The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its Connection with Other Scripts c7.s1: Mohenjodaro
The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its Connection with Other Scripts c7.s1
- Language
- English
Mohenjodaro
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Nos. 1 to 20. Stamped impressions.¹
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¹ All sizes are approximately as shown in the plates, except as otherwise stated in these notes.
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No. 1. A lump of burnt clay, bearing in the centre the imprint of a complete seal. This is the only object of its kind hitherto found in India. The only other one known was found in Mesopotamia (see No. 8 of the introduction). Beneath the inscription is an animal in profile, facing to the right, with only one horn visible. Below his head is a symbol, probably [Figure:]. The majority of the inscribed seals of Mohenjodaro and Harappa portray an animal in profile facing right with either this symbol, or [Figure:], or a plant, placed below the head. It is suggested that the animal represents a divinity, and that the accompanying symbol represents an offering. With regard to the meaning of the script, it is probable that the seals were intended to serve much the same purpose as the Mesopotamian cylinder seals, and that their legends are, therefore, similar in meaning. A reference to the sign-list will reveal similar sequences in signs on the seals Nos. M. 70, 232-234, 462-464, 477.
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Nos. 2, 3. Flat rectangular slabs of clay. There is no design accompanying the legend.
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4. A piece of clay, shaped like a button. The inscription on the front hemisphere is accompanied by a subjacent bull² with two horns visible, with the [Figure:] symbol at his feet; beneath the inscription on the rear hemisphere is a rhinoceros (?)
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² The subjacent animal is always to be understood as facing to the right, unless otherwise stated.
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5. Clay. No accompanying design. Face flat. Reverse convex.
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6. Fragment of a small thin slab of clay. A decorative design is impressed on the reverse.
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7. Thin clay slab.
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8. Similar in shape to the small, three-face, prismatic objects that are common at Harappa (see H. 62-83, 87, 88). On each face the legend is accompanied laterally by an animal design; a bull with two horns showing, and the 𓃠 . Clay.
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9. Thin flat slab of clay.
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10. Rectangular stamp on a fragment of pottery. The only instance of stamped pottery on these sites.
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11. In shape a dice. Yellow in colour. Impressed on all six sides; on three sides two sets of parallel lines crossing each other at right angles; on the fourth side two parallel lines; on the fifth side a bull with defaced superscription; on the sixth side the text shown, with a bull subjacent. No. 12 is identical, while there was also a third dice similar, but without any legible script.
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13. Clay. Face flat; reverse convex.
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14. Circular. Face and reverse flat. Clay. Below the legend is a bull (?). On the reverse is a decorative design. This object is about 8 mm. thick. In shape and size it is not unlike a Palmyraean tessera.
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15. Clay slab. The script and design on face and reverse are identical. The design - which accompanies the script laterally to the left - is apparently a rhinoceros.
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16. Similar to 15. Clay.
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17. Clay slab.
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18. Three-faced prism of clay. The signs extend vertically over two faces. The design¹ on the third face is most interesting as tending to establish the sacred nature of the bull on our seals, and also the orientation of our 𐀀 signs. It is clear that the men are walking from left to right, holding the standards in front of them. Signs (tables with offerings?) Table XLIX. 63, 64. Col IV bear a strong resemblance to the last man (reading from the right).
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¹ See Plate I, No. 18c.
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19. Clay slab. Reverse, two goats.
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20. Clay slab. The space to the right is occupied by a goat. Beneath its head is 𐀁 . The reverse is identical.
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The paucity of stamped clay at Mohenjodaro - some 18 articles - compared with the large number of seals - about 450 - is noteworthy.
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No. 21. Inscribed pottery.
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This is the unique example of inscribed (as distinct from stamped) pottery. The 𐀂 is three inches in height. The signs are roughly scratched with a sharp instrument on a round plate, or dish, about 1 foot in diameter. Probably the owner's identification mark.²
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² Cf. Harappa No. 61, where the signs are probably a builder's mnemonic.
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Nos. 22, 23. Inscribed stone.
