Harappan Script

Question 1

Writing in sumeria va indus valley

Answer 1

Writing developed for the first time in around 6000 BC in Sumeria and Indus people started
using it much before 2600 BCE.

Question 2

What do we know about the Indus script so far?

Answer 2

So far total around 3000 inscriptions found, of which
90% come from Harappa and Mohenjodaro alone.

• Mostly incised on seals but also on metals, bone, ivory
artefacts, pottery and stoneware.

• Relatively a smaller number of symbols (~400 unique signs consisting of 250 symbols
and their variants) (Compared to 900 in Sumeria)
o 400 is too many to be alphabetic (English has 26) and too few to be pictorial
(Chinese has 2000 signs). Thus, it appears to be Logo-syllabic (mixture of words
and phonetic signs).

• Written in boustrophedon method (alternative right to left and left to right)

Question 3

Why is it difficult to decode?

Answer 3

It doesn’t resemble any other script in the world that we know.
• No bilingual inscription.
• No long inscription found (longest one is 20 or so, while avg is 5 symbols, thus
fragmentary nature)
• We don’t know the language also