Matt. 2 -- Happy Ephiphany !

The 12th Day of Christmas, January 6, has traditionally been used to honor those mysterious Magi who came from the neighborhood of Persia to honor the new-born Messiah:

Mat 2:1,2 İsa'nın Kral Hirodes devrinde Yahudiye'nin Beytlehem Kenti'nde doğmasından sonra bazı yıldızbilimciler doğudan Yeruşalim'e gelip şöyle dediler: "Yahudiler'in Kralı olarak doğan çocuk nerede? Doğuda O'nun yıldızını gördük ve O'na tapınmaya geldik."

Let's look at one word, and several derivatives thereof:

• yıldız -- star
  
• yıldızını -- at his star
  
• yıldızbilimciler -- astrologers. yıldız (star) + bilim (skill, knowledge, science) + ci (practitioner of the foregoing) + ler (plural)
  

The Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia had a legend of a coming messiah figure who would destroy the deeds of darkness and raise the dead. When Marco Polo visited Persia, he was shown the tombs of the Magi. So, they may have been native sages.

On the other hand, clusters of Jewish bankers, scholars, and merchants were scattered all over the known world by then. The Magi may simply have read Daniel, done the numbers, then responded when external evidence confirmed their expectations.

In any case, they came, they saw, they worshiped. On the Feast of Epiphany, we celebrate the shining forth of salvation to the non-Jewish nations. In many Christian countries, this is when gifts are given, in memory of the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus. Gifts that bankrolled their flight into Egypt.