khovidoudah in historical records and its study in the historical section of Shahnameh Ferdowsi

Incest is one of the controversial and popular issues undertaken by the researchers in the history of Persia prior to Islam and Zoroastrianism and there has been numerous studies in this regard. In this essay a collection of records which directly or indirectly points to this issue has been compiled from different texts. This study first deals with an etymologic discussion about the word “khovidoudah” followed respectively by the records of this sort of marriage among Gods, and myths in Transpotamia and the ancient Persia, Greek historians reference to incest in Iran in their works, records found in Middle Zoroastrian texts, and Islamic texts. Finally cases within Shahnameh which attest to this rite are introduced.