Nine seals: square, rectangular and oval. In three, the script can be clearly seen. The rest depict geometric motifs, of which one is described as svastika.
Two published in Vats 1940: Plate XCV, nos. 396 and 400; Find numbers: AB 2545 and Ab 43.
Both are square sealings, and Vats noted 34 of these from Harappa:
They he stated “provided with a perforated boss at the back, which with one exception is quite rough. Their sizes vary from .7 x .7 x .1 in. to 1.2 x 1.2 x .3 in.” and that “only two of them are made of steatite ; the rest are of yellow or blue faience. The most common motif occurring on them is the svastika” [Vats 1940, p. 329]
Ab 2545: Middle of top row [no. 396, Plate XCV, Vats 1940, Vol. II]. This sealing is recorded by Vats in “the tabulation of seals”: size: 0-7 x ?; found at 8' 10' (level below surface); of type ‘a’; Yellow Faience; from Mound AB; find no. 2545 [Vats 1940, Vol. 1, p. 347].
It is part of a group of 9 svastika faience sealings 5/8 to 11/16 in found from western half of Section I, in square Q27/20 [ibid, p. 175].
Although not described by Vats, he noted all the other eight sealings similar to this. An example:
“Bossed faience sealing with a swastika in relief. Similar to No. 396 in PL XCV. 5/8 in. sq. No. 5639 ; Square Q 24/4 ; Depth 4 ft, 6 in. b.s. [ibid, p. 148]
The above is among 26 antiquities he listed from Stratum II, AB, and of the provenance he noted:
“In the East and Middle Sections Stratum II lies between 4 ft. 5 in. and 6 ft. 9 in., and in the Western Section between 2 ft. 9 in. and 5 ft. 1 in. below the surface. From this stratum downwards, the southern part of the Middle Section becomes more and more productive in finds, though here, too, the structural remains continue very poor … This portion is bounded on the north by a long, gable-roofed drain of the IVth stratum, on the west by a reservoir of the Illrd and a dilapidated pavement of the Ilnd stratum, on the south by the edge of the excavation, and on the east by the line of squares Q 24/8, 9, 10 and Q 25/6. In this portion, close to the southern edge of the trench, there are several remains of Stratum II consisting of three corners, a few walls, and a small pavement.” [Vats 1940, p. 148]
Sahni excavated Stratum II, in the area of Pits I to IV.
Of the svastika motif Vats stated:
“Although the arms of the svastika are sometimes turned to the left, their prevailing direction at Harappa, as during the historic period in India, is to the right. At Mohenjo-daro [footnote 2: M.I.C., p. 364, f.n. 6] the arms are turned with equal frequency to right or left. The svastika has always been regarded in India as a peculiarly auspicious symbol. On all important occasions such as marriages, religious ceremonies, the starting of businesses, laying the foundations of houses, etc., it is customary among Hindus to invoke Ganesa as the god of good luck by drawing him on the vedi *[f.n. 3] in the form of a svastika, which symbolizes him just as the linga symbolizes Siva.
*f.n. 3: Vedi is an alter specially prepared for religious ceremonial worship [ibid: 329]
Ab 43: Middle of bottom row [no. 400, plate XCV in Vats 1940, Vol. II]. Found from long trench A, extension Ab, Mound F.
Vats recorded that “In the IVth stratum was recovered a square, bossed faience sealing (Ab43) with double triangles in fields on either side of the diagonal line (PL XCV, 400).” [Vats 1940, p. 24]
Daya Ram Sahni noted other finds from Ab: “a snake (Ab 207); a miniature earthen pan of a jeweller’s weighing scale (Ab 188); a part of a steatite undulating ring (Ab 193) coated with whit faience; a pierced vase-shaped earthen cage (Ab 554) with a bird coming out of it, and another perched on the side.” [ARASI 1924-25, p. 77]