Seal impression showing a typical inscription of five characters
Script type
Undeciphered;
possibly Bronze Age writing or proto-writing
Time period
c. 3500–1900 BCE[1][2][a]
Direction
Right-to-left script, boustrophedon
Languages
Unknown (see Harappan language)
ISO 15924
ISO 15924
Inds(610), Indus (Harappan)
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]
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]
^Kenoyer (2006), pp. 10–11.
^Bryant (2001), p. 178.
^ abLocklear, Mallory (25 January 2017). "Science: Machine learning could finally crack the 4,000-year-old Indus script". The Verge. Manhattan, New York, NY: Vox Media. Retrieved 25 January 2017. After a century of failing to crack an ancient script, linguists turn to machines.
^Possehl (1996).
^ abRobinson (2015).
^Wright (2009), p. 7.
^Cunningham (1875), pp. 105–108.
^Fairservis (1992), p. 5.
^Ghosh (1990).
^Hunter (1934).
^Newberry (1980), pp. 10–20.
^Ghosh (1990), p. 361–364.
^Allchin & Erdosy (1995), p. 336.
^Goody (1987), pp. 301–302, note 4.
^Salomon (1995).
^Mahadevan (2004).
^Ray (2006), pp. 121–122.
^Rahman, Tariq. "Peoples and languages in pre-Islamic Indus valley". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008. most scholars have taken the 'Dravidian hypothesis' seriously
^"The Indus Script | Harappa". www.harappa.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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The Indusscript, also known as the Harappan script and the Indus Valley Script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most...
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting...
for a continuity between Indus and Brahmi has also been seen in graphic similarities between Brahmi and the late Indusscript, where the ten most common...
many scripts which largely have common roots. The Indusscript (also known as the Harappan script) is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley...
B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003. ISBN 9781588390431. The IndusScript. Text, Concordance And Tables Iravathan...
(c. 2nd millennium BC) Harappan civilization (Indus Valley civilization, or IVC). The Harappan script has long defied attempts to read it, and therefore...
(2008). The Ancient Indus Valley New Perspectives. Routledge. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-57607-907-2. Mcintosh, Jane (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley New Perspectives...
of the IndusScript Via the Rig Veda: A Case Study. Indus Research Centre, Roja Muthiah Research Library. "Dravidian Proof of the IndusScript via the...
descendant of Indusscript. Pushkarasari script – Gandhara, 3rd century BC to 8th century AD. Shankhalipi, c. 4th to 8th century. Indusscript Vikramkhol...
and symbols found at various sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation have been labelled as the Indusscript citing the possibility that they were used...
Indusscript has met with considerable acceptance and will serve now as a basis for further and continuing study of the language of the ancient Indus...
had their counterparts amongst the Indusscript. He concluded that there was a commonness of culture between the Indus Valley civilisation and the later...
undetermined. Byblos syllabary – the city of Byblos Cretan hieroglyphs Indus – Indus Valley civilization Isthmian (apparently logosyllabic) Linear A (a syllabary) –...
inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilisation lists the technological and civilisational achievements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, an ancient...
Over 1400 Indus Valley civilisation sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 in Pakistan. Only 40 sites on the Indus valley had...
connected with the Indus Valley civilisation, hence people and language spread east and southwards after the demise of the Indus Valley Civilisation...
interests fall within the following topics: Indus Civilization / Indusscript and religion / Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions Veda / Vedic ritual...
geometric designs, although lacking the Indusscript which characterized the preceding phase of the civilization. Script is rare and confined to potsherd inscriptions...
independence of Pakistan in 1947. Proto-writing:Indusscript was a Bronze Age script developed along Indus river, in modern day's Pakistan. Button, ornamental:...
braille assignments of Indian languages Indusscript – symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation Indian Script Code for Information Interchange (ISCII)...
decipherments of Indus inscriptions such as that of N.S. Rajaram. Witzel has questioned the linguistic nature of the so-called Indusscript (Farmer, Sproat...
Most houses of Indus Valley were made from mud, dried mud bricks, or clay bricks of a standardised size. The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilization...
c. 3500 BC Possibly the early Indusscript, c. 3500 BC, as its nature is disputed[better source needed] Nsibidi script, c. before 500 AD[citation needed]...
curved horns almost meet in the centre. At the top of the seal are seven Indusscript symbols, with the last apparently displaced downwards for lack of horizontal...
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