Asko Parpola

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?

Answered by Massimo Vidale, Asko Parpola and Mayank Vahia.

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.

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?

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

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

Asko Parpola
Yes, there are still many unread cuneiform texts in the museums. [The ancient Indus trade village in Mesopotamia of] Guabba could be identified from one such text.

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

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