dec 23 2010151 an ancient text called the revelation of the magi has been rediscovered and tells a very different version of the three wise mens journey to bethlehem it ends up being the most complex richest most strange the strangest story of the wise men to come out of christian antiquity said brent landau an expert in ancient biblical languages and literature until now it had never been translated into english landau who teaches in the religious studies program at the university of oklahoma translated the text from syriac and published it in his book the revelations of the magi the lost tale of the wise mens journey to bethlehem the ancient texts original author is still unknown although it is written from the point of view of the magi themselves landau tracked it down in the vatican archives and believes it is about 1700 years old its an incredibly grand story landau said so who the magi are in this text is they are descendants of adam and eves third son seth they live in this far eastern land the text calls the land shir and from other ancient texts it seems like the place it had in mind is the land of china