Writing system of Harappan,

its importance and attempts

at decipherment
Harappan(Indus)
Civilization
One of the earliest and largest urban
civilization discovered by archeologist in
1920s.
It is developed along Indus river in the areas
of modern Pakistan and north-west India and
Afghanistan.Hence called Indus valley
civilization.
One of the first two cities discovered by
excavation was Harappa and hence also
known as Harappan civilization.
Indus Valley
The Indus River is
located in Pakistan.
Find it on the map. It
was along this river
that a civilization
developed around
2,500 BCE. It is
called the Indus
Valley Civilization.
Two major cities of
this civilization were
Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro.
Writing system of
Harappan
It is one of the earliest form of writing
system known.
Examples of writings have been found in
pottery,amulets,stamps,seals,even in
weights and copper tablets.
The collection of writings is in the form of
inscribed seals in good,legible condition.
There are nearly four hundred signs.
Examples of Indus script
Here are several
examples of Indus
Valley writing. It is
believed that the
Indus Valley people
may have also
written on palm
leaves or cloth but
no evidence of this
has survived.
Unicorn seal + writing
Indus script Signs
and more seals...
Usage of Script
Harappan script was widely used in
inscriptions made on seals, pottery,
ornaments and small tablets made of
terracotta, steatite and copper.
Painting the script on textiles and other
perishable objects is not known as they are
not available.
Harappan Seals

Square Seals Rectangular Seals

Square Seals

All the Square Seals have the same

Unicorn motif, but the inscriptions were
different on each seal.
Steatite Tablets

Incised steatite tablets from Harappa

Writing on tablets is not reversed which means they were not being
used as seals. They might have been used as tokens for ceremonies
or some kind of economic activity.
Copper Tablets
Copper tablet
(H2000-4498/9889-
01) with raised
script found in
Trench 43. Mohenjo-
Daro

Rectangular Copper tablets with writing and animal

motifs are found at Mohenjo-Daro.
Many copper tablets at Mohenjo-Daro are
approximately of same size and weight which may
represent an attempt to create a standard currency
or a medium of exchange.
Pottery and Ornaments
Inscriptions have been found on pottery,
Harappans used to make both pre-firing and
post-firing inscriptions on the pots.
graffiti (inscriptions made after firing) has
been found on Large black-slipped storage
jars.

Inscribed bone from Mohenjo-Daro

Black-slipped storage jars
At Harappa, tiny bone points also do have miniature inscriptions.

Gold ornaments excavated from Mohenjo-Daro also had minute

inscriptions. 4 inscribed ornaments were found in a large collection of
gold objects found in a copper vessel.

Tiny inscriptions have also been found on the bangles.

 Some general marks on
Pre-firing inscribed pottery
pottery

Graffiti on fired pots

The Dholavira
Signboard
A board with ten letters, made of
gypsum was found on the northern
gate of the castle, it is acclaimed to
be the oldest signboard and
represent the name and title of the
king of the city. Each sign is about
37 cm high and the board would be
about 3 meter long.
- Archaeological Survey of India,
Vadodara
Set pieces of the mineral gypsum arranged to form ten large
symbols or letters on a big wooden board. At some point, the
board fell flat on its face. The wood decayed, but the arrangement
of the letters survived.

This might have been a signboard for traders.

Importance of Harappan
Script
The Indus script represents the changes in the
social, political structures during the formation
of cities in 2600 BCE.
Developing a writing system is a very
dynamic invention which evolves over time.
The development of a script might have
changed the socio-economic structure of the
Harappan society based on the literacy and
the power to be able to use particular seals.
Importance of Harappan
Script
The script was extensively used on seals which if
deciphered can be useful in understanding the
economic development and trade with other
regions.
There is always some form of writing in every
site which has been excavated.
The script was not yet deciphered, deciphering
the script will help to understand the purpose
these seals, tablets and other inscribed objects
have been made, all the current explanations are
based on our perception and imagination.
 Direction of writing
General direction of writing is from right to
left.
External evidence for the direction of
writing is provided by the shorter
inscriptions starting at the right edge leaving
blank space nearer the left edge.
Internal evidence for the direction of writing
is obtained by comparing single-line and
two-line sequences of identical inscriptions.
Decline of the writing
system
Harappan Writing system started to disappear
along with the decline of Harappan civilization
from around 19th century BCE and completely
disappeared by 17th century BCE.
Molds used for making impressions on terracotta
and faience were discarded or destroyed and
never remade as there is no importance for them.
The new generations would just ignore the script
as it had no importance in their life.
Attempts at
Decipherment
Sir Alexander Cunningham
Sir John Marshall
Mahadevan
Fairservis
Asko Parpola
Theories Given By
Scholars
It is not related to any other script. It is
complete different script.
Indus Script is related to Aryan.
Most scholars agree that it is related to
Dravidian family of languages.
Reasons For
Undecipherment
Inscriptions are very short
Writing system related to Indus script is still
unknown.
No bilingual texts.
Fish Like Symbol
Planets and Rohini
References
Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark. Ancient Cities of the
Indus Valley Civilisation. Chapter 4. Oxford
University Press. 1998

Images: http://www.harappa.com