Indus Script symbols etched in stones.

Sindh Courier Pakistan and Life Magazine Abu Dabai , 2024

This article deals with new findings regarding the Indus Script etched in stones in Khirthar Mountain Range of Sindh, Pakistan.

Evidence from 25 inscriptions (Ref. to inscriptions in bold letters signify copper plates with inscriptions on two sides) G-8, G-10, M-618, L-54, L-233, M-1640 (stoneware bangle), K-457 to K-461, K-463, M-393, H-182, M-1406, M-596, M-502 to M-506, M-1452, M-1563, M-1566, M-582

There are many dictionaries on Indus script, hence I am constrained to add my name to this dictionary to differentiate from other research works. This is the first research work, which eexplains all the symbols found in Indus seal inscriptions.

Bharatam was Sheffield of Ancient Bronze Age. Three monolithic hoardings of Bharhut, Sanchi and Dholavira are discussed in this monograph. The idiom 'Sheffield of Ancient Bronze Age' is taken and adapted from the Illustrated Weekly News of Nov. 21, 1936 which reported the discovery of Chanhudaro by Ernest Mackay and called the site 'Sheffield of Ancient India.' Sanchi stupa Northern Gateway Torana Hieroglyph multiplex, showing date palm spathes, hanging down the pair of sippi, 'shells'. The spathe of datepalm is also sippi, as a phonetic determinant of the word sippi which the artisan wants to convey through the hoarind on the torana welcoming prospective customers who want to acquire the metal and s'ankha artifacts made by the Sanchi artisans. The fins of fish are also hieroglyphs read rebus: .khambhaṛā 'fin', 'wing' Rebus: kammaṭa 'coiner, coinage, mint' . Thus the hieroglyph multiplex as hypertext signifies a mint and artificers' metalwork at the workshops of Sanchi. Date palm spathe is called sippi. This Prakritam gloss yields the Indus Script cipher. The word signifies sippi 'artisan, craftsman'.(Old Awadhi). The hieroglyph of sippi, spathe of date palm adorns the signboard on Sanchi and Bharhut stupa toranas. The proclamation is to invite prospective buyers to witness the handicrafts of the Bronze Age sculpted, forged by the artisans of the Sarasvati_Sindhu civilizational continuum. The tradition of creating signboards as proclamations of artifice dates back to Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization, exemplified by the monolithic Dholavira Signboard with 10 Indus Script Hieroglyphs. Size of each hieroglyph on the Dholavira signboard measures 35 to 37 cm. high and 25 to 27 cm.wide. This signboard could have been seen by seafaring merchants coming on their boats from the Ancient Near East navigating through the Persian Gulf. Dholavira Gateway Dholavira Signboard on gateway. A reconstruction. Back to Chanhudaro on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati ca. 2500 BCE Illustrated London News 1936 - November 21st Chanhudaro. Sheffield of Ancient Near East. Metalware catalog in London News Illustrated, November 21, 1936.A 'Sheffield of Ancient India: Chanhu-Daro's metal working industry 10 X photos of copper knives, spears, razors, axes and dishes. The words used in the lingua francaof such tin-processing families constitute the words invented to denote the Bronze Age products and artifacts such as tin or zinc or the array of metalware discovered in the Sheffied of the Ancient East, Chanhu-daro as reported in the London News Illustrated by Ernest Mackay. This pictorial motif gets normalized in Indus writing system as a hieroglyph sign: Hieroglyph: karaṁḍa -- m.n. ʻ bone shaped like a bamboo ʼ, karaṁḍuya -- n. ʻ backbone ʼ (Prakrit) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi) Pk. karaṁḍa -- m.n. ʻ bone shaped like a bamboo ʼ, karaṁḍuya -- n. ʻ backbone ʼ. *kaṇṭa3 ʻ backbone, podex, penis ʼ. 2. *kaṇḍa -- . 3. *karaṇḍa -- 4. (Cf. *kāṭa -- 2, *ḍākka -- 2: poss. same as káṇṭa -- 1] 1. Pa. piṭṭhi -- kaṇṭaka -- m. ʻ bone of the spine ʼ; Gy. eur. kanro m. ʻ penis ʼ (or < káṇṭaka -- ); Tir. mar -- kaṇḍḗ ʻ back (of the body) ʼ; S. kaṇḍo m. ʻ back ʼ, L. kaṇḍ f., kaṇḍā m. ʻ backbone ʼ, awāṇ. kaṇḍ, °ḍī ʻ back ʼ; P. kaṇḍ f. ʻ back, pubes ʼ; WPah. bhal. kaṇṭ f. ʻ syphilis ʼ; N. kaṇḍo ʻ buttock, rump, anus ʼ, kaṇḍeulo ʻ small of the back ʼ; B. kã̄ṭ ʻ clitoris ʼ; Or. kaṇṭi ʻ handle of a plough ʼ; H. kã̄ṭā m. ʻ spine ʼ, G. kã̄ṭɔ m., M. kã̄ṭā m.; Si. äṭa -- kaṭuva ʻ bone ʼ, piṭa -- k° ʻ backbone ʼ. 2. Pk. kaṁḍa -- m. ʻ backbone ʼ.(CDIAL 2670) مرکنډئِي mar-kanḏḏaʿī, s.f. (6th) The throat, the windpipe, the gullet. 2. The end of the backbone where the neck joins. Sing. and Pl.(Pushto) खरडा [ kharaḍā ] A leopard. खरड्या [ kharaḍyā ] m or खरड्यावाघ m A leopard (Marathi). Leopard weight. Shahi Tump. H.16.7cm; dia.13.5cm; base dia 6cm; handle on top. Lead, cire perdue. