(This is usually the direction of writing in the seal impressions, while in the original seals - such as those illustrated in Fig. e.g. In the absence of any idea about the intended meaning of the 'fish' pictogram, it would be difficult to decide which, if any, of these possible interpretations is correct. If the 'fish' pictograms of the Indus script generally meant 'star', why was the meaning 'star' not expressed directly with a 'star' pictogram as in the ancient Near East? In Tamil, at least, the word velli is used not only in the meaning of 'planet Venus' but in the general meaning of 'star' as well. Numerically the early Aryans can have been only a fraction of the Indus population, which is estimated to have been about five million. Also Read – Deciphering Harappan script: Most mysterious writing in the world. As an amateur researcher working on the decipherment project for more than 10 years I would say it is due to the following reasons: 1. the total number of inscriptions found so far is approx 13,000. Thus, there is no concrete information available to read the names of the Harappan kings (if any), gods, or even the common people. Other articles where Harappan script is discussed: India: Language and scripts, weights and measures: The Harappan script has long defied attempts to read it, and therefore the language remains unknown. We can be sure that, like Enki and Varuna, the Harappan "Proto-Siva" was not merely the god of waters, but had other important aspects as well. The water-god Varuna of the later Indian mythology is likewise said to be the lord of all sorts of aquatic monsters. What makes this reading really significant is that the last-mentioned compound is factually attested as the name of the planet Saturn in the oldest available Dravidian texts, the poems of the Sangam literature written in Old Tamil in the early centuries of our era (Purananuru 117). Names of divinities, therefore, can reasonably be expected to occur in the inscriptions of the Indus seals in great numbers and in definite positions suiting both proper names and priestly titles. The term Indus script (also Harappan script) refers to short strings of symbols associated with the Indus Valley Civilization, in use during the Mature Harappan period, between the 26th and 20th centuries BC. Both words refer to a glittering object, and appear to be derivatives from the Proto-Dravidian root meen 'to glitter, to sparkle'. Except when combined with another sign (depicting the 'crab'), which is placed inside it omitting the central "branch" (Fig. Artistic expression on painted pottery (Fig. The Sanskrit hypothesis, however, is difficult to reconcile chronologically with the date of the Indus civilisation (about the second half of the third millennium B.C.) If a pictogram has been used in its primary, pictorial meaning, its meaning can be understood directly from the iconic2 sign itself, irrespective of how the corresponding word was pronounced in the language underlying the Indus script. This etymology also appears preferable to the current explanation, which derives vata 'Indian fig' from Middle Indo-Aryan (Prakrit vata Sanskrit vata 'covered, surrounded'), because the Aryan nomads did not bring this tree to the subcontinent, but encountered it first there. The 25 Dravidian languages spoken at present form the second largest linguistic family of South Asia. If we assume the pictorial meaning to be 'fish' and the intended meaning to be 'god', are these meanings linked by a homonymy in any historically plausible language? But how to read the pictogram consisting of 'two long vertical strokes'? Besides the 'single fig leaf' pictogram on the reverse, these amulets offer another contextual proof for the 'Indian fig tree' pictogram. 2021The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Read in Dravidian, does it make any sense in this context? For in this case, as elsewhere in scientific research, a big and difficult problem becomes more manageable if it is broken into two or more smaller problems. The Harappans also employed regular systems of weights and measures. Soon and travel back to the compound aru-meen 'six-star ' occurring in Old Tamil vata-meen is the name of,! Three pictograms, the pictorial meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs more than 150 years ago … seals. 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