Two-inch square seal is wealth-accounting ledger of Harappa warehouse. A tribute to JM Kenoyer and SA Farmer

December 9, 2019, 4:15 am

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Decipherment of 2 in. square large seal inscription is presented. This is a continuum of

Indus Script solves the mysteries of stupa, circular platforms, archaeology identifies in Mohenjo-daro karaṇaśāle 'office of writers' https://tinyurl.com/s6qq46m

This monograph is a tribute to

1) to the contributions made by JM Kenoyer to an understanding of the 'one-horned young bull' of Indus Script Corpora Section A: 2 in square large unicorn seal of Mohenjo- daro

and

2) to the insightful identification by SA Farmer of the varieties of shapes of horns of animals on inscriptions which help unravel 1) Indus Script Cipher which composes hypertexts combining hieroglyphs and 2) the Meluhha speech forms and semantics related to metalwork, lapidarywork creating wealth of metal products, embedded gems and jewels. Section B: Spiny horn, projecting-forward horns, high-horns, ram's curling horns

This tribute is complemented with a note on Meluhha speech forms which constitute the language of over 8000 Indus Script inscriptions in Section C: Meluhha is Indian sprachbund, 'speech union': Arguments of Michael Witzel and JBJ Kuiper

Section A: 2 in square large unicorn seal of Mohenjo- daro

The hieroglyphs of 1) a sprout and 2) a sprout within circumfix of a bun-ingot, lozenge shape shown on the large unicorn seal of Mohenjo-daro is repeated on many inscriptions of Harappa and other sites.High level of standardization achieved in the writing system from distant sites: Bagasra, Banawali, Mohenjo-daro, Harappa. Clearly, some control over the use of hieoglyphs and common understanidng of their meanings existed in the over 2600 archaeological sites of the civilization spread on two river basins: Sindhu and Sarasvati.
Image result for large harappa seal bharatkalyan97"

Image result for large harappa seal bharatkalyan97"

Figurines show a bull with one horn, comparable to the field symbol seen on thousands of seals and tablets (See Fig. 6.7) Many of these terracotta figurines have a hole in the belly perhaps used to mount them on a stick on a parade or procession.

Unicorn image is carried on a high standard (See Fig. 6.9a); on a molded terracotta tablet from Harappa, a human figure with outstretched arms and coverd in bangles stands between two unicorns (See Fig. 6.9b)(JM Kenoyer, Iconography of the Indus Unicorn: Origin and Legacy, in: Shinu Anna Abraham, Praveena Gullapalli, Teresa P Raczek, Uzma Z Rizvi, 2013, Connections and Complexity: New approaches to the Archaeology of South Asia,Left Coast Press, pp. 107 to 126)

See discussions starting 3-3-2014 on http://new-indology.blogspot.com/2014/03/which-animal-was-unicorn-of-indus-seals.html Giacomo Benedetti, Kyoto, 3-3-2014

Large unicorn seal (H99-4064/8796-01) found on the floor of Room 591 in Trench 43, dating to late Period 3C. This is one of the largest seals found from any Indus site. Stamp seal with unicorn and stardard device (lathe+portable furnace), ca. 2000-1900 B.C.; Harappan. Indus Valley, Harappa, 8796-01. Indus inscription. Steatite; L. 5.2 cm (2 in.); W. 5.2 cm (2 in.). Harappa Museum, Harappa H99-4064. Courtesy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Minorities, Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan.

Sign 293 This sign starts the text message of the large 'unicorn' seal. The inscription is a catalogue of wealth products stored in the warehouse.Hieroglyph: kuṭṭi 'pupil of eye' Rebus: kuṭi 'warehouse'. Alternative reading: māṇikī f. ʻdark part of pupil of eyeʼ Rebus: maṇí ʻjewel, ornamentʼ RV

The find location is close to the 'granary'. The 'granary' has been identified as a 'warehouse'.This large 'unicorn' seal is a documentation of the metal products stocked in the warehouse. Ma. kuṭṭi pupil of eye; kuṭu small, narrow. (DEDR 1670) rebus: kuṭi 'warehouse';
kuṭhi 'smelter'

The inscription: manager, turner PLUS List of workshop supercargo items: Bronze castings, minerals/metal castings, native metal, metal alloys, ingot smithy, bronze smithy/forge, tin workshop, Supercargo smithy/forge account

Field symbols (hieroglyphs): 1. koDiya ‘rings on neck’, ‘young bull’ koD ‘horn’ rebus 1: koṭiya 'dhow, seafaring vessel' khōṇḍī 'pannier sack' खोंडी (p. 216) [ khōṇḍī ] f An outspread shovelform sack (as formed temporarily out of a कांबळा, to hold or fend off grain, chaff &c.) khOnda ‘young bull’ rebus 2: kOnda ‘lapidary, engraver’ rebus 3: kundAr ‘turner’ कोंड [kōṇḍa] A circular hamlet; a division of a मौजा or village, composed generally of the huts of one caste. खोट [khōṭa] Alloyed--a metal PLUS singhin'spiny-horned' rebus: singi 'ornament gold'