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/10/indus-script-corpora-of-lost-wax.html?view=classic Metonymy as an organizing principle for the writing system of Indus Script Corpora Three artefacts with Indus writing are remarkable for their definitive intent to broadcast the metallurgical message: 1. Dholavira signboard on a gateway; 2. Shahdad standard; and 3. Tablets showing processions of three standards: scarf hieroglyph, one-horned young bull hieroglyph and standard-device hieroglyph. Thus, the three artifacts embody metonymy as an organizing principle for a writing system. Rebus readings of the inscriptions relate to and document the metallurgical competence of Meluhhan lapidaries-artisans. Some other select set of inscriptions from the wide, expansive area stretching from Haifa to Rakhigarhi, from Altyn Depe (Caucus) to Daimabad (Maharashtra) are presented to show the area which had evidenced the use of Meluhha (Mleccha) language of Indian sprachbund. Hieroglyphs deployed on Indus inscriptions have had a lasting effect on the glyptic motifs used on hundreds of cylinder seals of the Meluhha contact regions. The glyptic motifs continued to be used as a logo-semantic writing system, together with cuneiform texts which used a logo-syllabic writing system, even after the use of complex tokens and bullae were discontinued to account for commodities. The Indus writing system of hieroglyphs read rebus matched the Bronze Age revolutionary imperative of minerals, metals and alloys produced as surplus to the requirements of the artisan communities and as available for the creation and sustenance of trade-networks to meet the demand for alloyed metal tools, weapons, pots and pans, apart from the supply of copper, tin metal ingots for use in the smithy of nations, harosheth hagoyim mentioned in the Old Testament (Judges). This term also explains the continuum of Aramaic script into the cognate kharoṣṭī 'blacksmith-lip' goya 'communities'. Indus-Sarasvatī Signboard Text. Read rebus as Meluhha (Mleccha) announcement of metals repertoire of a smithy complex in the citadel. The 'spoked wheel' is the semantic divider of three segments of the broadcast message. Details of readings, from r. to l.: Segment 1: Working in ore, molten cast copper, lathe (work) ḍato ‘claws or pincers of crab’ (Santali) rebus: dhatu ‘ore’ (Santali) eraka ‘knave of wheel’ Rebus: eraka ‘copper’ (Kannada) eraka ‘molten cast (metal)(Tulu). sangaḍa 'pair' Rebus: sangaḍa‘lathe’ (Gujarati) Segment 2: Native metal tools, pots and pans, metalware, engraving (molten cast copper) खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). (Marathi) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’. Harappa seal (H-73)[Note: the ‘water carrier’ pictogram] Hieroglyph: fish + notch: aya 'fish' + khāṇḍā m A jag, notch Rebus: aya 'metal'+ khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’. kuTi 'water-carrier' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'. aḍaren, ḍaren lid, cover (Santali) Rebus: aduru ‘native metal’ (Ka.) aduru = gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Kannada) (Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya’ śāstri’s new interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330) koṇḍa bend (Ko.); Tu. Kōḍi corner; kōṇṭu angle, corner, crook. Nk. kōnṭa corner (DEDR 2054b) G. khū̃ṭṛī f. ʻangleʼ Rebus: kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’(B.) कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) koḍ ‘artisan’s workshop’ (Kuwi) koḍ = place where artisans work (G.) ācāri koṭṭya ‘smithy’ (Tu.) कोंडण [kōṇḍaṇa] f A fold or pen. (Marathi) B. kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’; Or.kū̆nda ‘lathe’, kũdibā, kū̃d ‘to turn’ (→ Drav. Kur. Kū̃d ’ lathe’) (CDIAL 3295) A. kundār, B. kũdār, ri, Or.Kundāru; H. kũderā m. ‘one who works a lathe, one who scrapes’, rī f., kũdernā ‘to scrape, plane, round on a lathe’; kundakara— m. ‘turner’ (Skt.)(CDIAL 3297). कोंदण [ kōndaṇa ] n (कोंदणें) Setting or infixing of gems.(Marathi) খোদকার [ khōdakāra ] n an engraver; a carver. খোদকারি n. engraving; carving; interference in other’s work. খোদাই [ khōdāi ] n engraving; carving. খোদাই করা v. to engrave; to carve. খোদানো v. & n. en graving; carving. খোদিত [ khōdita ] a engraved. (Bengali) खोदकाम [ khōdakāma ] n Sculpture; carved work or work for the carver. खोदगिरी [ khōdagirī ] f Sculpture, carving, engraving: also sculptured or carved work. खोदणावळ [ khōdaṇāvaḷa ] f (खोदणें) The price or cost of sculpture or carving. खोदणी [ khōdaṇī ] f (Verbal of खोदणें) Digging, engraving &c. 2 fig. An exacting of money by importunity. V लाव, मांड. 3 An instrument to scoop out and cut flowers and figures from paper. 4 A goldsmith’s die. खोदणें [ khōdaṇēṃ ] v c & i ( H) To dig. 2 To engrave. खोद खोदून विचारणें or –पुसणें To question minutely and searchingly, to probe. खोदाई [ khōdāī ] f (H.) Price or cost of digging or of sculpture or carving. खोदींव [ khōdīṃva ] p of खोदणें Dug. 2 Engraved, carved, sculptured. (Marathi) eraka ‘knave of wheel’ Rebus: eraka ‘copper’ (Kannada) eraka ‘molten cast (metal)(Tulu). Segment 3: Coppersmith mint, furnace, workshop (molten cast copper) loa ’fig leaf; Rebus: loh ‘(copper) metal’ kamaḍha 'ficus religiosa' (Skt.); kamaṭa = portable furnace for melting precious metals (Te.); kampaṭṭam = mint (Ta.) The unique ligatures on the 'leaf' hieroglyph may be explained as a professional designation: loha-kāra 'metalsmith'; kāruvu [Skt.] n. 'An artist, artificer. An agent'.(Telugu).

