Deciphering the Indus Script
Deciphering the Indus Script

Author: Asko Parpola

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-10-01

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9780521795661

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Of the writing systems of the ancient world which still await deciphering, the Indus script is the most important. It developed in the Indus or Harappan Civilization, which flourished c. 2500-1900 BC in and around modern Pakistan, collapsing before the earliest historical records of South Asia were composed. Nearly 4,000 samples of the writing survive, mainly on stamp seals and amulets, but no translations. Professor Parpola is the chief editor of the Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions. His ideas about the script, the linguistic affinity of the Harappan language, and the nature of the Indus religion are informed by a remarkable command of Aryan, Dravidian, and Mesopotamian sources, archaeological materials, and linguistic methodology. His fascinating study confirms that the Indus script was logo-syllabic, and that the Indus language belonged to the Dravidian family.

The Indus Script and the Ṛg-Veda
The Indus Script and the Ṛg-Veda

Author: Egbert Richter-Ushanas

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9788120814059

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The deciphering of the Indus script has met with suspicion and is exposed to ridicule even. Many people are nowadays of the opinion that the Indus script is altogether indecipherable, if not a bilingual of considerable size turns up. The approach to a decipherment presented in this volume makes avail of a bilingual, too, but its masterkey is the discovering of the symbolic connection of the Indus signs with the metaphoric language of the Rg-Veda. Nearly 200 inscriptions, among them the longest and those with the most interesting motifs, have been decoded here by setting them syllable for syllable in relation to Rg-Vedic verses. The results that were gained by this method for the pictographic values of the Indus signs are surprising and far beyond the possibilities of the most daring phantasy. At the same time many problems of the Rg-Veda could be solved or new insights be won.

The Indus Script: A Positional-Statistical Approach
The Indus Script: A Positional-Statistical Approach

Author: Michael Korvink

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2011-02-20

Total Pages: 95

ISBN-13: 0615182399

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Since the discovery of the Indus Civilization, the meaning of the enigmatic Indus script remains hidden in its four hundred characters. While many would-be-decipherers have attempted to unravel its meaning with the aid of a presumed underlying language, none of these attempts has proven successful. In response, the approach taken in this work does not preclude an underlying language, but offers an alternate approach where the positional patterns of the Indus signs are investigated in an attempt to segment the character strings. Michael Korvink is a former instructor of International Studies at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and now works in the private sector.

Indus Valley Civilization Script Decoded
Indus Valley Civilization Script Decoded

Author: Prabhunath Hembrom

Publisher: Notion Press

Published: 2020-03-28

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1646787293

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Scientists discover Y-DNA haplogroups O2a and mt-DNA haplogroup M4a in the Rakhigarhi ancient DNA. These haplogroups are associated with the speakers of Austro-Asiatic languages such as Mundari, Santali and Khasi. These haplogroups and related languages are also present in Southeast Asia. In India, speakers of these languages are currently found mostly in Central and East India. Even though a prominent philologist of Harvard University, Mr. Michael Witzel, has argued the case for a language close to Munda (which he calls para-Mundari) being one of the languages of the erstwhile Indus Valley, a finding of this nature will come as a surprise to most others. So if the genetics do find haplogroups O and M4a in Rakhigarhi, some of our current understanding of Indian history may have to be revised. Tony Joseph in The Hindu, December 23, 2017

Indus Script A Well Developed Writing System
Indus Script A Well Developed Writing System

Author: Dr Somesh Chandra Shrivastava

Publisher: BFC Publications

Published: 2022-12-31

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 9356322902

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Language of Indus seals was Sanskrit because most of the seals ended on jar sign or fish sign which depicts end of subject words as visargah and end of objects on fish sign as in dwitiya vibhakti. Seals are read from head to tail of the animal on the seal. Prominent city names found on Indus seals are Harapam (Harappa), Kathumaad (Kathmandu, Nepal), Unuaad (Una-Ropar in Himanchal Pradesh), Trisurrah (Trisur, Kerala) Surshenas (Mathura Uttar Pradesh), Ur (Ur, Iraq) and Yerag (Yerevan, Armenian Capital). Agricultural seals contain names sarshan(mustard), mashah (black gram),yavat (grains like barley), rashwan (Garlic) gavreem (turmeric), suran (yam), rasnagah (rubber tree), maarah (thorn apple), sukuvah (lotus) which were sown(Bapikh) by permission of ploughing (krishtemiomah) by king and they gave 1/3rd crop to king (sat-tray) then distributing among themselves (Sat-sheshan). This tax was waivered due to less crop production(unkarsh). Business of beauty parlour was present with three beautifications (trayah shringar) namely hair setting (rachanah), bodypainting and tattooing (patrana) and nail care with nail polish (nakheramae).

