Writing

Essays on the symbols and study of the written communication or script system used by the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

TIFR Indus Script Research

In November 2007 scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), one of India's most prestiguous scientific institutions, began publishing a series of papers on their analysis of ancient Indus script signs. Supported by a five-year grant from the Jamsetji Tata Trust, the researchers plan to approach issues around the ancient script with rigorous statistical … >

Deciphering the Indus Script

Generally recognized as the world's expert on the Indus script, Asko Parpola has been studying this undeciphered writing for over 40 years at the University of Helsinki in Finland. He is co-editor of collections of all seals and inscriptions in India and Pakistan. As Professor of Indology he has led a Finnish team of experts through numerous approaches to the puzzle of one … >

The Indus Script

Introduction Iravatham Mahadevan is a National Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research, and has been working on the Indus script for over 40 years. His publications include The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977). A Tamil speaker, he has used historical linguistics and statistical studies to examine the Dravidian components in Vedi… >

An Interview with Ahmed Hasan Dani

An interview from January 6, 1998 with one of the subcontinent's most remarkable archaeologists covers his Indus excavations and objections to theories by good friends. An unusual perspective by the first Muslim to graduate from Benares Hindu University. Dr. Dani passed away 26 January 2009 (aged 88). Dr. Ahmed Hasan Dani was interviewed on January 6, 1998 by Webmaster Om… >

An Interview with Iravatham Mahadevan

A wide-ranging interview with Iravatham Mahadevan [1930-2018] home on January 17, 1998 with Omar Khan. The interview, held at Mr. Mahadevan's home in Chennai lasted nearly two hours and covered the Brahmi script, the cult object, various signs, his response to Asko Parpola's work. A reflection on a decades-long pursuit of the key to Indus writing by the most important Indi… >

The Indus Script

[Recently discovered token or tablet, Harappa] Structural studies of the Indus inscriptions have been carried out by a number of scholars ever since the discovery of the Indus Civilization and its writing. The most outstanding work in the earlier period is that of Hunter who provided reliable eyecopies of the inscriptions, a manually arranged sign concordance and a detailed … >

The Indus Script

Structural Analysis by Parpola No attempt at linguistic decipherment of an unknown script can hope to succeed unless it is preceded by a thorough structural analysis of the available inscriptions to bring out the typological features of the script as well as the underlying language. [Token or tablet from Harappa] A great merit of this book is that Parpola has presented … >

The Indus Script

Parpola's Methodology of Decipherment Parpola's methodology for deciphering the Indus script consists essentially of two parts, namely the rebus principle generally applicable to all ancient logo-syllabic scripts and the linguistic techniques applicable to Dravidian. Word-signs (one sign for each word) first developed from pictures. Inscribed object from Ha… >

The Indus Script

The 'Fish' Signs Fig. 1: Number and Fish Signs The 'fish' sign: Starting Point As the starting point for his linguistic decipherment Parpola accepts the famous rebus (Fig. I a) first suggested by Father Heras half a century ago. In almost all Dravidian languages the word for 'fish' is meen. Many Dravidian languages hav… >

The Indus Script

The Planets Fig. 2: Modified Fish Signs 'Modified fish' signs: Planets and a Star The Indus texts very often feature the 'fish' sign modified by some diacritic-like markings (Fig.II). These signs are identified by Parpola as planets or stars on the basis of his pictorial interpretations of the markings. The Dravidian word meen… >