Three Inscribed Unicorn Seals SP 2817a

Seals are numbered left to right.

Seal 1: [no description found]


Seal 2: A263, Mound F, north-western end of Trench A

"Westward along the north-western end of Trench A Mr. Sahni made another extension. It is 90 ft. long from east to west and averages 65 ft. in width. It was excavated to a depth of 4 ft. 6 in. only and revealed several fragmentary walls and broken pavements of the IInd stratum between 2 ft. to 3 ft, 3 in.below the surface, and a few walls of the IIIrd stratum at a depth of 4 ft. 0 in. The mound having fallen here 7 to 10 ft. as compared with the opposite end of the trench, walls of the 1st stratum, except one or two little fragments along the higher northern edge, have altogether disappeared.

Scattered about in this extension and in association with Stratum II were found a unicorn seal (No. A263. PI, LXXXVI, 21)...."

The tabular entry on page 337 is as follows:
Find No.: A263
Plate No.: 21
Size (in inches): 1.45 x 1.45
Level below surface: 3' 2"
Type: a (square seal with perforated boss on reverse)
Material and colour: Steatite, white
Mound or area: F

- Madho Sarup Vats, Excavations at Harappa: Being an account of archaeological excavations at Harappa carried out between the years 1920-21 and 1933-34. Volume I - Text; Volume II - 139 Plates., pg 24 and 337. Image Pl. LXXXVII, 21.


Seal 3: A214, Mound F, Trench A
"In the context of Mound F, and the diagonal Trench A, Vats has noted:
To revert to the long Trench A. Rai Bahadur Days Ram Sahni made there two finds of value. Not far from its south-east end in square J 9/20 he found in association with Stratum II a unicom seal (No. A214) showing inscription in the upper field and the usual animal with incense-burner below his neck in the remaining ground (PI. LXXXVIII, 85). "

The tabular entry on page 338 is as follows:
Find No.: A214
Plate No.: 85
Size (in inches): 1.1 x 1.1
Level below surface: 4' 6"
Type: a (square seal with perforated boss on reverse)
Material and colour: Steatite, blueish
Mound or area: F

- Madho Sarup Vats, Excavations at Harappa: Being an account of archaeological excavations at Harappa carried out between the years 1920-21 and 1933-34. Volume I - Text; Volume II - 139 Plates., pg 22 and 338. Image Pl. LXXXVIII, 85.


On the basis of the script carving styles and the orientation of the unicorn figures, these three seals all appear to date to between 2450-2200 BCE (Harappa 3B). For details see Kenoyer, J. M. and R. H. Meadow 2010. Inscribed objects from Harappa Excavations: 1986-2007 In Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions, Vol. 3. New Material, untraced objects, and collections outside India and Pakistan, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Gennicae, edited by A. Parpola, B. M. Pande and P. Koskikallio, pp. xliv-lviii. . Helsinki, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.

- Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, 2023.

ASI Description: 

[Original caption] Three seals No A214 A 263 and one with only three characters obtained by Mr. Y.R. Gupta.

ASI Number: 
413/86
Silver Plate: 
2817a