The Indus Civilization c4.16

c4.16

Some scholars have pointed out that the pictographic script of the Indus Valley people, as shown on their seals (Pl. M), bears a close resemblance to the Proto-Elamite script, though it does not necessarily follow that the two peoples spoke the same language. Professors Barton and Speiser have put forward a theory that the later Babylonians included three races, the Proto-Elamites, the Sumerians, and the Semites or Akkadians, the first named being the earlier, and perhaps the original, inhabitants of Babylonia. A few Sumerian signs also resemble some of the Indus Valley characters, but as the Proto-Elamites preceded the Sumerians in the valley of the two rivers, it is possible that their script influenced that of the newcomers. Another interesting fact which should be noted in this connection is that certain skulls unearthed at Mohenjo-daro are of the same type as others of very early date discovered in Mesopotamia. It may therefore be assumed provisionally that the Proto-Elamites, the dwellers in the Indus Valley brick-built cities, and perhaps also the Sumerians, had a common ancestry; but beyond this it is not possible to go until further sites have been explored in India, Baluchistan, and the highlands of Persia and more information is forthcoming with regard to the origin and lines of development of these early peoples.