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Xwedodah (Persian: خویدوده ; khwēdōdah ; xᵛae¯tuuadaθa) is one of the most important religious doctrines in Zoroastrianism where one marries their close relatives, also known as brother-sister incest marriages or nuclear family incest.[1] It is the highest act of worship in Zoroastrianism, and there are punishments for not preforming it.[2][3] This form of direct familial incest marriage allowed Zoroastrians to marry their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, and their own mothers to take as wives.[4]

Etymology

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.[3] 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.

Zoroastrian religious views

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.[citation needed]

Mythology

In Zoroastrianism creationism, the world was created through xwedodah.[3][5] When Ahura Mazda had sex with his daughter Spandarmad, Gayomard the first human being was created.[6] Then Gayomard had sex with his mother Spandarmad, and created Mashya and Mashyana.[7] Then the siblings Mashya and Mashyana had sex with each other and created the rest of the human race. Zoroastrians believe because the gods had incest with each other, so should humans.[8]

Ohrmazd said: “O Zarathustra, the best thing to have been introduced by/to mankind would have been this, [that] if, since the primal creation, when Ması and Masyanı practiced thus, you would also have practiced thus. Since, when mankind altered that thing, if they had not altered it, just as Ması and Masyanı practiced xwedodah, people would have practiced [it] in that manner.”[9] Masi and Masyani, desiring offspring, had intercourse in the manner of males and females and produced children, which is called the xwedo dah of brother and sister. A great family (dudag) was born from them, who, having paired up, became husbands and wives. And, so, all humans who have been or are came from the original seed (tohm) of xwedodah.[10]

Nuclear family incest

Xwedodah is considered the highest act of worship. A man could marry his sister, daughter, or mother in this system.[2] Zoroastrian religious text provide unequivocal evidence for the desirability and occurrence of nuclear family incest in order to "preserve the purity of the race, to increase the compatibility of husband and wife, and to increase affection for children"[11][12] Pahlavi Rivāyat 8.a1–c1 explains that the first pair of humans was brother and sister, so they naturally engaged in brother-sister incest, and the original sexual act, the very first act of sex, was between Ahura Mazdā and his daughter Ārmaiti.[2]

Nuclear family incest is painted in positive light in Zoroastrian religious text

"blessed is he who has a child of his child (...) pleasure, sweetness, and joy are owing to a son that a man begets from a daughter of his own, who is also a brother of that same mother; and he who is born of a son and mother is also a brother of that same father; this is a way of much pleasure, which is a blessing of the joy (...) the family is more perfect; its nature is without vexation and gathering affection"[11]

Brother-sister incest is also said to have magical properties, it is written in Rivayat Accompanying the Dadestan I Denig:

For it is revealed that the first time a man has intercourse, 1,000 demons and 2,000 sorcerers and witches die; the second time 2,000 demons and 4,000 sorcerers and witches die; the third time 3,000 demons and 6,000 sorcerers and witches die; the fourth time both man and woman become manifestly blessed.[1]

The most preferred form of xwedodah is an incestuous relationship between a man and his mother as this is seen as the closest relationship.

he who performs khwēdōdah with one’s birth mother, daughter, or sister. And the greatest, best, and foremost of those four is he who performs khwēdōdah. So wonderful is khwēdōdah.[13]

The importance of brother-sister incest is emphasized in Zoroastrianism as part of important family bonds as it maintains purity and promotes love.[2][3] Zoroastrians also believed that a woman's virginity belonged to her brother or her father first, and they had the right to take it first before she got married, assuming she got married to someone outside the family. The hymen is suppose to be broken by either a woman's brother or her father, as this is property of the family, and it would be considered shameful if it was broken by or her virginity was in possession of a stranger or a foreign enemy.[14] A family would therefore never have to see their daughter being married off to other tribes.[2] There are also punishments for not preforming xwedodah or refusing to engage in it.[3] In the Zoroastrian version of Dante's Inferno, Book of Arda Wiraz 49, where a visitor to hell esquires about the sin committed by a woman entangled in a serpent that crawls into her mouth is given the explanation, "This is the soul of that wicked woman who violated the next-of-kin marriage" (who, in other words, refused to have sex with her father, brother, or son and therefore wound up in hell) [15] This is similar to modern day Shiaism in Iran where the practice of mutah (temporary marriage) is also said to have magical divine properties and is effective against sorcery.[16] One way of destroying huge numbers of sorcerers and witches is by having intercourse with one’s closest relatives.[2]

Sōshāns comes, all mankind will practice khwēdōdah, and all the lie- demons will be destroyed by the wonder and power of khwēdōdah.[13]

The urine of a man or a woman in a incestuous relationship can also be used in purification rituals, such as an exorcism as is narrated in Vendidad[2]

Then Ahura Mazdā said: Of small or of large domestic animals, but not of men and women, except those two who are men and women in next- of- kin unions. These should make urine with which these corpse- cutters can wash their hair and bodies.[17]

Nuclear family incest was more than a mere religious ideal or rare ritual. Unlike incest in Egypt, or Rome, or Medieval European royalty, this form of nuclear family incest was not relegated to just royalty but was widely popular among all facets of society from slaves, to free men, to the middle class, aristocrats and royalty. Nuclear family incest resulting in progeny was a far cry from an exclusively or even predominantly royal custom.[1]