2. sangaDa ‘lathe’ sanghaṭṭana ‘bracelet’ rebus 1: sanghāṭa ‘raft’ sAngaDa ‘catamaran, double-canoe’rebusčaṇṇāḍam (Tu. ജംഗാല, Port. Jangada). Ferryboat, junction of 2 boats, also rafts. 2 jangaḍia 'military guard accompanying treasure into the treasury' ചങ്ങാതം čaṇṇāδam (Tdbh.
സംഘാതം) 1. Convoy, guard; responsible Nāyar guide through foreign territories. rebus 3: जाकड़ ja:kaṛ जांगड़ jāngāḍ‘entrustment note’ जखडणें tying up (as a beast to a stake) rebus 4: sanghāṭa ‘accumulation, collection’ rebus 5. sangaDa ‘portable furnace, brazier’ rebus 6: sanghAta ‘adamantine glue‘ rebus 7: sangara ‘fortification’ rebus 8: sangara ‘proclamation’ rebus 9: samgaha, samgraha 'manager, arranger'
PLUS
kuṭi 'curve; rebus: कुटिल kuṭila, katthīl (8 parts copper, 2 parts tin)

Sign 293, variants.

**Alternative 1: Ma. kuṭṭan boy, lamb, calf; kuṭṭi young of any animal, child (chiefly girl), pupil of eye; kuṭu small, narrow. (DEDR 1670) rebus: kuṭi 'warehouse'; kuṭhi 'smelter'

Alternative 2: maṇí**1 m. ʻ jewel, ornament ʼ RV.Pa. maṇi -- m. ʻ jewel ʼ, NiDoc. mani,
maṁni, Pk. maṇi<-> m.f.; Gy. pal. máni ʻ button ʼ; K. man m. ʻ precious stone ʼ, muñu m., müñü f. ʻ pupil of eye ʼ; S. maṇi f. ʻ jewel ʼ, maṇyo m. ʻ jewels ʼ; P. maṇī f. ʻ jewel ʼ, N. mani, Or. maṇī, Mth. manī, H. man m., manī f., maniyã̄ m.; M. maṇī m. ʻ pearl, jewel ʼ; Si. miṇa, pl. miṇi ʻ jewel ʼ; -- ext. -- kk -- : Gy. gr. minrikló m. ʻ ornament ʼ, rum. mərənkló, hung. miriklo ʻ pearl, coral ʼ, boh. miliklo, germ. merikle ʻ agate ʼ, eng. mérikli ʻ bead ʼ; Kal.rumb. ãdotdot; ʻ bead necklace ʼ; K. manka m. ʻ snake -- stone ʼ; L. maṇkā m. ʻ bead ʼ, awāṇ. miṇkā; P. maṇkā m. ʻ bead, jewel ʼ; G. maṇkɔ m. ʻ gem, bead ʼ; M. maṇkā m. ʻ large gem or bead ʼ.(CDIAL 9731) māˊṇikya n. ʻ ruby ʼ Kathās. [maṇí -- 1?]S. māṇiku m. ʻ ruby ʼ, māṇikī f. ʻ dark part of pupil of eye ʼ; L. māṇik m. ʻ gem ʼ; P. mānak m. ʻ bead, gem ʼ; Ku.gng. &rtodtilde; ʻ jewel ʼ; A. mānik ʻ ruby ʼ; B. mānik ʻ ruby, jewel ʼ; Or. māṇika ʻ ruby ʼ, Mth. mānik; Bhoj. mānik ʻ jewel ʼ; OAw. mānika m. ʻ ruby, gem ʼ, H. mānik m.; G. māṇek n. ʻ ruby ʼ, M. māṇīk n., māṇkī f. ʻ small ruby ʼ; Si. mäṇika ʻ jewel ʼ; -- Kal. ãdotdot; ʻ bead necklace ʼ (or maṇi -- 1). māṇiya ʻ collection of jewels ʼ. [maṇí -- 1]Pa. māniya* -- Saddanīti 621, 8; Sh. (Lor.) māni m. ʻ necklace, round bead (?) ʼ; Si. mäṇa ʻ jewel ʼ H. Smith JA 1950, 209.(CDIAL 9997, 9998)
dATu 'cross' Rebus: dhatu 'mineral' kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo, scribe'
dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting' PLUS sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop'

ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal alloy' अयस् [p= 85,1]n. iron , metal RV. &can iron weapon (as an axe , &c ) RV. vi , 3 ,5 and 47 , 10gold Naigh.steel L. ; ([cf. Lat. aes , aer-is for as-is ; Goth. ais , Thema aisa ; Old Germ. e7r , iron ; Goth. eisarn ; Mod. Germ. Eisen.])(Monier-Williams)

ayo 'fish' PLUS aDaren 'lid' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' PLUS aduru 'native metal'. Thus, native metal alloy.

