Indus (Harappan)

The Indus script (also known as the Harappan script) is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilization during the Kot Diji and Mature Harappan periods between 3500 and 1900 BCE. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not these symbols constituted a script used to record a language, or even symbolized ideas. In spite of this, scholars have attempted to decipher the script, proposing several readings of the symbols. These attempts have not been universally accepted, and the script remains undeciphered. The term "Indus script" is mainly applied to sealings, stamp seals, copper tablets, pottery, and amulets, which have survived in great numbers, sometimes with their excavated contexts. The term "Harappan script" is sometimes preferred for these texts, as well as for inscriptions on tools and other objects found in excavation contexts that cannot be attributed to a specific period. By contrast, the term "Indus signs" is used for a wider range of inscribed objects, such as inscribed pottery and metalwork. The signs have primarily been found at sites of the Mature Harappan period, during which the Indus script was probably used to write a variety of languages spoken in the region, including Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, and Elamite. The script has not been deciphered, but it is thought to be logosyllabic, meaning that each symbol may represent a word, syllable, or sound. The symbols are largely pictorial, but they also include a number of abstract signs. The majority of the signs are either highly stylized versions of natural objects (such as the sun, a mountain, a tree, a bird, or a human figure) or geometric shapes (such as a triangle, a circle, a square, or a crescent). A small number of signs are ideograms, which represent an idea rather than a specific word. The script was probably used for a variety of purposes, including record-keeping, accounts, and correspondence. A small number of inscribed objects, such as seals, have been found in private homes, suggesting that the script may have been used for personal messages. The Indus script is thought to be one of the earliest writing systems, and it is possible that it influenced the development of other writing systems, such as Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs.