Were they even 'wise men'?
YES, the Tribe of MAGI, were Hired by several Kingdoms through Mid-East, to be Wise Men. The Tribe was the Tribe of MAGI, one of their Jobs was Wise Men. Hence the Wise Men in Daniel 2 were from the Tribe of MAGI. They excelled in their Wisdom, because they STUDIED EVERYTHING CONSIDERED WISDOM, including Astrology.
Daniel 2:47-48 (ASV)
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all
the wise men of Babylon.
They were just NORTH of Babylon, on the Western and Southern shores of the Caspian Sea.
See the Caspian Sea, the Magi had villages on the Western Shore and some on the the Southern Shore, as I understand it. Because it was PRIME grassing land for horses. See the River just west of the Babylon. The suspected route of the Magi, most likely was follow the River to Emar, then cut over that thru the valley to Ebla, then down to Charqar, then follow down to Jerusalem. WAY BETTER THAN CROSSING THE DESERT ON CAMELS.