> I am currently trying to understand the etymology
> of the Greek word 'Magos'; this word appears only in a
> couple of instances, and its scarceness makes me wonder
> if the word is even Greek in origin.
It is not Greek in origin, but generally considered as an old Persian loan
word. Old Persian is, not surprisingly, the language of the ancient
Persians, and it is an indo-european language like Greek and Latin are,
but
belonging to the indo-aryan group. This being so, there could well be a
more exact etymology, but as far as I know there is no good explanation of
the word.
Dr. Rainer Thiel
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~thielr/
TTD: Dear Dr. Thiel,
Your comments are interesting; particularly, since they differ
somewhat from what a member from another list had to say on the topic:
". . . .the Magoi were a tribe of the Medes, to the west of the ancient
Persians, and described at some length by Herodotus in Bk 1 of his
Histories (1.140) as being a priestly caste with some distinctive
religious practices that aren't necessarily if at all related to the
Persian (who spoke an Indo-European language, Old Avestan, later Persian,
ancestor of the modern Farsi still used in Iran) Zoroastrians. . . . "
Dr. Thiel and Dr. Conrad,
If the passage by Herodotus is given any type of credibility whatsoever,
then while the "religious practices" of the Magoi "aren't "necessarily. .
. related to the Persian," was the language of the Magoi old Persian?
Tim Dickens
Please visit my 'new' web page:
http://members.gnn.com/mdick39708/timspge.htm
"Simon Peter said to them, 'Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of
life,' Jesus said, 'I myself shall make her male, so that she too may
become a living spirit resembling male. For every woman who will make
herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."
The Gospel according to Thomas, saying #114