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Engraving
"the ancient road
to THARSIS "
dated 1743

(France, 18th c.)
Magos Foundation Collection

THE MAGI IN THARSIS

Since ancient times Tharsis has been located in the south of Spain. “The Three Wise Men came by boat from Tharsis,” says the ecclesiastical writer Arnobius the Younger (5th century). For Saint Bede the Venerable (VIIth c.), doctor of the Church “The Three Wise Men come from the three important parts of the world: Asia, Africa, and Europe.” If Denis the Carthusian (XVth c.), one of the most prolific authors of Christianity, affirms that “the Magi come from Tharsis,” Cardinal Caramuel y Lobkowitz (XVIIth c.) will be more precise in his writings “Tharsis is in Spain and the Magi saw the star in the West. They came to Cadiz, a famous Spanish port”. His contemporary Juan Tamayo de Salazar (XVIIth c.), historian, close to the Bishop of Plasencia will add “The soul of the Magi is in Cadiz.” This coming of the Magi through Andalusia has been well and truly deciphered by the greatest religious authorities through the centuries. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI will be unequivocal, “the Magi came to the far West, Tharsis or Tarsessos in Spain.”