Tradition and mystery cloak the wise men of the Christmas story. Were there three or more of them? Did they have names?

There is not, it appears, to date, any record declaring the exact number of wise men who paid homage to Jesus. Because they brought three gifts, gold (for a king), frankincense (incense to worship God) and myrrh (for burial preparation - Jesus' crucifixion), tradition places the number of the wise men at three.

Their names are not known, either, even though tradition, depending upon location, has bestowed upon them three names, Balthasar (King of Arabia), Melchior (King of Persia), and Gasper (King of India). [1]. However, there appear to be no records, to date, that declare these men were kings. This, too, has become a tradition.

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