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Fragments of black marble bracelets, or anklets. The signs are clearly and cleanly incised with a sharp instrument. These are the only examples at Mohenjodaro of direct writing (as distinct from the preparation of seals) on stone.
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Nos. 24-61. Inscribed copper.
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These pieces of copper, thin rectangular slabs about 1/8th of an inch thick, of a standard size, would appear to be pieces of money. As far as is known they are unique, nothing similar having been found in archaeological sites in other countries. On the reverse they bear animal designs similar to those on the seals. The writing is now difficult to read owing to corrosion. The fact that several of the inscriptions are identical suggests that they give the names and titles of rulers, of the issuing authority, or of the place of issue.
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It is hardly possible that they give the value or weight of the coins, since we find entirely different legends on coins of the same size, weight, and material. Now it will be found on examination that almost all of the sign sequences found on these coins can be paralleled from the seals: indeed in two cases the complete legends are identical: viz. the coin M. 42 and the seal M. 481; the coin M. 54 and the seal I. 15. Similarly the sequences 𐀁𐀂, 𐀁𐀃, 𐀁𐀄, 𐀁𐀅, 𐀆𐀇, 𐀆𐀈, 𐀉𐀊𐀋, 𐀁𐀄, which are found at the end (left) of the copper-coin inscriptions, are likewise found at the end of the seal inscriptions, as a glance at the Tables will show; and the sequences 𐀍, 𐀎𐀏, 𐀐𐀁, 𐀑𐀒𐀐, 𐀐𐀁, 𐀑𐀓, 𐀐𐀎, 𐀔𐀕 which are found at the beginning (right) of the copper-coin inscriptions are likewise found at the beginning of the seal inscriptions.
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It is clear then that we have on the coins the same kind of inscription as on the seals, and, from our universal experience of seals in all countries and all epochs, this can only be Proper Names. So then the copper inscriptions set forth the names, titles, or styles of the persons who issued the coins, probably the rulers of the state. With this thought in mind we may re-examine nos. M. 24-31. It will be shown later¹ that 𐀀𐀀 is but a 'spelling-out' of 𐀀 . Nos. 24-31 then are identical, and might have all been written as Nos. 30 and 31 𐀀𐀁𐀂 . These signs are to be read from right to left.² They probably constitute the ruler's style. The last sign is so generally last as to be almost certainly a suffix. The first sign is very like the Hittite sign for 'King', and the second like the Hittite sign for 'land'. One is tempted to regard the 𐀀 as the suffix of the genitive case and read 'King of the land'.³
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¹ In the analysis of Table 1.
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² See pp. 31 et seq.
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³ But see page 61 below Note 1.
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Another conclusion that may be drawn from these copper plaques is that the signs used in our inscriptions are independent of the accompanying animal design. Nearly all these coins have an animal design on the reverse, in some cases too indistinct to determine; but No. 30 has clearly an elephant, while No. 31 has something quite different. But their legends are identical. No. 43 has an animal looking like a reindeer, with three plants or trees at his feet; no. 44 shows a hare. Other designs, as far as I was able to discern them, are the bull⁴ (in 32, 33 the head is turned to look backwards towards the tail), a tiger⁵ and a goat.⁶ seals also witness to the mutual independence of the animal designs and the legend.
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⁴ Nos. 25-29, 32, 33, 48, 51, 53, 55, 57.
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⁵ No. 60.
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⁶ No. 61.
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No. 62. Terra-cotta seal.
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This is the only example at Mohenjodaro of a terra-cotta seal.
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No. 63. Copper seal.
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An incised piece of copper, in shape quite unlike Nos. 24-61, some 4.5 cm. long, 1 cm. wide and .75 cm. thick. The inscribed face is flat, the back rounded. From the reversed orientation of the writing on the original it was clearly intended as a seal, and I have autographed it accordingly as from an imprint.
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Nos. 64 to 123. Stone Rectangular Seals.
