Writing

[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 … >

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 … >

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 '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 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… >

The Star Rohini Fig. 2: Modified Fish Signs The Star Rohini Parpola starts with the assumption that the 'dot + fish' sign (Fig.II d) occurring in the 'Fig Deity' seal is likely to represent the deity depicted on the seal identified by him as the goddess of fertility and victory in war, the Harappan proto-form of Durga. He asks … >

The Planets 'Bangles' Sign: God Murukan Fig. 3: Bangles and Squirrel Sign The principal deity of early Tamils was Murakan, the youthful god of war and love, who became identified with the North Indian war-god Skanda. Parpola has identified the sign depicting a pair of intersecting circles (Fig. III a) as 'ear/nose rings' or 'ba… >

The Indus Squirrel Sign: Title of Murukan The 'Squirrel' Sign: Title of Murukan Fig. 3: Bangles and Squirrel Sign Parpola has proposed reading a pair of signs as 'bangles + squirrel' (Fig.III b), interpreting it as a divine title. The second sign appears to depict a small animal perched on a tree branch. Parpola has, in my opinion, … >

Fig Indus Tree + Crab Sign as Proto Rudra 'Fig Tree + Crab' Sign: Proto-Rudra Fig. 4: Fig Tree + Crab Sign and Components Parpola refers to two sets of copper tablets, both with the same inscription on one side but two different motifs on the other. One of the motifs is the 'fig tree + crab' sign (Fig.IV: Sign 124) occurring as … >

Assessment of Parpola's Model of Decipherment One can try to assess Parpola's decipherment at two levels. First, one can analyse his interpretations and readings of individual signs, some of which I have attempted above. To sum up, problems arise at this level due to implausible identification of pictorial signs, arbitrary assignment of values to non-pictorial … >