Harappa Seal 60

Published in Vats 1940, plate XCII, No 296.

The published version is the other way up.

Title: Seal
Found in Mound AB. Vats noted the provenance as:
“In squares P 18/11 and 12 are the remains of an oblong room measuring 14 by 12 ft. internally (PI. XXX, d, right hand, centre), but its walls are not bonded with one another. Its west wall, which is the thickest and rises from a greater depth, was originally constructed with the VIth stratum and subsequently raised. In contact with and parallel to its north wall is a slightly earlier wall which is seen projecting from below’ the east wall of this room. Alongside of it is a small rectangular drain built across the wall.”

This seal is listed no. 5 in the list of antiquities mentioned from this room:
“5. Plano-convex, rectangular steatite seal with 5 pictograms. It is without the usual white glaze. PI. XCII, 296. Size 1 3/16 x 7/16 in. No. B191; Depth 20 ft. b.s.”

The other antiquities listed from this room:
“1. Thick, discoid faience bead incised with cross-hatched pattern. Diam. 7/8 in. No. B959. Depth 18 ft. b.s.
2. Discoid faience stand with deeply scored tubular projection in the
centre. Ht. 11/16 in.; diam.1 3/8 in. No. B192. Depth 19 ft. b.s.
3. Knobbed faience lid. Diam. 1 7/8 in. No. B207. Depth 19 ft. b.s.
4. Rough shell ring. 1 ¾ in. wide; diam. 3 ¼ in. No. B1578. Depth 19 ft. b.s.
6. Miniature, open-mouthed earthenware vase with well-defined base. PI. CXXXIX, 49. Ht. ½ in. No. B1388; Depth 20 ft. b.s.”

- Vats 1940, p. 143.

Vats mentioned Sahni’s excavations of stratum IV and V of the large trench B, in Mound AB, which is the area of the room in which the seal was found, and which Sahni described in ARASI 1924-25, p. 78-9.
Of Sahni’s note of “a square room with thick walls and paved interior which was divided into two smaller chambers at a later date” [ARASI 1924-25, p. 79] Vats noted that “this room is not clear now” [Vats 1940, p. 143, footnote1].

ASI Number: 
493/86
Silver Plate: 
496