Magi

== Jewish tradition ==
In the [[Talmud]], instances of dialogue between the [[Jewish sage|Jewish sages]] and various magi are recorded. The Talmud depicts the Magi as sorcerers and in several descriptions, they are negatively described as obstructing Jewish religious practices.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Secunda|first1=Shai|title= The Iranian Talmud|date=2014|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated|isbn= 9780812245707|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qVv7AAAAQBAJ&dq=talmud+magi+sorcerers&pg=PA44}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mokhtarian|first1=Jason|title= Rabbis, Sorcerers, Kings, and Priests|date=2 November 2021|publisher=University of California Press|isbn= 9780520385726|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0sU7EAAAQBAJ&dq=talmud+zoroastrian+burial&pg=PA95}}</ref> Several references include the sages criticizing practices performed by various magi. One instance is a description of the Zoroastrian priests exhuming corpses for their burial practices which directly interfered with the Jewish burial rites.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Secunda|first1=Shai|title= The Talmud's Red Fence|date= 16 June 2020|publisher= OUP Oxford|isbn= 9780192598882|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qVv7AAAAQBAJ&dq=talmud+magi+sorcerers&pg=PA44}}</ref> Another instance is a sage forbidding learning from the magi.<ref>Secunda, S. (2016). " This, but Also That": Historical, Methodological, and Theoretical Reflections on Irano-Talmudica. ''Jewish Quarterly Review'', ''106''(2), 233-241.</ref><ref>Secunda, S. (2005). Studying with a Magus/Like Giving a Tongue to a Wolf. ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute'', ''19'', 151-157.</ref><ref>Secunda, S. (2012). Parva—a Magus. In ''Shoshannat Yaakov'' (pp. 391-402). Brill.</ref>