What type of writing did the Harappan people use?
The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script. The Indus script is an unknown writing system, and the inscriptions discovered are very short, comprising no more than five signs on the average. What language did Harappa and Mohenjo Daro speak? Like Aryan, the reconstructed vocabulary of early Munda does not reflect the Harappan culture.
Why is the Harappan script unknown?
The Harappan script has long defied attempts to read it, and therefore the language remains unknown. Relatively recent analyses of the order of the signs on the inscriptions have led several scholars to the view that the language is not of the Indo-European family, nor is…
What is the meaning of Harappa?
Harappa. Harappa ( Punjabi pronunciation: [ɦəɽəppaː]; Urdu / Punjabi: ہڑپّہ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) in north.
When did the Harappan era start?
Late Harappan Phase, c. 1800 – 1300 BC. By far the most exquisite and obscure artefacts unearthed to date are the small, square steatite (soapstone) seals engraved with human or animal motifs. A large number of seals have been found at such sites as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
What is the language of Harappan script?
Parpola in his work published in 2010 mapped the symbols used in the Indus Valley script and connected them to words used in modern Dravidian languages. Based on this he concluded that the underlying language of the Indus script was Proto-Dravidian.
Why is the Harappan script called?
The Harappan script is called enigmatic because of the following reasons: Most inscriptions were short, the longest contained about 26 signs, each sign stood for a vowel or consonant. Sometimes it contained wider space, sometimes shorter, had no consistency. Till today, the script remains undeciphered.
Is Harappan script pictographic?
The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script. Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved in stone, in moulded terracotta and faience amulets, in fragments of pottery, and in a few other categories of inscribed objects.
How was the Harappan script written?
Most scholars agree that the Indus script was generally written from right to left, however, some exceptions wherein the script is written left to right or in a boustrophedon mode are also known.
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The Harappan script has long defied attempts to read it, and therefore the language remains unknown. Relatively recent analyses of the order of the signs on the inscriptions have led several scholars to the view that the language is not of the Indo-European family, nor is…
problems of translation
The Harappan script has long defied attempts to read it, and therefore the language remains unknown. Relatively recent analyses of the order of the signs on the inscriptions have led several scholars to the view that the language is not of the Indo-European family, nor is…
Where was the Harappan period?
The area of the late Harappan period consisted of areas of Daimabad, Maharashtra, and Badakshan regions of Afghanistan. The area covered by this civilisation would have been very large with a distance of around 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi).
Where did the Harappan civilization originate?
The Harappan Civilisation has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BC along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. The civilisation, with a possible writing system, urban centres, and diversified social and economic system, ...
What did the Harappans trade with?
The Harappans had traded with ancient Mesopotamia, especially Elam, among other areas. Cotton textiles and agricultural products were the primary trading objects. The Harappan merchants also had procurement colonies in Mesopotamia which also served as trading centres.
How many people live in Harappa?
Although modern Harappa has a legacy railway station from the British Raj period, it is a small crossroads town of 15,000 people today.
How many acres were there in Harappan?
The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied about 150 hectares (370 acres) with clay brick houses at its greatest extent during the Mature Harappan phase (2600 BC – 1900 BC), which is considered large for its time.
When did the Harappan tradition end?
The termination of the Harappan tradition at Harappa falls between 1900 and 1500 BC. Mohenjo-daro is another major city of the same period, located in Sindhprovince of Pakistan. One of its most well-known structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro.
When was Harappa destroyed?
Although the archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore - Multan railroad used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artefacts have nevertheless been found.
Overview
The Harappan language is the unknown language or languages of the Bronze Age (c. 2nd millennium BCE) Harappan civilization (Indus Valley Civilization, or IVC). The language being unattested in any readable contemporary source, hypotheses regarding its nature are reduced to purported loanwords and substratum influence, notably the substratum in Vedic Sanskrit and a few term…
History
Culture and economy
Trade
Archaeology
Early symbols similar to Indus script
The Harappan Civilisation has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BC along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. The civilisation, with a possible writing system, urban centres, drainage infrastructure and diversified social and economic system, was rediscovered in t…
Notes
The Indus Valley civilization was basically an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce, the latter including trade with Elam and Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. Both Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are generally characterised as having "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers." Although such similarities have given rise to arguments for the existence of a standardised system of urban lay…
See also
The Harappans had traded with ancient Mesopotamia, especially Elam, among other areas. Cotton textiles and agricultural products were the primary trading objects. The Harappan merchants also had procurement colonies in Mesopotamia as well as which served as trading centres. They also traded extensively with people living in southern India, near modern-day Karnataka, to procure gold and copper from them.