Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ARCHAEOLOGY

they had lost their picture value and stood for a syllable or single sound as in the true phonetic script. It may be noted that in picture writing no two signs are joined. The Harappan technique of joining basic signs and attaching diacritics (fig:23) was followed later in 300 B.C. by the scribes of Brahmi writing in order to form respectively conjunct consonants (samyukta aksharas) and indicating the vowel value of ( matra ) the consonants. Obviously the Harappan script had already evolved these principles in 2000 B.C. in writing a language which needed vowel-indicators and conjunct consonants in the phonetic script of the period which was quite distinct from all other contemporary Egyptian and Sumerian scripts. In assigning phonetic value to basic signs two principles namely, proceeding “from the simple to the complex” and “from the known to the unknown” have been followed. These two were enunciated along with the analysis of compound signs in 1973 (Rao S.R. 1973) and later expanded and fully illustrated in the Report on the Excavations at Lothal (1979) and The Decipherment of the Indus Script (1982). The simple cursive inscriptions of Late Har- appan levels of Lothal, Rojdi, Mohenjo-Daro etc., were taken into account first and the basic signs were given phonetic value on the basis of the value of identical cursive (alphabetic) signs of Semitic script (Fig 25) of Gezer and Sechem (1600-1500 B.C.), Laschish (1300-1200 B.C.), Tell-el-Hesy and Der Alla (1500-1200 B.C.). Phonetic value of Indus signs and the language of the seal-inscriptions

Seventeen out of 24 signs in the Late Harappan and Semitic scripts, both almost contemporary and both written from right to left, being graphically similar, it stands to reason to assign the phonetic value of the known Semitic script to the analogous Late Harappan cursive script of 2000-1500 B.C.(fig:24). It must however be emphasised that it is the Semitic traders including the Phoenicians, perhaps the Panis of the Rig Veda, who borrowed the cursive Indus signs for their phonetic (consonantal) value to write their tri-consonantal script while the Harappans continued their vowel-consonant sys- tem with a further sophistication of conjunct consonants ( samyukta askharas ) characteristic of later Brahmi and Nagari scripts of India. In proceeding from the simple to the complicated script of the Harappans and in assigning phonetic value on the basis of a known script, objectivity is strictly maintained without giving room for any a priori assumption that the Harappan language was Dravidian or Aryan or Austric. The Harappan language derived from the reading of several simple Late Harappan inscriptions (fig:26) is found to be closely related to old Indo-Aryan (Vedic), and to a very limited extent, to old Iranian (Avestan). The use of vowel-indicators, unlike in Semitic and formation of conjunct consonants enabled the Harappan scribes to write sophisticated languages such as the Vedic and Avestan. The words for cardinal numbers occurring in the Indus inscriptions of comparable Semitic signs are aeka, happta, dasa and sata for one, seven, ten and hundred respectively. Other words and names occurring are bhaga (God), pat (Lord), para (supreme), ama (power), oma (friend) etc. After the language was found to be ancient Sanskrit (OIA) the phonetic value for the frequently occurring non-Semi tic signs of fish and man which are accented are given the value r from the word nr/nar for 'man' and s from Sapha or Sahula for a variety of fish in OIA. Nearly 400 inscriptions giving names of rishis, rulers, protectors, sacrifices etc were deciphered.

Fig : 24 — Reading Indus Inscription of simple-cursive writing