The Indus Civilization c6.34

c6.34

Apart from those used as pictographic characters, no birds appear on the seal- or other amulets, but there is a certain amount of evidence that the dove was looked upon as sacred. Pottery models of this bird are frequently found set on little pedestals so that they stand upright, and some of these figures exactly resemble examples found at very early sites in Mesopotamia. The dove was held sacred to the Mother Goddess both in that country and in Crete, and the same belief doubtless prevailed in the Indus valley, for the method of portraying the bird, with outstretched wings and tail, is identical in all three places. A female figurine of clay, found at Mohenjo-daro, actually has two birds perched on the top of her head, which, as in the case of the figures from Crete, doubtless symbolized spiritual possession.