The Harappan Civilization and Its Writing
The Harappan Civilization and Its Writing

Author: Walter Ashlin Fairservis

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-07-17

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 9004676759

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A description of a methodology by which to decipher the writing of the Harappan civilization. The methodology is then applied and the results set forth in detail. There, results coupled with the author's extensive archaeological knowledge of the Indus Civilization creates a picture of ancient South Asian life much of which in content is unique.

The Ancient Indus Valley
The Ancient Indus Valley

Author: Jane McIntosh

Publisher: ABC-CLIO

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13:

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"Researchers have tentatively reconstructed a model of Indus life from the limited material that remains. Based on important findings from recent surveys and excavations in South Asia and neighboring regions, The Ancient Indus Valley explains what is now known about the Indus civilization's roots in the farming cultures of prehistoric South Asia, as well as the hallmarks of its extraordinary development. It is an eye-opening introduction to a vanished world - and a stirring testament to archaeology's power to recover the past."--BOOK JACKET.

Indus Script Concordance
Indus Script Concordance

Author: Devajyoti Sarkar

Publisher: Vamra Vaikhanasa Publishing

Published: 2023-06-14

Total Pages: 6520

ISBN-13: 4991273927

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The Indus civilization was one of the earliest civilizations of the ancient world. At its peak, it was more than ten times larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined and three times their population. Yet it remains a riddle of prehistory. Its script is the last great script to remain undeciphered. This concordance is an attempt to make the corpus of Indus inscriptions organized and searchable in a digital format. It covers 3,649 objects with 5,037 inscriptions from across 40 Indus sites. At more than 10,000 pages, it is a comprehensive reference for the domain. It allows the reader to efficiently search and navigate the corpus by location, object types, and writing direction. It is the only resource that allows you to search the collection by letters, words, and patronymics. In order to help the first-time reader, the Introduction provides a background of the Indus civilization and its script. It presents a unique analysis of the typography of the Indus seals and compares it to modern fonts. It systematically analyzes the script down into constituent forms and links to resources for a Unicode encoding and an open-source font for the script. The book itself serves as an example of those resources. This concordance is based on a complete decipherment of the Indus script that I will publish separately. It leverages that to identify characters and words and present a consistent and complete coverage of the inscriptions.

Illustrated Indus Script Concordance
Illustrated Indus Script Concordance

Author: Devajyoti Sarkar

Publisher: Vamra Vaikhanasa Publishing

Published: 2023-06-15

Total Pages: 11164

ISBN-13: 4991273919

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The Indus civilization was one of the earliest civilizations of the ancient world. At its peak, it was more than ten times larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined and three times their population. Yet it remains a riddle of prehistory. Its script is the last great script to remain undeciphered. This illustrated concordance attempts to make the corpus of Indus inscriptions organized and searchable in a digital format. It covers 3,649 objects with 5,037 inscriptions from across 40 Indus sites. At more than 10,000 pages, it aims to be a comprehensive reference for the domain. The drawings carved into the seals encode key identity and context information and represent iconic and culturally significant symbols. This illustrated concordance not only represents the full gamut of visual information available but also seamlessly integrates it into the overall search experience. It allows the reader to efficiently search and navigate the corpus by location and object types, by animals and other illustrations, by facing and writing directions. It is the only resource that indexes the collection by letters, words, and patronymics. In order to help the first-time reader, the Introduction provides a background of the Indus civilization and its script. It presents a unique analysis of the typography of the Indus seals and compares it to modern fonts. It systematically analyzes the script down into constituent forms and links to resources for Unicode encoding and an open-source font for the script. The book itself serves as a test case for those resources. This concordance is based on a complete decipherment of the Indus script that I will publish separately. It leverages that to identify characters and words and present a consistent and complete coverage of the inscriptions.