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Ancient Indus questions answered by Dr. Asko Parpola, Professor at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and author of Deciphering the Indus Script and The Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions. He has numerous articles on this website, and the essay Deciphering the Indus Script.

71. Is there any reason to believe now that there might be a connection between the IVC script and the Easter Island Rongorongo?

Asko Parpola
Massimo Vidale
Mayank Vahia
Nisha Yadav

Some similarities have been found in the glyphs between Rongorongo and Indus writing. As well, the direction of writing (boustrophedon) might be the same/similar to Indus. What do scholars say?

72. Were seals also used as art objects and were they influenced by Sumerian seals?

Asko Parpola
Dennys Frenez
Mayank Vahia
Nisha Yadav

"There can be no doubt that some Indus seals are fine artistic achievements. Probably one of the main functions of the seal's iconographic motifs, and the quality of their carving, was to convey the status of the seal owner."

73. Are all the images of Indus seals available on the web for free download?

Asko Parpola
Massimo Vidale

Would it not be good idea to publish them so many people can see them and try their conclusions?

74. Are there tablets or seals having paragraphic Indus Script or is it just used for decorations and captions?

Asko Parpola
Mayank Vahia

The Babylonian texts like Code of Hammurabi in Akkadian and Sumerian seals of Urukagina state legal codes and regulations. Although the Indus script hasn't been deciphered, have any of the excavations resulted in similar seals which contain major textual references or is the Indus script just used as a tool for decoration?

75. Where does the interpretive controversy with Farmer on the Indus script stand today?

Asko Parpola
Massimo Vidale
Mayank Vahia

Answered by Massimo Vidale, Asko Parpola and Mayank Vahia.

80. Were there any schools, universities or academies at Indus sites?

Asko Parpola
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
Massimo Vidale

Massimo Vidale
We have no evidence, but they certainly had, because complex culture needs to transmitted by specialized institutions. The "Assembly hall" on the Citadel of Mohenjo-Daro might have been something similar, if the excavators were right.

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
So far we have not found any buildings that could be interpreted as institutions of education. Indus peoples undoubtedly had ways to teach their children, but they were probably done in small houses that do not look any different from other houses.

27. How did Harappans measure value?

Asko Parpola
Iravatham Mahadevan
Richard H. Meadow

How did they "pay"? I have often wondered how this took place in practice, assuming there was no currency as we understand it. How were luxury / prestige items such as gold and gemstone jewelery obtained by those who had access to them. How did ordinary people trade and obtain necessities and adornments, eg pots, cloth, food, bangles and everyday jewelery? What was the role of the rulers?

1. What happened after 1800 BCE?

Asko Parpola

I would like to draw some comments about the nature of the transformation that took place after 1800 BC, the spread of the Harappan culture over different parts of the subcontinent and their linkages with some of the Megalithic cultures of South India, non-Harappan Chalcolithic cultures and Vedic cultures. Submittted by Narottam Vinit

49. One unicorn horn or two?

Asko Parpola

Is it a bull (according to a recent British Museum/BBC history of the World series) and not a unicorn? A bull with two horns always shown from the side? A mythical one-horn beast? What is his significance? Submitted by Gharial Abramnova from school student questions

58. Why has the language of Harappa not been deciphered?

Asko Parpola
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
Massimo Vidale
Nisha Yadav

What are the difficulties which makes it impossible to decipher the Harappan language? Aren't there any similarities with other languages?

Scholars answer another question from site visitors.

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Answers by Author (6)
  • Asko Parpola
  • Iravatham Mahadevan
  • Jane McIntosh
  • Richard H. Meadow
  • Rita P. Wright
  • Shereen Ratnagar
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