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The three wise men pay homage to the infant Jesus, seated on his mother’s lap, on a gold and bronze fibula, or jeweled clasp, dating to the sixth or seventh century. Although no shrine in Bethlehem commemorates these travelers, the Adoration of the Magi is the most frequently depicted New Testament scene on extant eulogiai.

For Byzantine pilgrims who attempted to model themselves after the saints, the Magi may have been seen as the ideal travelers. The inscription on the fibula, “Lord, help,” suggests that the bearer hoped for the same divine guidance that protected the Magi, who were informed “in a dream” of a safe route home (Matthew 2:12).