The Tiny Steatite Seals of Harappa
A closer look at the tablets discovered at Harappa during HARPS excavations and the locations where they were discovered at the site.
Articles on seals, cylinders, and their inscriptions from the ancient Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization.
Toponyms, Directions and Tribal Names in the Indus Script
A recent paper by the late Iravatham Mahadevan and his collaborator M.V. Bhaskar looks at signs in the Indus script that can be related to physical features in the landscape, and how this might play out in terms of interpreting them. A number of interpretations seem to fit together nicely.
Debt and inequality: Comparing the “means of specification” in the early cities of Mesopotamia and the Indus civilization
"Debt lurks in the shadow of reciprocity," is the wonderful starting sentence of this paper. Highly theoretical, it opens up important questions about seals in the ancient Indus and Mesopotamian civilizations and their role in the system of administrative control which helped integrate society at the dawn of urban civilization.
The Indus Seals: An Overview of Iconography and Style
This paper examines the nature of Indus seals and the different aspects of seal iconography and style in order to better understand their overall role in the Indus civilization.
Private Person or Public Persona? Use and Significance of Standard Indus Seals as Markers of Formal Socio-Economic Identities
This deeply investigative article published in Walking with the Unicorn (2018) takes on some of the most unusual facts about ancient Indus seals to surmise about their function in the Indus polity as a whole.
Were the Cretulae (Clay Sealings) from the Indus Port Town of Lothal Part of an Administrative Archive? Contextual, Interpretive, and Comparative Evidence
"Once considered in all their components, clay sealings can in fact be key objects for understanding several aspects of the socio-economic organisation of the Indus Civilization," writes the author of this important recent paper built on years of work and thinking about the unique Lothal sealing trove he has done so much to help us understand.
The Origin, Context and Function of the Indus Script: Recent Insights from Harappa
Based on recent excavations at Harappa, it is possible to determine that square seals with animal motifs (such as the elephant) and possibly the short horned bull are among the earliest form of seal with writing.
Dilmun-Meluhhan Relations Revisited in Light of Observations on Early Dilmun Seal Production during the City IIa-c Period (c. 2050-1800 BC)
A fascinating article from the mammoth Walking with the Unicorn book that delves into the brief, intense life of ancient Indus-inspired seals in Dilmun (Bahrain) around 2000 BCE.
Seals and Sculptures of the Indus Cities
An exhibition being held in New York and Madison, Wisconsin, in 1998 on the representational art of the Indus Valley reveals a highly developed artistic tradition with many styles and techniques of production.
Indus Folklore: An Unknown Story on Some Harappan Objects
There are at least 18 examples of a "human and tiger" motif in Indus glyptic art. This short paper by one of the most prolific writers on ancient Indus themes, the late Dr. Gregory Possehl, wonders how we might read this visual artifact.