Xwedodah

Xwedodah (Persian: خویدوده‎) is a concept in Zoroastrianism to refer to a form of good marriage. There is a divergence of views on how to marry scholars and obstetricians, whether it is to marry close relatives, such as cousins, or to incest, such as sisters and mothers.

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Alireza Shapour Shahbazi and Ali Akbar Jafari believe that since they say that in ancient sources such as Gathas and Avesta there is no sense of incest marriage. Incest marriage has been spoken of, and so do the Zoroastrians nowadays who do not accept this meaning, and consider marriage to close relatives as cousins has led scholars to consider marriage to close relatives late in the Sasanian Empire as meaning Xwedodah.[1][2][3][4][5]

According to Prods Oktor Skjaervo, it is said that in Middle Persian (Pahlavi) texts it refers to alliances based on the marriage of father and daughter, mother and son, or brother and sister (marital incest), and is one of the most sacred acts possible. The meaning and application of the Avesta word is not clear. It is not clear what was happening in Sassanid Iran and before, especially outside the royal family and the nobility ("incestuous marriage"), and perhaps the clergy were widespread and whether the traditions attributed to it could be a general characteristic of the population. However, evidence from Dura-Europos in combination with Jewish and Christian sources recounting the realities of the Sasanian period reinforces the evidence of Zoroastrian texts. In post-Sassanid Zoroastrian literature, Xwedodah is used to refer to marriage between cousins, which has always been relatively common. When Anquetil-Duperron saw the Persians in the middle of the eighteenth century, he was told that the term was used to marry cousins, among whom marriage outside the family was very rare. Marriage between cousins (linked to heaven) was common and natural, but incest was illegal. [6]

According to Shapour Shahbazi, it seems that the term "incest marriage" actually means "marriage with relatives", which is interpreted as incest marriage because of the misinterpretation of the words "daughter" and "self" and "sister". And it has been misleading Greek, Roman, Armenian, Christian, Islamic, and even Zoroastrian historians. Incest marriage was not allowed in ancient Iran, but despite this inevitability, there have been a few historical cases of such marriages.[7] None of the original and ancient Zoroastrian documents, such as the Gatas and the Avesta, the most important and extensive Zoroastrian books written in the Avestan and Middle Persian languages, have no trace of incestuous marriage, but in these sources, the meaning of Xwedodah is to marry close relatives. Pure blood is recommended and appropriate, but only in late Sassanid works such as Denkard and Book of Arda Viraf and the prophetic commentaries, some edited even after Islam, are traces of incest marriage.[7][8]

The longest Pahlavi texts on Xwedodah are chapter 2 of the Pahlavi narratives, together with the Dadestan-i Denig and Book 2, chapter 5 of Denkard, which seems to answer Airbad's question to a Jew about Xwedodah and includes a lengthy discussion about the meaning of the term.

Etymology

New Avestan texts are xᵛaētuuadaθa (male) and xᵛaētuuadaiθī (female) and the adjectives xᵛaētuuadaθa and xᵛaētuuadaθā (female). The nineteenth-century qaêtvadatha style (with q instead of Avesta x) and similar writings reappear in modern literature.

The first part of the compound seems to be a "family" (or similar) of Khito (xᵛaētu), which is generally thought to derive from the "self" (xᵛaē-) with the suffix -you (-tu-), although this is not entirely straightforward . The second part, vadaθa, is nowadays generally regarded as a derivative of the verb (From * Wad-) 'resulting in marriage', related to other Iranian and Hindu European languages which refer to marriage or marriage partner (compare with ancient Indik). "Wife" Av. Vaδū; Pahlavi wayūg (Pers. Bayu) "bride"; Avestan vaδut "one who has reached the age of marriage"; Pahlavi wayūdag "bride's room"; This etymology was suggested by Carl Goldner, and accepted by Émile Benveniste and Christian Bartholomae, and became a popular opinion among Western scholars. However, there is no * vadha- to Vedic or * vada- root in the Avesta of the vadh root; in Avesta the vāδaya and upa.vāδaiia- 'lead (to marry)' and uzuuāδaiia are 'leaving the father's house'.

vadh-Vedic, vad-Avestan should not be confused with vah-Avestan "to take", vaz-Avestan with the uhyá-unknown form.

