Indus script
Symbols of the Indus Valley Civilisation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script and the Indus Valley Script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not they constituted a writing system used to record a Harappan language, any of which are yet to be identified.[3] Despite many attempts,[4] the 'script' has not yet been deciphered, but efforts are ongoing. There is no known bilingual inscription to help decipher the script,[5] which shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the syntax (if that is what it may be termed) varies depending upon location.[3]
Indus script | |
---|---|
Script type | Undeciphered;
possibly Bronze Age writing or proto-writing |
Time period | c. 3500–1900 BCE[1][2][lower-alpha 1] |
Direction | Right-to-left script, boustrophedon |
Languages | Unknown (see Harappan language) |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Inds (610), Indus (Harappan) |
The first publication of a seal with Harappan symbols dates to 1875,[6] in a drawing by Alexander Cunningham.[7] By 1992, an estimated 4,000 inscribed objects had been discovered,[8] some as far afield as Mesopotamia due to existing Indus–Mesopotamia relations, with over 400 distinct signs represented across known inscriptions.[9][5]
Some scholars, such as G. R. Hunter,[10] S. R. Rao, John Newberry,[11] and Krishna Rao[12] have argued that the Brahmi script has some connection with the Indus system. Raymond Allchin[13] has somewhat cautiously supported the possibility of the Brahmi script being influenced by the Indus script.[14][15] Another possibility for the continuity of the Indus tradition is in the megalithic graffiti symbols of southern and central India and Sri Lanka, which probably do not constitute a linguistic script but may have some overlap with the Indus symbol inventory.[16][17] Linguists such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Kamil Zvelebil, and Asko Parpola have argued that the script had a relation to a Dravidian language.[18][19]