Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/64

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IN OLD IRÂN.
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with any reliance upon them, definite opinion as regards the marriage customs of the old Irânians. I, therefore, repeat my conviction which I have set forth in my first statement—That the slight authority of some isolated passages gleaned from the pages of Greek and Roman literature, is wholly insufficient to support the odious charge made against the old Iranians of practising consanguineous marriages in their most objectionable forms!

The Meaning of the Avesta word Qaêtvadatha.

II. In proof of the second statement—That no trace, hint or suggestion of such a custom can be pointed out in the Avestâ, or in its Pahlavi Version—it is first of all necessary to enquire what is the opinion of the Avestâ on the subject; whether we are able to trace to any Avestâ precept the alleged custom of next-of-kin marriage in old Irân. According to European scholars, the term that expresses such a marriage is (Symbol missingAvestan characters) Qaêtvadatha in the Avestâ, and (Symbol missingAvestan characters) Khvêtûk-dât or (Symbol missingAvestan characters) Khvêtûk-dasih in Pahlavi. It has, there

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