Footnote 5 – The Magi and the Star

With the establishment of Greek control over the Near East after the conquests of Alexander the Great (fourth century B.C.E.) the most important Babylonian gods became syncretized with Greek ones. Thus Ishtar, the goddess of love and beauty, was equated with Aphrodite; Marduk, the king of gods, was equated with Zeus; Nergal, the god of war, was equated with Ares; and so on. The Greeks also adapted from the Babylonians the idea of associating the leading gods of their pantheon with planets, stars and days of the week. These associations were later taken over by the Romans, who in their turn equated Greek gods with their own.