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Mostly of limestone or steatite. The inscribed surface is flat but the reverse is convex, varying in thickness from 2-3 mm. at the edges to 7-12 mm. at the centre. At the centre they are perforated breadth-wise by a single hole. There is no accompanying design either on the face of the seal or elsewhere. The rectangular pieces of stamped clay (see discussion of Nos. 1-20) were probably obtained from seals similar to these. It will be noted that on the seals, as on the copper coins, the commonest final sign is ⋁ , and the next commonest ♆ (with variants).
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Nos. 124-126.
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Similar to Nos. 64-123; but not perforated.
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Nos. 127-129.
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Similar to Nos. 64-123. Perforated; but with flat instead of convex reverse.
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Nos. 130-132.
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Similar to Nos. 127-129; but inscribed on reverse as well as face.
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The top and bottom sides are blank.
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Nos. 134-141, 143, 145, 147-153. Seals of the same type as Nos. 155-437, except that there is no visible design accompanying the script.
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No. 139 is interesting, as being the longest inscription hitherto found, and the only one running into three lines.
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Nos. 142, 144, 146 have not got the usual perforated projection on the reverse. Nos. 144 and 146 are peculiar as to size, and are correspondingly thin, (about 2 mm.). They are of the size shown in the plate.
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No. 154. Grey limestone. Circular. Flat. Inscribed on face and reverse. Unperforated.
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Nos. 155-437. Square. Surface flat. Sides perpendicular. Thickness from 5 to 10 mm. Reverse flat except for a perforated projection or attachment. Mostly white, yellowish, or light grey in appearance, and composed of limestone or steatite. These seals are remarkably uniform in their proportions, and appear to be of standard sizes. They are all accompanied by the bull, standing in profile and facing right (See Plate I, No. 390). One horn and one ear only are depicted. The bull in these seals is invariably of the European and not the Indian type. The horn is usually shown plain without the parallel 'shading' shown in No. 390. Beneath the head almost invariably appears the symbol 𓃠 , the principal varieties of which are given on Plate I. This is the distinctive seal of both Harappa and Mohenjodaro, outnumbering all the other seals. It will be observed that nearly half of these seals end with the sign 𐀁 .
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The peculiarity of this seal is that the boss on the reverse side is inscribed with the sign 𐀂
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No. 440.
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The face and reverse have the ordinary bull design. The top and bottom sides are blank and perforated by a hole, for stringing the seal.
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Nos. 441 to 509.
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Square seals, similar in shape and appearance to Nos. 155-437, but with different designs accompanying the legend.
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441-456. Design, Indian bull (see Plate I, No. 449).
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457-475. Design, as in Plate I, No. 453.
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476. The Indian bull, but in place of 𐀃 we have the symbol 𐀄 , apparently a plant or tree.
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477. Design as in Plate I, No. 453. Inscribed on the upper edge as well as on the face.
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478-487. Design, an elephant (see Plate I, No. 478).
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488-494. Design, an animal resembling a rhinoceros. Before the forefeet the symbol 𐀃 .
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495. Design, a boar (?) with 𐀃 .
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496. Design, a beetle (?).
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497. It seems doubtful whether the sign shown in the plate is intended as a legend. Accompanying it is a three-headed goat.
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498. Design, a crocodile.
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499. The left side of the square contains a tree; the lower half a dog (?)
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500, 501. Design, a tiger (see Plate I, No. 500).
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502. Design, a deer.
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503. Design, an animal difficult to identify.
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504. The script is at the bottom of the seal, most of the remaining space being occupied by a tree (See Illustrated London News, 27-2-1926).
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505. Below the script, from right to left appear a horned lion, a horned man, and a tree. The lion and the man face right.
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506. The middle space is occupied by a decorative design.
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507, 509. Design, a fictitious animal with two horns and a trunk.
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508. The left side is occupied by a tree. The lower half of the seal contains a tiger.
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Nos. 510-512. Circular seals.
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510. Design, bull. Similar to seal in the Louvre (see Introduction, page 3, no. 11).
