Caspar (magus) Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Place of origin== [[File:Crisa Aureia.tif|thumb| The homeland of King Caspar in the ''Aurea Cersonese'', the Golden Peninsula, near Java in the Indian Ocean, on the map of [[Andreas Walsperger]], c.1448]] Who the magi were is not specified in the Bible; there are only traditions. Since English translations of the Bible refer to them as "men who studied the stars", they are believed to have been [[astrologers]], who could foresee the birth of a "[[Messiah]]" from their study of the stars.<ref name=Drum>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm Drum, Walter. "Magi." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 2 May 2015</ref> Caspar is often considered to be an Indian scholar. An article in the 1913 ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/356642/Magi|title=Magi|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=21 June 2023 }}</ref> states that "according to Western church tradition, [[Balthazar (magus)|Balthasar]] is often represented as a king of [[Arabia]], [[Melchior (magus)|Melchior]] as a king of [[Persia]], and Caspar as a king of [[India]]." Historian [[John of Hildesheim]] relates a tradition in the ancient silk road city of [[Taxila (modern)|ancient Taxila]] that one of the Magi passed through the city on the way to [[Bethlehem]]. Some consider Caspar to be [[Gondophares|King Gondophares]] (AD 21 – c. AD 47) mentioned in the [[Acts of Thomas]]. Others consider him to have come from the southern parts of India where, according to tradition, [[Thomas the Apostle]] visited decades later. The town by name [[Piravom]] in [[Kerala]] State, Southern India has for long claimed that one of the three Biblical Magi went from there. The name Piravom in the local Malayalam language translates to "birth". It is believed that the name originated from a reference to the [[Nativity of Jesus]]. There is a concentration of three churches named after the Biblical Magi in and around Piravom, as against only another three so named in the rest of India. There are some who consider that Caspar's kingdom was located in the region of ''[[Egrisilla]]'' in ''[[India Superior]]'' on the peninsula that forms the eastern side of the ''[[Sinus Magnus]]'' (Gulf of Thailand) by [[Johannes Schöner]] on his globe of 1515. On it can be seen ''Egrisilla Bragmanni'' ("Egrisilla of the Brahmans"), and in the explanatory treatise which accompanied the globe, Schöner noted: “The region of Egrisilla, in which there are Brahman [i.e. Indian] Christians; there Gaspar the Magus held dominion”.<ref>“Egrisilla regio in qua sunt christiani Bragmanni. ibi Gaspar magus fertur habuisse dominum”, ''Luculentissima quaedam terrae totius descriptio,'' Nuremberg, 1515, Tract.II, fol.54 [http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=autoren_werke&ab=Sch%C3%B6ner,%20Johannes&l=de]. Schöner’s 1515 globe is reproduced in [[Chet van Duzer]], ''Johann Schöner’s Globe of 1515: Transcription and Study,'' Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, Transactions, Volume 100.</ref> The phrase ''hic rex caspar habitavit'' (here lived King Caspar) is inscribed over the [[Golden Chersonese]] (Malay Peninsula) on the [[Mappa Mundi|mappemonde]] of [[Andreas Walsperger]] made in Constance around 1448. Whether it was a latter day king who took the name of Caspar is also not known. [[File:Gaspar magus.tif|thumb|Johannes Schöner on Gaspar magus, or Saint Caspar: "The region of Egrisilla, in which there are Brahman [i.e. Indian] Christians; there Gaspar the Magus held dominion," ''Luculentissima quaedam terrae totius descriptio''.]] The Magi are now considered by some not to have been kings. The reference to "kings" is believed to have originated due to the reference in [[Psalms]] "The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents; the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring him gifts: and all the kings of the earth shall adore him" Psalm 72:10. Some late medieval depictions of Caspar as an African king may have been influenced by accounts of the [[Mansa Musa#Islam and pilgrimage to Mecca|hajj]] pilgrimage of the Ghanan ruler [[Mansa Musa]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page