Comparable to the archaeometallurgical challenge of delineating the Maritime Tin Route linking Hanoi and Haifa is the epigraphical challenge of tracing the roots of Kharoṣṭhī and Brahmi scripts which signify Prakritam language speech syllables (together with Indus Script words of Proto-Prakritam) on artifacts such as Asoka edicts, punch-marked/cast coins, Sohgaura copper plate, Rampurva Asoka pillar copper bolt. Indus Script signified Proto-Prakritam words of metalwork; Kharoṣṭhī and Brahmi scripts signified syllables of Prakritam speech (parole). Indus Script hieroglyphs (ca. 500 signs on text + ca. 100 pictorial motifs on artifacts of seals, tablets, etc.) are rebus-metonymy layers of words from Meluhha (Proto-Prakritam) lexis of metalwork. Kharoṣṭhī and Brahmi scripts deployed together with Indus Script hieroglyphs, for example, on punch-marked coins identified by W. Theobald signified syllabic pronunciation of names of janapadas or guild-masters of mints or rulers. Hieroglyphs such as tree-on-railing, svastika, elephant, tiger, fishes, crocodile snatching fish in its jaws, mountain-ranges continue to be used on early punch-marked coins to signify metalwork catalogues, following the Indus Script tradition of using the hieroglyph-multiplexes to signify technical specifications of metalwork or metalcastings in mints. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/06/an-object-lesson-for-art-historians.html http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/07/nature-of-indus-writing-system-defined.html http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/itihasa-of-bharatam-janam-traced-from.html http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/10/indus-script-hieroglyphs-continued-use.html In his 1890 monograph, Theobald lists 312 'symbols' deployed on punch-marked coins. He revises the list to 342 symbols in his 1901 monograph. (W. Theobald, 1890, Notes on some of the symbols found on the punch-marked coins of Hindustan, and on their relationship to the archaic symbolism of other races and distant lands, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bombay Branch (JASB), Part 1. History , Literature etc., Nos. III & IV, 1890, pp. 181 to 268, Plates VIII to XI W. Theobald, 1901, A revision of the symbols on the ‘Karshapana’ Coinage, described in Vol. LIX, JASB, 1890, Part I, No. 3, and Descriptions of many additional symbols, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bombay Branch (JASB), No. 2, 1901 (Read December, 1899). Coin of Gurgamoya, king of Khotan. Khotan, 1st century CE. Obverse: Kharoṣṭhī legend: "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya. Reverse: Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin."