The mythical origin

According to the Pahlavi texts, Ahura Mazda began his quest at the time of creation and linked human beings to each other, going through a period of mixing in which good and evil compete for supremacy, reaching the epicenter of a period in which the world Once again it will be the way that Ahura Mazda had created it.In Isna 1.6, Spenta Armaiti is said to have been the daughter of Ahura Mazda, but no details on how Ahura Mazda was her father can be found. On the other hand, it is said that Ahura Mazda was both his father and mother of creation; his mother when he was brought up in the world of thought and his father when he brought it into the world of being. Denig has said of the first manuscripts (the first humans) that the creator enjoyed the action from which all creatures were made, in which it is a word that can refer to sexual activity but is not unambiguous. Denkard says people should do it because it is clear that the creator did it when he made such creations.

Studies

Most of Pahlavi's texts are self-contained by Edward William West's comments. Brief evaluations and references include Friedrich Spiegel and standard books on Zoroastrianism (such as Boyce).

Avesta

The Avesta does not provide any explicit details about xᵛaētuuadaθa, and it is difficult to evaluate the Avestan evidence on the basis of Pahlavi texts and the Sasanian tradition.

In Vendidad, Ahuramazda gives instructions on the type of urine that can be used to wash a "corpse burner," the bastard: Animal urine is okay, but not for people, except for men and women.This ruling has been echoed by the Persian narratives that ḵᵛetyudaṯ recommended for the elimination of contamination.

Middle Persian scripts and Pahlavi texts

The earliest use of the word Xwedodah in Middle Persian in the inscription Kordir on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is in the role of Naqsh-e Rostam.

Perhaps a much more recent reference can be found in the Pahlavi-Chinese bilingual tomb inscriptions in Xi'an, in which the deceased woman, from the Surin family princes, is read in Chinese as "wife" but in Pahlavi's "daughter" but The interpretation of the inscription is unclear.

Persian literature

Ferdowsi mentions incest only between Bahman and his sister Homa.[6]

In classical sources

The common feature of non-Iranian sources is that they rarely mention the Iranians themselves, even if they do occasionally mention the clerics.

Numerous classical sources and later authors point to the incarnation of incest in the Achaemenid monarchies of the Parthian and Sassanian dynasties.

Some of the earliest Greek references to non-royal incest are those by Xanthus in his book Magica, which Clement of Alexandria quoted as saying that Magi had sex with their mothers, daughters and sisters, and that Ctesias had mentioned a brother-sister marriage. Herodotus mentions that Cambyses lived with his sister, though the Persians had never been with their sisters before.[6]

In Jewish sources

Jewish philosopher Philo has mentioned the marriage of high-ranking Iranians to their mothers and the high status of the children of these links.

In Arabic texts

Muslim writers have cited this tradition. For example, Al-Tha'alibi writes that Zoroastrian legalized marriage between brothers and sisters and fathers and daughters because Adam had married his sons to his daughters. Al-Masudi cites Zoroastrian incest and reports that Ardashir I told his people to marry close relatives to strengthen family ties.

See also

References
  1. Friedrich von Spiegel, Erânische Altertumskunde (ancient Iranian culture) 1871-78 ,3, pp. 675-680
  2. Edward William West, Pahlavi Texts 2, pp. 389-431
  3. Adolf Rapp, “Die Religion und Sitte der Perser und übrigen Iranier ”, 1865 , pt. 2, 1865,pp. 50-140
  4. فهرست آثار علیرضا شاپور شهبازی، «افسانه ازدواج با محارم»، باستان‌شناسی و تاریخ، ۱۵/۱، ۱۳۸۱/۲۰۰۲، ۹–۳۶.
  5. گلچینی از خرده اوستا، دکتر علی اکبر جعفری، انتشارات فروهر 1358
  6. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/marriage-next-of-kin
  7. شاپور شهبازی، ع. " Archived 2012-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  8. دکتر وست، متون پهلوی، ج2، ص380 تا 430
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