Adoratione magorum
Standard abbreviation: Ador. Magi
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 230
Category: Infancy Gospels
Related literature: Protevangelium of James
Compiled by Adam Carter Bremer-McCollum, University of Notre Dame ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Bremer-McCollum, Adam Carter. “The Adoration of the Magi.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/adoration-of-the-magi/.
Created December 2018. Most recent update, September 2020.
1. SUMMARY
Ador. Magi reflects elements of the story of the visit of the Magi from Matt 2:1–13, yet it also provides additional parts to the story, little known or otherwise unknown. The story as we now have it begins with the Magi and Herod speaking together in Jerusalem. From there the Magi follow the star to Bethlehem, where the star stops, and the Magi bring along three gifts for a majestic recipient. They find the young Jesus with a crib made of stone, and he breaks off a piece of it as a gift for them, but neither the Magi nor their horse are able to carry it. Likewise, they fail at first to recognize its worth, and so they eventually throw it into a well. When they have done this, it emits a light and fire, and the narrator then establishes a connection between Jesus’ gift to the Magi and the Zoroastrian reverence for fire. At the end of the story an angel appears to the Magi to lead them away from Herod, who realizes he has been tricked and commands the slaughter of the innocents. An angel also appears in a dream to Joseph with an unstated command.
Named historical figures and characters: Herod (the Great), Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Magi, Zechariah (priest).
Geographical locations: Bethlehem, Jerusalem.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
Berlin, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, U 9175 (formerly TII B 29) (7th–9th cent.) ~ present whereabouts unknown; facsimiles in 
Müller 1908
Malov, Sergey E. “Pamyatnik khristianskogo verouchitel’nogo soderzhaniya ‘Pokloneniye volkhvov’ (in Russian).” Pages 131–38 in idem., Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoy pis’mennosti. Teksty i issledovaniya. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1951 (text, transcription, and Russian translation with Uyghur-Russian glossary).
Müller, Friedrich W. K. “Die Anbetung der Magier, ein christliches Bruchstück.” Pages 4–10 and Tafel I and II in idem., Uigurica. Abhandlungen der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 2. Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1908 (editio princeps with facsimile, transcription, and German translation).
Tongerloo, Alois van “Ecce Magi ab oriente venerunt.” Acta Orientalia Belgica 7 (1992): 57–74 (Reprint of Müller’s facsimile and transcription, with annotated French translation).
Zieme, Peter. “Magierlegende.” Pages 49–55 in idem., Altuigurische Texte der Kirche des Ostens aus Zentralasien. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 41. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2015 (transcription and annotated German translation, with Uyghur-German glossary).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Bremer-McCollum, Adam Carter. “The Adoration of the Magi: A New Translation and Introduction.” Pages 3–12 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 2. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020.
Olschki, Leonardo. “The Crib of Christ and the Bowl of Buddha.” JAOS 70 (1950): 161–64 (partial English translation).
3.2.2 French
Tongerloo, Alois van “Ecce Magi ab oriente venerunt.” Acta Orientalia Belgica 7 (1992): 57–74 (Reprint of Müller’s facsimile and transcription, with annotated French translation).
3.3.3 German
Bang, Willy. “Türkische Bruchstücke einer nestorianischen Georgspassion.” Mus 39 (1926): 41–75 (annotated German translation, pp. 43–53).
Müller, Friedrich W. K. “Die Anbetung der Magier, ein christliches Bruchstück.” Pages 4–10 and Tafel I and II in idem., Uigurica. Abhandlungen der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 2. Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1908 (editio princeps with facsimile, transcription, and German translation).
Zieme, Peter. “Magierlegende.” Pages 49–55 in idem., Altuigurische Texte der Kirche des Ostens aus Zentralasien. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 41. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2015 (transcription and annotated German translation, with Uyghur-German glossary).
3.3.4 Russian
Malov, Sergey E. “Pamyatnik khristianskogo verouchitel’nogo soderzhaniya ‘Pokloneniye volkhvov’ (in Russian).” Pages 131–38 in idem., Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoy pis’mennosti. Teksty i issledovaniya. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1951 (text, transcription, and Russian translation with Uyghur-Russian glossary).
3.3 General Works
Hopkirk, Peter. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Treasures of Central Asia. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980.
Schilling, Alexander Markus. Die Anbetung der Magier und die Taufe der Sasaniden. Zur Geistesgeschichte des iranischen Christentums in der Spätantike. CSCO 621, Subs. 120. Leuven: Peeters, 2008 (esp. 168–83).
Tubach, Jürgen. “Die Weisen aus dem Morgenland in einer Erzählung aus der Turfan-Oase.” Pages 323–45 in Walter Beltz and J. Tubach, eds. Regionale Systeme koexistierender Religionsgemeinschaften. Leucorea Kolloquium 2001. Hallesche Beiträge zur Orientwissenschaft 34. Halle (Saale): Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, 2002.