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A Sign from a Coin
When winter nights grow long, our lives are brightened by the celebration of Christmas. This time of peace and good will is celebrated throughout the world as many people commemorate the birth of Jesus, which was marked by a special celestial manifestation, the Star of Bethlehem. A star suspended above a creche reminds us of the biblical account in Matthew of the Magi, who came to King Herod of Judea to ask where the newborn King of the Jews was, for they had ''seen his star in the east'' (see figure 1). The celestial event that is believed to have revealed the birth of Jesus has captivated the imagination of many people over the centuries. Thus, there are many explanations as to what the ''star'' might have been: a comet, a supernova, a planetary conjunction, or even a miracle. The Star of Bethlehem is mentioned only in Matthew; no contemporaneous historical source mentions the star.1 Furthermore, much lore has been added to the biblical account, and strong personal beliefs have embellished the facts, making it difficult to determine what the Magi saw in the sky.
The account in Matthew is somewhat enigmatic. Visitors come to King Herod, and they are called Magi, a title that bestows an aura of mystery. The Magi are from somewhere in the East, and they bring valuable gifts for a newborn king. Their eastern origins and the precious presents conjure up visions of exotic places and great wealth, and even suggest to some people that the Magi were kings. Their star is also mysterious. It is difficult to visualize how the Magi, coming from the east, could have followed a star ''in the east'' to Judea. Furthermore, perhaps miraculously, the star seems to stand over where the child was. And most mysterious of all, it appears that no one in Jerusalem saw the star. All of this information points to a rather unusual celestial event, one as perplexing to us as it was to King Herod and his people.
In this book, I will present new evidence in favor of a historical basis to the star mentioned in Matthew. There was indeed a great celestial portent during Herod's reign, a portent that signified the birth of a great king of Judea and is in excellent agreement with the biblical account. An interesting feature of this new evidence is its serendipitous nature-its fortuitous emergence from studies of ancient coins.2
Late in the reign of Emperor Augustus Caesar, close to A.D. 6, Antioch, the capital of the Roman province of Syria, issued some bronze coins of low denominational value for local use. Although Antioch had minted coins many times before, these new coins were remarkably different from previous issues. They displayed a leaping ram, the zodiacal sign of Aries, looking backwards at an overhead star.3
The appearance of an astrological symbol on a Roman coin is not unusual: astrology was widely practiced throughout the Roman world, even at the highest levels of society and government. For instance, Emperor Augustus Caesar issued several coins bearing his birth sign, Capricorn, the Sea-Goat. Astrologers claimed that Augustus's astrological birth chart predicted he would rule the world, so Augustus used Capricorn as propaganda-proof from the heavens that he was destined to become emperor. As a result, Capricorn became a common emblem on coinage and artwork across the empire.4
As for the meaning of Aries, the Ram, on Antioch's coins, numismatic scholars have surmised that Aries was Antioch's astrological sign-that the city was ''born'' under this sign.5 That explanation is not, however, entirely correct: the ancient astrological texts report that Aries also symbolized Judea (see map 1 for the location of Antioch relative to Judea). Thus, the coins may have been related to the annexation of Judea by the Romans in A.D. 6. But an even more important possibility, one supported by astrological sources, is that the coins explain that Aries is where stargazers would have watched for indications of the birth of a king of the Jews. This means that the Star of Bethlehem would have appeared in Aries. But before asking what actually did appear in Aries, we must examine the historical background of the story about the Star of Bethlehem.
The Origins of the Biblical Account
The stories about the birth of Jesus, which are known as the infancy narratives, come from two sources, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament. It is likely that Matthew's story of the Magi and their regal star is not a firsthand account but rather the product of an oral tradition that was eventually recorded long after Jesus' ministry. Most biblical scholars are of the opinion that Matthew and Luke were written in the period A.D. 80 -90, fifty to sixty years after the crucifixion of Jesus. The author of Matthew is unknown, although the evidence points to a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian who lived among Gentiles and Jews in Syria, most likely in Antioch. Similarly, the evangelist of Luke is unknown but believed to have been a physician who lived in Antioch and wrote the best Greek of the evangelists. Furthermore, he appears to have been a companion of Paul the Apostle. Both Gospels indicate that some material was drawn from the Book of Mark, the earliest gospel, and from another source of Jesus' sayings called ''Q'' by biblical scholars.6
There are strongly differing views about the account of the Magi's visit. One view holds that the story about the regal star is purely a myth meant to give the birth of Jesus a glorious and mystical setting. Another interpretation is that the star defies explanation and was a miracle. Between these diametrically opposed beliefs lie many explanations that try to tie the star to a specific celestial event. These theories about the star are strongly shaped by personal ideas about celestial portents. And above all, the people who present these theories are unfamiliar with the beliefs from the time of Jesus' birth about such portents.
Some researchers have argued that the tale about the mysterious star is midrash, a form of ancient Jewish interpretation and exposition that popularizes and explains a biblical account.7 Some scholars argue that the story of the star, although in the literary style of midrash, is nevertheless true; and others argue that all midrash is a form of myth, that the star was conjured up to validate Jesus' birth as Christ (the Messiah.)
The argument advocating a mythical account points to the prophetic oracle of Balaam from the Old Testament, which indicates that Jews expected the appearance of a Messianic star that would mark the birth of the Messiah.
there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. (Num. 24:17)
Balaam, a famous seer, was summoned by King Balak, the Transjordanian king of Moab, to put a curse on the Israelites, who were being led by Moses out of Egypt to find the Promised Land.8 Balaam thwarted the plan of King Balak by foretelling not the downfall of Israel but its future greatness. Some scholars, pointing to versions of the text in which ''star'' is replaced by ''king,'' believe that this passage predicts the rise of King David. In any case, the story was used for centuries as a prophecy about the Messiah, who would destroy the enemies of Israel. Moreover, many parallels between the story of Balaam and the Magi's visit have been noted: King Balak was from the same land as King Herod's family; Balaam ruined Balak's plans to destroy the Israelites, and the Magi foiled Herod's plan to destroy Jesus; Balaam, like the Wise Men, was a magos (a seer); and Balaam spoke of a star symbolizing the Messiah, and the Magi said a star announced the birth of the King of the Jews, namely, the Messiah.
These and other similarities between the stories have been used to argue that the account in Matthew is a midrash fable based upon the story of Balaam and that the account in Matthew needed to invent a Messianic star to establish Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, the argument goes, if the Messianic star of Matthew cannot be verified as an actual celestial event, midrash, based upon the story of Balaam, is the explanation of the star.9 In view of the numerous and unconvincing explanations that try to establish a historical basis for the Magi's star, it is not surprising that the story about the star is assumed to be an intriguing myth or even a report about a supernatural apparition. For these reasons some people believe that the enigmatic star can be accepted only as a matter of faith.
Nevertheless, many people suspect that there is a yet-to-befound historical basis to the intriguing story. The details in the account of the Magi's visit strongly suggest an attempt, albeit a confusing one, to pass along details of an important celestial manifestation-one that was noted or even anticipated by people watching for celestial omens about the advent of the Messiah. For this reason many researchers have described the story as verisimilar, that is, likely, or probable. However, the problem is that a verisimilar account is not proof for a historical basis.