PLUS bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'. क्ण क kárṇaka, 'rim of jar', karaṇī'scribe, supercargo, a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale.', kañi-āra 'helmsman'.PLUS ग ट [ gōṭī ] f (Dim. of ग टा) A roundish stone or pebble.rebus: गोटी [gōṭī ] 'A lump of silver'. m-546A (Copper tablet) kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. PLUS baraḍo 'spine, backbone' rebus: baran, bharat 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).PLUS khār खा 'backbone, spine' rebus: khār खा ् 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) This could be a semantic reinforcement , determinative of with bharat khār blacksmithy work (on) mixed alloys. Referenced without comment, leaving the reader to judge the validity of the divergent translation/decipherment claims. See variant readings by Wim J Borsboom: https://www.academia.edu/7751469/Decipherment_Interpretation_and_Translation_of_Indus_Sc ript_Sign_430_Sinha "Decipherment, Interpretation and Translation of Indus Script Sign 430 (Sinha) "The Indus Script sign 430 (Sinha), consisting of four vertical uprights that look like sticks/twigs/branches and a number of crosswise horizontals that look like woven-like twigs, had been identified by S. M. Sullivan in her "Indus Script Dictionary" (2011) as the phoneme 'gat', which together with 'ja' forms the Sanskrit word 'jagat'-'world', 'people'. Instead, I propose that it stands for the Sanskrit phoneme 'gar', as in '-nagar', 'garta'-area, place (SP) and 'gada'-'fence', 'screen', 'enclosure', (phonologically, the 'd' and 'r' are interchangeable). The grapheme resembles the way 'wattle & daub' walls and fences were constructed out of woven twigs."-Wim J Borsboom Lothal seal 97 presents a variant of Sign 169.'twig'. Lothal 97 seal Text kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'. Variants of Sign 190 (as reported by Wim Borsboom) and by Mahadevan

The Indus seals were used in connection with commerce, both international and local. The basic elements of the seals must therefore have some relevance to their use. It is argued that the animal figures are totemic, identifying either place of origin or destination, and that certain other symbols denote the character of the goods being transferred and/or the means used to transport the goods to which the seals were probably affixed. It is thus possible to come to certain conclusions as to what information the inscriptions were intended to convey. This article was first published by ESOP in Volume 3, Part 2, Paper 66, September 1976. It has been radically revised in 2010 for Volume 28 based on additional information obtained in the interim. Note: The images in this article all appear in Jagat P. Joshi and Asko Parpola's excellent volume: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions 1. Collections in India . While many have appeared in other publications as well, we used that volume because of the excellent quality of the photographs of the artifacts. In every case we used a computer to flip the seal photos horizontally so as to publish them in "impression" format (often photos of actual impressions fail to show all features clearly). Photos of the "corner symbols" were removed from the seals and rendered as separate graphics using Adobe Photoshop.

The Indus Script Cipher is a rebus representation of hieroglyphs (either as pictorial motifs/field symbols) or as text signs. The rebus uses Meluhha lexemes and expressions which is Indian sprachbund, 'speech union' of spoken forms of language which find expression in a variety of phonetic dialectical variants across the impact region of Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization. This monograph presents decipherment of 150 field symbols of Indus Script Corpora. The decipherment is explained in the context of accompanying text messages with these field symbols. The text messages are also hieroglyphs and combined hieroglyphs to signify Meluhha expressions of related artisanal competence in lapidary/metalwork or guild and caravan activities of seafaring Meluhha merchants. These text messages complement the semantics of the field symbols related to lapidary/metal-work to create wealth resources for the guilds and nations. Text: kor̤ u 'sprout' Rebus: kor̤ u 'bar of metal' gaṇḍa 'four' Rebus: kaṇḍa 'equipment' PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy/forge'. Thus, bar of metal (of) smithy, forge.

-- Falsification of 22 Cryptogram alphabet readings and contrived meanings -- Blacksmith-smelter metal equipment accounting dispatch on 22 inscriptions-- khara ‘onager’ rebus: khār ‘blacksmith’ on 22 inscriptions -- xolā tail. Malt. qoli id.(DEDR 2135) rebus: kol ‘working in iron’