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Nos. 511, 512. Fragmentary. The design in each case seems to have been a central circular body, from which protruded several heads. There would appear to have been seven on No. 512. Of the four heads visible, two possess two horns apiece, the third possesses one, and the fourth none. If the remaining three heads (?) possessed 2, 2, and 1 horns respectively, we have here perhaps the beast 'with seven heads and ten horns' familiar to the writer of the Apocalypse.
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Nos. 513-517.
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Square seals, with animal designs, similar to those already noted, but with the subjacent animal facing left. It is possible that here we have examples of engravers¹ mistakes, as is not unknown in Mesopotamia, the animal and legend being engraved as though for direct vision instead of for viewing on an impression.
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¹ Cf. D.C.C.O. Planche I, No. 7a (T. 13).
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513. Design, bull. One horn visible. In place of the symbol 𐀀 we have an object 𐀁 ; apparently a plant. Compare this with the signs in Col. IV of Table XVII.
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514. Bull as in Pl. I, 390 (but facing left).
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515. Design, an animal not identified, with one horn visible.
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516. An animal with two horns, spread thus 𐀂 1.
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517. Design, the hind-quarters of a bull are visible.
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Harappa.
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Nos. 1-83.
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It was noteworthy that at Mohenjodaro the inscriptions other than seals were practically confined to copper coins. At Harappa, however, while we have only one copper coin, we have a fairly large collection of inscribed receipts(?) Votive tablets(?). That they are not seals is shown both by the orientation of the signs and by the nature of the incisions. They are, for the more part, thin whitish slabs of limestone; very brittle, and less than 1/8th of an inch thick. It will be observed that, while they contain few signs that do not also occur at Mohenjodaro, there is a marked difference in the frequency of certain signs and sequences of signs. But if these objects are receipts it is not surprising that their legends should differ from those of the seals. In particular we may note the rarity of the final 𐀃 in these texts; the fact that nearly all these objects are worked on the reverse2 as well as the face; the appearance of new shapes of certain signs, e.g. the 𐀄 is frequently written 𐀅 . The objects are all flat3 as to both face and reverse.
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1. The horns, when two are drawn, are always depicted frontally, not in profile, but this is the only pair of horns showing this particular shape.
2. If the reverse is not shown in the plates it is to be understood that it is blank, unless the contrary is stated in these notes.
3. Except as otherwise stated in these notes.
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Nos. 28, 29. While the face is flat the reverse is spherical.
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No. 23. On the reverse a crocodile.
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No. 33. Square seal. About 8 mm. thick. Perforated attachment on reverse. Beneath the legend are a few indeterminate scratches. This text belongs to the group Nos. 123-243.
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Nos. 40, 41. Cylindrical in shape. The space to the left on the reverse sides is occupied in the originals by the symbol placed horizontally.
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No. 42. Cylindrical; a hard dark-coloured stone. The reverse shows a divinity in a shrine (?).
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No. 45. Cylindrical. Reverse: a tree.
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No. 53. Reverse, a crocodile, with the sign held vertically in its jaws, and accompanied by the sign written horizontally in each corner. This would seem to establish definitely that the sign is a fish, and a differently written variant.
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No. 61. The signs are about three inches long on the original, which is a fragment of a large circular stone that may have served as a door-socket.
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Nos. 62-83. Small three-faced prismatic objects of limestone. Unperforated. All three faces are worked (except in the case of No. 80) bearing either inscription or design or both. They are shown complete with design on Plate XXX.
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Their significance is discussed in the analysis of Table XXXVI.
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Nos. 84-86. Copper.
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No. 84. A copper coin, similar in shape to those found at Mohenjodaro.
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No. 85. A broken slab of copper about 1/8 inch thick.
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No. 86. The signs shown in the plate appeared on a copper dagger about 5 inches long. There were several other copper daggers in the Museum, but they had not been cleaned and so were illegible.
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Nos. 87-122. Impressions on clay.¹
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¹ Flat slabs unless otherwise stated below.
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No. 87. Three-faced prism, two faces of which are covered by a single pair of signs.
