Av. kauui- and Vedic kaví. The Reasons behind a Semantic Polarization.

The present article proposes a new discussion of two Indo-Iranian terms, such as Av. kauui- and Ved. kaví-. The author suggests that within the early Avestan world kauui- was an authority who assumed two functions, that of clanlord, and that of sacrificer. Thus, the kauui- Vīštāspa would have been not only a yájamāna- in the R̥gvedic sense, but also a sacrificer. The Indo-Iranian *kaví was given with a special knowledge of secret and esoteric origin, so that, in his “priestly” quality, he possessed the function of mediator between the human and divine worlds as well. The Iranian more advanced “politicization” of the kauui-role did not therefore represent a major deviation from the past, but its development confirms the fact that the highest social “authority” was in close relation with the divine power and the priestly function.