The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables c4.s8.t2.17

c4.s8.t2.17

The square seal normally has a perforated boss at the back, which apparently served both for hanging the seal by a cord and as an aid in making the impression. This type is presented first, with the rare example of a metal (silver) seal at the end, followed by the exceptional seals of this category: those that have been inscribed on more than one side and those having a case (probably for an amulet) inside them. Next follow the square seals where the boss is absent: first perforated seals with one side inscribed, then perforated seals with two or more sides inscribed, and then the unperforated seals similarly subdivided. These seals without a boss share similar inscriptions and iconographic motifs with the ordinary seals having a boss, so they have been placed after them, before the seals with nothing but a swastika or some other geometric motif, although the reverse of these last-mentioned seals does have a perforated boss (usually smaller than the normal seals and undivided, see M-332).