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No. 89. Reverse, a plant ≫ .
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No. 90. Cylindrical. The space to the left of the legend on the reverse is occupied by a plant.
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No. 92. Reverse, a plant.
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No. 93. Reverse, the space to the left is occupied by a bull with two horns standing over the ♆ symbol.
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No. 95. Face, the space on the right is occupied by what appears to be a hare. There are six of these slabs all found together, identical in all respects, including a pronounced twist that was given to the slabs before burning. From this it is clear that a number of these slabs were prepared, impressed with the same seal and then baked together. These stamped clay slabs, manufactured en masse and bearing the owner's name on face and reverse can only have served as votive tablets. Doubtless they were placed before the family god to keep him in mind of the householder's prayers.
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No. 101. Fragment of a ring. The legend is on the concave surface.
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No. 102. Cylindrical. On the reverse is a centipede.
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No. 105. Two identical specimens. The reverse contains a design that recalls the ♆ . ♆:♆:♆:
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No. 107. This gives a clue as to the nature of the ♆ motif. It is clearly a religious emblem or offering that can be carried in procession like a standard. Compare Plate I (M.) 18.
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No. 109. Reverse: a plant.
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No. 110. Face: the space to the left is occupied by a human figure with tail, standing extreme left and facing right. Facing him is a seated figure with raised arms and long hair. Reverse: the space on the left is occupied by two felines, standing on their hind legs and facing one another. The space on the right is occupied by a man seated up-side down. Suspended from his legs is a large insect.
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No. 112. Reverse: in the space on the extreme right is a plant.
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No. 115. Cylindrical.
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Nos. 116, 119. Cylindrical. Reverse: a crocodile.
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No. 121. Reverse: convex.
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No. 122. The lower half of the face shows a bull.
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Nos. 123-137. Limestone and steatite. Inscribed on the face only. The shape is as shown in the plates, except that Nos. 126, 130 and 133 are squares. The rectangular shaped seals have convex backs, as in the similar seals from Mohenjodaro (M. 64-123), and they are similarly perforated. No. 129 shows one of these. The 'o' in the middle of the reverse is not a sign but the hole that perforates the back of the seal. The square seals have the usual ring attachment. No. 137 is of black marble.
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Nos. 138-149; 152-161. Inscribed on the reverse as well as the face. They are not perforated and are similar in appearance to the inscribed objects Nos. 1-60, to which group they belong. They are not seals.
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Nos. 141, 144. Four-faced prisms.
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No. 145. Face: in the space to the right appear five swastika signs in a row. Reverse: in the space to the left appear a man and a tiger.
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No. 150. A square seal. The face contains a bull but no legend. The reverse is blank.
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No. 151. A square seal of black marble.
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Nos. 162-227. Square seals. Mostly limestone and steatite. Perforated boss as back, same as Mohenjodaro. Design exactly as on the Mohenjodaro seals nos. 155-437. (Plate I, no. 390). We also note the same sign sequences as at Mohenjodaro. Clearly the same language as well as the same script prevailed at both places.
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Nos. 228-231, 233, 234. Rectangular seals. Flat. Worked on face and reverse.
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No. 229. Reverse: tortoise (?).
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Nos. 228, 230, 231. Reverse: crocodile.
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Nos. 232, 235. Stamped clay: cylindrical in shape.
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Nos. 236-239. Square seals, like nos. 162-227, but showing a bull with two horns.
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No. 240. Square seal. Design: elephant.
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No. 241. Fragment of a square seal. The space to the left contains seven men in a row, each holding the one in front of him by the hand. The men are looking to the right.
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No. 242. To the left of the script (?) is a tree, to the right an animal.
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No. 243. Flat square seal. Reverse also flat, no ring attachment. It is also without the clear cut rectangular sides of the ordinary seal. It is perforated throughout its breadth by a hole. It thus resembles the archaic seals of Mesopotamia. It is doubtful whether the sign ʘ on this seal is anything more than a decorative device,