Deciphering The Indus Script

An Ideographic Approach to Deciphering the Indus Writing[ An Abstract.] D Rajeev

Ideographs

Ideographs are symbolic forms used by the human mind to capture the perceived nature of an

object. As perception metamorphoses through the human psyche’s layers, its trans-formation is

influenced by a variety of subjective factors. In the case of a culture's association of a form with

meaning, these factors include their world-view, their paradigm of sciences -their collective

psyche.

The forms associated with the same concept can have a

remarkable degree of resemblance, despite the

transformations they may undergo as perception evolves

through the layers of distinct subjective factors, in very

separated cultures.

For instance, if we take the Chinese symbol for Sun, and

Egyptian symbol for the Sun, we find they share much similarity

in both their visual forms and their sound forms.

Similarity in sound forms, for instance, can exists between

languages as culturally distinct and separated as Malayalam [a

language spoken in southernmost India] and Chinese. In both

the languages, "de" indicates possession, "ni" is you, “nin-de” or

“ni-de” conveys the meaning “yours”; "kan" means "to see" in

Chinese, and the same sound suggests the meaning "eye" in Malayalam,

Figure 1. The ancient Chinese character For the Sun, Pronounced rì [Left] and the ancient Egyptian written character for the Sun, Pronounced Ra [Right].

Figure 2. An Ancient Chinese symbol for the moon compared to an ancient Egyptian symbol for the moon

Hence, an ideographic exploration of Indus writing could start from analysis of similar forms in

other symbolic-systems which are products of the human psyche. And if our exploration into

the Indus seal forms, along these lines, would yield as much insight as would lead to the

decipherment of a single phrase, we might as well have opened up a new field of study. We

would have at hand a new approach to decipherment of the Indus Writings - an approach, or a

pattern of research, that may possibly be reflected, to decipher other samples of Indus writing.

Seals In The Indus World

In deciphering the writings on the seals, the first question we

might ask ourselves is what the purpose of those seals were? Did they serve a religious purpose?

Were they records of events? And if so, what could the few character long markings be?

For any ideographic script known, a 5-7 letter long sequence is too terse to form descriptive

texts of events, or recorded information. Given that, we might assume – the symbols

constitute some form of descriptive markings, a time stamp, an astronomical set of symbols,

symbols of religious significance, a name, etc.

Even if the Indus people did have a full system of writing, what has reached us through these

seals are but terse labels given to things, or markings suggesting the timing of some rituals,

events, celestial phenomenon, the names or symbols of deities, or celestial animals or deities

associated with celestial phenomenon that are tersely captured in these strings of symbols.

And if only a portion of Indus writing has survived in these seals, why was this the portion they

chose to ‘preserve’ in their seals? The answer seems obvious: whatever was captured had a

greater or distinct significance to them, as part of their culture - and that significance, in almost

all ancient cultures, we find, is deeply related to their religious beliefs. The oracle-bone writings

of the Chinese, for instance, contain texts speaking of questions posed to an oracle and the

answers obtained.

The motifs on the seals further serve deepen to strengthen our speculations that they are

religious in nature.

We might, hence, driven by these observations, assume these could be time-markings of rituals,

or the symbolic capturing of the timing or nature of celestial phenomenon, or perhaps even

names. For anything else meaningful, the length of symbols on the seals seem too short.

Meaning in Parallels

Holding these insights, we'll begin an attempt at decipherment of an Indus Script string, by

analogy to similar forms that exists in other symbolic scripts. And by extended association of

the undeciphered Indus forms to what meanings they carry in those languages, as currently

understood, or, as deciphered.

In the Indus seal of Figure 3, the right-most symbol bears a strong resemblance to Egyptian symbol for a

star: . Here it could be a marker for a celestial body, a time, symbolic a celestial body or phenomenon, perhaps a celestial, a celestial manifestation in space, represented as a star in space. Left of it is a character likely representing the number two. In ancient as well as modern Chinese writing, the numeral two is represented with a symbol

constituting of two lines .

is the symbol of astronomical conjunction in western astronomy, apparently dating back to Byzantine codices. Here, together with the entry into a containing space, it might indicate an entering-conjunction.

The fourth symbol bears a strong resemblance to various forms, The Egyptian symbol for a House .

[Determinatives, are often written with a horizontal marker, and hence, house, in Egyptian is, , when written with the mark]

The Symbol for Heaven and Night Sky are as shown, in Egyptian.

The fifth symbol, a container with handles, often occurs in Indus writing at the end of a phrase. In

classical Chinese, phrases end with a (也,yě, the picture of a vessel, a containing unit, indicating the sentence has self-contained meaning).

Figure 3. Impression of an Indus Valley seal, showing an "Indus

script" string of five characters (British Museum, 2005 photograph)

And, if we have thus deciphered our first seal, it says "The conjunction of two celestial bodies, in a house," read from right-to-left. An astronomical or astrological phrase with a self-contained meaning, conveyed through a set of written symbols. Language, as we know it, in written use.

If the Indus Writing often such astronomical symbolism, which we can parallel to symbol-sets we know, we might expect to find other symbols of a similar nature, there-in. An Indus symbol, as on a seal below, and the symbol for Capricorn in Western Astronomy:

Figure 4. On the left is a symbol from an Indus Seal. On the Right is the Symbol for Capricorn in Western Astrology.

Here, in another Indus seal we find a symbol, similar to the modern symbol for Aquarius.

To the left of the Aquarius Symbol, we find a:

Figure 5. The Indus Symbol on Left, as Compared to the Symbol for Aquarius in Western Astrology,

A symbol with a marked resemblance to

, which the oracle script form of the Chinese character for

winter: 冬, ( http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E5%86%AC )

The symbol for winter is also symbolic for - "an end" – a something that is bundled up at its ends. The third from right seems to show a celestial body moving out of a space. A moving out of Aquaris and entering another phase, perhaps? The presence of astronomical symbolism in Indus seals is also suggested by the research of Parpola and Mahadevan, who speculate:

http://www.harappa.com/script/diction.html

(The trident, interestingly, is astronomical symbolism in modern astrology, with its association to Neptune – and deriving from the Roman Neptune’s Trident. However separated in time or space the cultures are or however random the forces that made the association may seem to us, such similarity in the author’s opinion may reveal deeper aspects of the functioning of the human psyche, our mapping of perception to symbols, and is not to be dismissed as mere-coincidental, without deep study. )

Here, in this seal is the image of a Centaur, perhaps as a celestial animal, associated with a constellation.

Exploration in Parallels

What is documented here are but superficial observations, based on a few hours exploration into the Indus Script by the author. From these insights, however, he is inclined to think that such an exploration based on ideographic parallels could yield insights into the Indus writing that could very likely lead to its partial or complete decipherment.