men from whom we derive the modern terms magic and magician. Origin of the Magi The origin of the “magi,” plural of “magus,” referenced by the Greeks as “magoi” were a specific tribe from among the Median peoples. They are one of the six Median tribes, described by Herodotus, the Greek historian of the 5th century B.C.E., as being a tribe of hereditary priests among the Medes. (This seems similar to the Brahmin priestly caste of ancient India, and also the priestly tribe of Levi among the Israelites) The title of the wise men from the East appearing following the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, were described as “magi,” which term was used at the time to mean sages, wise men, astrologers, astrono
