The Indus Civilization c6.11

c6.11

The stone and pottery seal-amulets and talismans provide the largest contribution to the scanty store of knowledge it has been possible to amass on the subject of the religious beliefs of the Indus Valley people. Perhaps the most interesting scene found on any seal-amulet depicts a nude deity, with horns and three faces, seated on a stool with his heels pressed closely together in what is, evidently, a religious attitude (Pl. M, 9). Surrounding him are a number of animals—two deer, or antelopes, a rhinoceros, an elephant, a tiger, and a buffalo. The figure wears a large number of bangles on either arm, after the fashion of some of the female goddesses on the amulets, and a fan-shaped erection, very like the head-dress worn by many of the female figurines, rises from his head between horns resembling those of a bull or buffalo.