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Re: My post on the Art of Writing in Ancient India (fwd)
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: My post on the Art of Writing in Ancient India (fwd)
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From: ptbast@wpi.edu (Pete Bastien)
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Date: 17 Jan 1995 16:56:04 GMT
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Distribution: world
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From news@WPI.EDU Tue Jan 17 11: 46:02 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Organization
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References: <3feqak$c57@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
ArindamBanerjee wrote:
: How do we relate the pictorial writing on the seals found in the Indus
: Valley Civilisation (3000 B.C.) to the phonetic language used earlier,
: as you say? Would you say they co-existed? Or were the pictures
: actually sounds? I really would like some light on this matter.
I'm assuming you're talking about the language of the Harappans. As far
as I know, no one has been successful in deciphering their language that
consists of some 270 characters. Although I'm not a specialist on languages,
it seems impossible that each character has a distinct phoneme associated
with it. If this script is compared to the ancient Egyptian script, then
a possibility does exist that some of the characters were phonetic and
some were composites.
As far as the transition from the Harappan era to the Aryan era, there would
have definitely been a period when both civilization's languages would have
been in use. This does not mean that transliteral document would have ever
been made or if it had been made, survived the centuries. There is also
the possibility that several languages coexisted in the Harappan culture,
each with its own purpose. If this were the case then it is quite possible
that the sacred language was protected from the Aryans. Looking at
western history, there are some parallels. First, a well known transliteral
document is the Rosetta Stone. Of course the civilizations involve coexisted
for quite some time. For a second parallel, look at the translation of
the Old Testament. A widely used basis for English translations of the OT
is the LXX Greek translation, which was a forced translation. The day that
the scholars who were forced to create the LXX did so, is still a day of
mourning for many Jews. So it is not unreasonable to imagine that the
Harappan religious scholars refused to transfer the knowledge of their
language to the Aryans.
Please note that these are only speculations and may be very much in error
as to the actual history of the Indus valley.
: In what ways did the culture and civilisations of the Indus valley
: follow the culture and civilisation of India as we know it in terms of
: rendition of mythological figures in terms of art? The only example I
: ever saw in the National Museum in Delhi was the crossing of Vaitarani,
: the river of death, depicted on a vast earthenware pot made to bury the
: dead. The last custom, is of course, non-Hindu.
The few relics that I'm familiar with show some evidence for worship associated
with Trees. I believe there has been conjecture that a asvattha has been
identified, and that it is possible that Trees were an object of worship, and
that devotional service started with the Harappans.
Some seals have also been found with a man with cross legs (claimed by some
to be in the Lotus position) with a sizable phallus. These seals have been
associated with seals depicting tigers, which leads to the conjecture that
Siva or a "proto"-Siva was worshiped.
That is all that my limited memory will recall, but I'm sure that other
points of commonality could be found.
