In Xanadu (24 page)

Not as the first language.'

And are there Mussulmans there?'

There are some.'

And Zoroastrians?'

No, I don't think there are many of those.' In Isfahan it is the same: there are few Zoroastrians. It is a bad religion. They love fires too much.'

The Scottish love fires but are not Zoroastrians.'

‘By the holy Ka'ba! Your Scotland sounds a strange place!'

Oh, it is. Some of the men wear dresses like women.'

By Ali! Dresses? And a veil too?'

No. But some of the women wear trousers.'

'You must take us to this province, Agah.'

‘I would be delighted to.'

‘
Is many days'journey from Isfahan?'

‘Many days.'

‘Agah, that does not worry me. I do not mind long journeys. I once went to Teheran.'

When Laura awoke we wiled away the time reading
The Travels.
The next passage turned out to be one of the most intriguing in the entire book. Unusually, Polo's concern is not with the merchandise that can be bought and sold in some obscure burned-out caravanserai town. Instead, he tells a strange version of the story of the Three Wise Men:

In Persia is the city of Saveh, from which the Three Magi set out when they went to worship Jesus Christ; and in this city they are buried, in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. And above them there is a square building, carefully kept. The bodies are still entire, with hair and beard remaining. One of these was called Jaspar, the second Melchior, and the third Balthasar. Messer Marco Polo asked a great many questions of the people of that city as to those three Magi, but never one could he find that knew aught of the matter, except that these were three kings who were buried there in days of old. However at a place three days journey distant he heard of what I am going to tell you. He found a village there by the name Cala Ataperistan, which is to say, 'The Castle of the Fire Worshippers'. And the name is rightly applied, for the people there do worship fire, and I will tell you why.

They relate that in old times three kings of that country went away to worship
a
prophet that was born, and they carried with them three manner of offerings. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh; in order to ascertain whether that prophet were God, or an earthly King, or a Physician. For, said they, if he take the Gold, then he is an earthly King; if he take the incense then he is God; if he takes Myrrh he is
a
Physician.

Polo goes on to tell how the Three Magi arrived at the place where the child was born. They went in separately, and to their amazement each saw the child their own age: one found him young, the next in his prime, the third old and hoary. Then they all entered together. This time the child appeared its actual age, namely thirteen days old. No little impressed by this show, the Magi gave the child all three gifts. In return they were presented with a small closed box. There follows the strangest part of the whole story. In it the legend of the Three Magi is linked with what appears to be an account of the beginnings of Zoroastrianism.

And when they had ridden many days they said they would see what the child had given them. So they opened the little box, and inside it they found a stone. On seeing this they began to wonder what this might be that the child had given them, and what was the import thereof. Now the signification was this: when they presented their offerings, the child had accepted all three, and when they saw this they had said within themselves that he was the True God, and the True King, and the True Physician. And what the gift of the stone implied was that this Faith which had begun in them should abide as strong as a rock. For He well knew what was in their thoughts. Howbeit, they had no understanding at all of this signification of the gift of the stone; so they cast it into a well. Then, straightaway a fire from heaven descended into that well wherein the stone had been cast.

And when the kings beheld this marvel they were sore amazed and it greatly repented them that they had cast away the stone; for well they then perceived that it had a great and Holy meaning. So they took of that fire, and carried it into their own country, and placed it in a rich and beautiful church. And there the people keep it constantly burning, and worship it as a God and all the sacrifices they offer are kindled with that fire.

Such then was the story told by the people of that castle to Messer Marco Polo; they declared it to him for a truth that such was their history, and that one of the Three Kings was of that city called Saveh, and the second of Ava, and the third of that very castle where they still worship fire, with the people of all the country round about....

At first sight the legend looks interesting, but wholly mythical. Reading it in the bus I thought it must have been an attempt by one of the last surviving Zoroastrian communities to give their cult a history that would fit in with the scriptures of the Christians and Muslims who surrounded them. But one or two of the details in the story made me think twice about dismissing it in its entirety. According to Yule, the word 'Magi' used by St Matthew in his gospel does not actually mean wise men, as I had always assumed. The word is Persian, and so stands out in the Greek of the Gospel as a solitary foreign word. Its meaning is specific. It is the name of the ancient Zoroastrian priestly class. In all the elaboration that has grown up around the story in the Gospel, St Matthew's original meaning has been obscured. In the text the men who follow the star from the east are not the kings. Nor are they numbered or given names: this is all mediaeval legend. The Gospel text simply reads 'Some Magi came to Bethlehem from the East.' St Matthew's original audience would have understood that this meant a visit to Bethlehem of fire-worshipping priests from Persia.

As I read Yule's footnotes I remembered depictions of the Magi that I had seen on sarcophagi in the Vatican Museum and in the mosaics of St Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. The Magi are shown wearing trousers, tunics and pointed felt caps - the distinctive dress of the ancient Persians. This in turn reminded me of a story I had read the previous year in Runciman's
The First Crusade.
In the seventh century, the Persians had defeated the Byzantines and had swept through Palestine burning and pillaging every important building they had come across. Only one structure was spared: the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. According to Runciman, they made this single exception because over the doorway of the church was placed a huge mosaic showing the three Magi worshipping the Christ child. All three were shown in Persian dress. If the specifically Persian origin of the Magi is perhaps obscured today it was clearly understood into the early Middle Ages.

I had read Polo's story of the Magi before, but had never really taken it in. Now it suddenly seemed exciting and important. Most biblical scholars today understand St Matthew's story to be symbolic rather than historical. None of the other Gospels mention the visit of the Magi, and today it is generally
interpreted
as
a
symbol
indicating
that
all
pagan
religions would
bow
down
before
Christianity.
Yet
if
it
could
be
shown that
the
Zoroastrians
had
also
maintained
an
independent
tradition
of
a
visit
to
Bethlehem           

It
certainly
seemed
worth
investigating.
According
to
my map,
the
town
would
be
on
the
bus's
route
and
we
could
at least
find
out
whether
the
tombs
described
by
Polo
still
stood. There
was
also
the
additional
bonus,
according
to
my
guidebook,
of
a
good
chai'khana
run
by
a
retired
Gendarmerie Captain
where
excellent
Persian
food
and
hard
drinks
can
be obtained'.