Non-Persian Sources

Persians who immigrated from their homeland in Persia and live across various nations practiced brother-sister incest marriages, and in historical sources are refereed to as Magians, or Majoosi as called by the Arab dialects.[1] There are 60 outside sources referencing Zoroastrian Persian brother-sister incest marriages come from the Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Arabians, Indians, Tibetans, and Chinese, ranging from the 5th century B.C. into the 15th century A.D, roughly 2000 years.[1] To maintain stability over a multicultural empire, the Islamic Caliphate allowed newly conquered territory to keep their customs and practices as long as they submitted and paid their taxes.[18] Thus Zoroastrian brother-sister incest continued to persist and exist well into the Middle Ages.[19]

Islamic

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. Ferdowsi mentions incest between Bahman and his sister Homa.[20]

Jewish

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

Christian

The most comprehensive reports come from Eastern Christians who lived under Persian rule, they wrote down that these were not just fictitious stories of far away people, but were indeed very real and widely practiced. Iso'bokht, the Nestorian patriarch of the Persis writes many books on this topic urging Christians and other peoples to not practice this custom.[1][18]

Greek

The common feature of non-Iranian sources is that they rarely mention the Iranians themselves, even if they do occasionally mention the majus 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.[20]

Chinese

A 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".[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Scheidel, Walter (1996-09-01). "Brother-sister and parent-child marriage outside royal families in ancient egypt and iran: A challenge to the sociobiological view of incest avoidance?". Ethology and Sociobiology. 17 (5): 319–340. doi:10.1016/S0162-3095(96)00074-X. ISSN 0162-3095.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Forrest, Satnam Mendoza. (2011). Witches, whores, and sorcerers : the concept of evil in early Iran. Skjærvø, Prods O. (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-72687-1. OCLC 703621262.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kiel, Yishai (October 2016). "The Pahlavi Doctrine of Xwēdō dah". The Pahlavi Doctrine of Xwēdōdah. pp. 149–181. doi:10.1017/cbo9781316658802.007. ISBN 9781316658802. Retrieved 2020-04-19. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Drijvers, H.J.W. The Book of the Laws of Countries: Dialogue on Fate of Bardaisan of Edessa, Assen: Van Gorcum, 1965. pp 43-45
  5. ^ Skjærvø, “Next-of-Kin Marriage”; Williams (ed.), The Pahlavi Rivayat, ii, 132–133, n. 4.
  6. ^ Denkard 3.80.4–6 (Dresden [ed.], Denkart, 53–54; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 73; Skjærvø [trans.], Spirit of Zoroastrianism, 203); Pahlavi Rivayat 8a (Williams [ed.], The Pahlavi Rivayat, i, 48–51, ii, 10–11).
  7. ^ Denkard 3.80.7 (Dresden [ed.], De¯nkart, 54; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 74; Skjærvø [trans.], Spirit of Zoroastrianism, 203).
  8. ^ Pahlavi Rivayat 8a6–8 (Williams [ed.], The Pahlavi Rivayat, i, 48–49, ii, 10); Dadestan ı Denıg 36.69 (Jaafari-Dehaghi [ed.], Dadestan ı Denıg, 136–137); Denkard 7.1.9–10 (Dresden [ed.], Denkart, 471; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 592–593).
  9. ^ Pahlavi Rivayat 8a6–8 (cf. Williams [ed.], The Pahlavi Rivayat, i, 48–49, ii, 10). Cf. Dadestan ı Denıg 36.69 (Jaafari-Dehaghi [ed.], Dadestan ı Denıg 136–137); De¯nkard 7.1.9–10 (Dresden [ed.], Denkart, 471; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 592–593).
  10. ^ Denkard 3.80.8 (Dresden [ed.], Denkart, 54; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 74; Skjærvø [trans.], Spirit of Zoroastrianism, 204). See also De¯nkard 7.1.10 (Dresden [ed.], De¯nkart, 471; Madan [ed.], Pahlavi Dinkard, 592–593; Skjærvø [trans.], Spirit of Zoroastrianism, 111):
  11. ^ a b de Menasce, J. Le troisime livre du Denkart, Paris: Klincksieck, 1973. Denkard 3.82
  12. ^ Gignoux, P., and Tafazzoli, A. Anthologie de Zddspram: Edition Critique du Texte Pehlevi, Paris: Assocation pour l'Avancement des Etudes Iraniennes, 1993. Selections of Zad-Spram 26.3
  13. ^ a b Pahlavi rivāyat 8c.1–6, d.1–2
  14. ^ Ebrahimnejad, Hormoz (2015-11-02). "A Social History of Sexual Relations in Iran". Iranian Studies. 48 (6): 967–970. doi:10.1080/00210862.2014.993533. ISSN 0021-0862.
  15. ^ Vahman, F. Arda Wiraz Namag: The Iranian "'Divina Commedia," London and Malmo: Curzon Press, 1986. p 215
  16. ^ "Virtues of Mut'ah – Mahajjah". Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  17. ^ Videvdad 8.13
  18. ^ a b Choksy, J.K. Zoroastrians in Muslim lran: selected problems of coexistence and interaction during the early medieval period. Iranian Studies 20:17-30, 1987.
  19. ^ Sachau, E. Syrische Rechtsbiicher, 3, Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1914.
  20. ^ a b http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/marriage-next-of-kin
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