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I do not think it a salvific issue but a lot of people have reasons they believe the Magi came from Persia, here is an excerpt from an article A. Non-Biblical Evidence We may form a conjecture by non-Biblical evidence of a probable meaning to the word magoi. Herodotus (I, ci) is our authority for supposing that the Magi were the sacred caste of the Medes. They provided priests for Persia, and, regardless of dynastic vicissitudes, ever kept up their dominating religious influence. To the head of this caste, Nergal Sharezar, Jeremias gives the title Rab-Mag, "Chief Magus" (Jeremias 39:3, 39:13, in Hebrew original - Septuagint and Vulgate translations are erroneous here). After the downfall of Assyrian and Babylonian power, the religion of the Magi held sway in Persia. Cyrus completely conquered the sacred caste; his son Cambyses severely repressed it. The Magians revolted and set up Gautama, their chief, as King of Persia under the name of Smerdis. He was, however, murdered (521 B.C.), and Darius became king. This downfall of the Magi was celebrated by a national Persian holiday called magophonia (Her., III, lxiii, lxxiii, lxxix). Still the religious influence of this priestly caste continued throughout the rule of the Achaemenian dynasty in Persia (Ctesias, "Persica", X-XV); and is not unlikely that at the time of the birth of Christ it was still flourishing under the Parthian dominion. Strabo (XI, ix, 3) says that the Magian priests formed one of the two councils of the Parthian Empire.http://www.ldolphin.org/magi.html B. Biblical Evidence

I appreciate the research you have presented here. It still remains that the Magi discussed originated with the Chaldeans, of whom it spread to Persia under Cyrus. The book of Esther shows that the religion of the Jews was also there and blossomed when the influence of Haman was struck down.

There is nothing here to say that the Magi were not the priests of a cult that spread from the original source of Ur of the Chaldeans, nor that the Magi/Magoi did not come from that location of Padanaram.

I am glad that your citation begins with "We may form a conjecture . . ." which I also tried to show in the story that was given to me also. The article as you wrote it would have been better served had you stated it as so,rather than casting it as established fact.

It is true that the central sign of the arrival of the Messiah was an astral one, which the constellation of the Southern Cross fits very nicely, wheras some unknown feature observed by looking west from Teheran does not seem to.

But thanks for the opportunity to propose a novel and more exciting story founded in the origins of the Chosen People as descendants of Abraham, moored to Ur of the Caldees (not the Leonard Wooley one, proven now ro be bluster), Gobeklitepe, and Haran, Laban's family whence come Leah, Rachel and her death at Bethlehem. Don't you think?