Sign 169 Ta. kor̤untu tender twig, tendril, tender leaf, shoot, anything young, tenderness; kor̤umai freshness (as of shoots), beauty; kur̤ai (-pp-, -tt-) to cause to sprout or shoot forth; n. tender leaf, sprout, shoot. Ma. kor̤unnu, kor̤untu tender twig, young shoot, new-grown hair. To. kwïζ twig. Ka. koḍa tenderness, tender age, youth; Te. krotta (in cpds. kro-) new, fresh; Pa. koṛ very young; koṛuŋg new shoot, sprout; koṛc- to sprout; koṛol bride. Ga. (Oll.) koṛal son's wife, younger brother's wife; (S) koḍus-, koḍc- to sprout; (P.) koṛuŋ young shoot. Go. (Tr.) kōṛsānā, kōrsānā to sprout, grow (of trees, plants, etc.); (A. Mu. Ma. S.) koṛs- to sprout (Voc. 945); (Mu.) koṛk-ila new leaf; (Ko.) koṛi leaf-shoot (Voc. 934); (Ma.) koṛta month of Bhadrā (Aug.-Sept.) when new paddy is worshipped (Voc. 940); Pe. koṛiya gāṛ son's wife, younger brother's wife; kṛogi fresh, new (of leaves). Kui koṛgi newly sprouted, green, immature, unripe; koṛgari (pl. koṛgai) new shoot, fresh stalk, something green, immature, or unripe; kōṛu new shoot, fresh stalk, stem, or bud; new, green, immature; kōṛa a shoot, sprout, first sprout (of paddy after planting); kōṛa koḍa to sprout (of paddy); kōna bud; gōṇi sprout, offshoot; khrogi kōma a soft twig (i.e. soft, young, tender; for kōma, see 2115); (Ṭ.) koṛgi young (of children); (Isr.) kṛōgi immature, young. Kur. xōr leaf-bud, new leaves, fresh and tender leaves of vegetables; xōrnā (xūryā) to shoot out new leaves; korrā fresh (recently made, prepared, or obtained), pure. Malt. qóro infant, Indian corn when green; qóroce to sprout. Br. xarring to sprout; xarrun green, blue, black and blue; fruitful; xarrunī greenness; wife. Cf. 3650 Ta. nāy, for -kuṛi, etc., in Konḍa, Kui, Kuwi. / Cf. Skt. kora-, koraka- bud (Turner, CDIAL, no. 3527); kuṇaka- a new-born animal; kuḍaka- child (epic; Burrow, Belvalkar Felicitation Volume, pp. 6 f.; cf. Turner, CDIAL, no. 3245); kuḍmala-, kuṭmala- filled with buds, bud (epic, kāvya; Turner, CDIAL, no. 3250); Turner, CDIAL, no. 3249, kuḍma- bud (DEDR 2149) Rebus: Ta.* kor̤u bar of metal, ploughshare. Ma. kor̤u ploughshare. Ko. kov iron point of plough. To. ku· ploughshare (< Badaga gü·, Language 15.47; the word occurs only in one passage and the meaning is arrived at by etymology). Ka. kur̤a, kur̤u, gur̤a, gur̤u ploughshare, iron used in cauterizing. Tu. koru a bar of metal.(DEDR 2147)

dāṭu 'cross' rebus: dhatu 'mineral'

dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting' PLUS sal 'splinter' rebus: sal 'workshop' Thus, metalcasting workshop.

ayo 'fish' rebus; aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal'

ayo 'fish' rebus; aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' PLUS dhakka 'lid' rebus: dhagga 'blazing,bright'

Circumfix, lozenge, bun ingot shape: mū̃h ‘ingot’ (Santali) PLUS (infixed) koḍa‘sprout’ rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’. Thus, ingot workshop.

kuṭila, 'curve' Rebus: कुटिल kuṭila, katthīl (8 parts copper, 2 parts tin)

PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'

kuṭi 'curve; rebus: कुटिल kuṭila, katthīl (8 parts copper, 2 parts tin) kuṭi 'warehouse'

dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'

ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku tin'

koḍa ‘sprout’ rebus: koḍ ‘workshop’.

kanka, karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo, scribe, account'.

Section B: Spiny horn, projecting-forward horns, high-horns, ram's curling horns

In his 2004 article, SA Farmer posits the thesis 'Not Unicorns'

http://safarmer.com/indus/notunicorns/notunicorns.html I am thankful to Steve Farmer for focussing attention on the varieties in the styles of 'horns' in Indus Script Corpora. Some are spiny, some project forward, some are high horns, and some are curling horns. I submit that each style of horn is intended to convey very specific Meluhha semantics of ciphertext hieroglyphs and related rebus meanings of plaintext to document/account for wealth created metalwork, lapidarywork.

"The Indus Unicorn: A real or "Fantastic" animal? The question centers on whether this is a real animal, with the single horn shown for purposes of artistic perspective, or is it fantastic, a creation of the Indus mind?...C. Grigson is a recent proponent of the fantastic animal hypothesis, which is not without merit. But most others, including Marshall and Mackay, agree that "the artist intended to represent one horn behind the other." This point of view is supported by the fact that there are a few seals with unicorn-type bulls with two horns." (G. Possehl, 2002, The Indus Civilization, a contemporary perspective, p. 131).

There is nothing mythical about the one-horned young bull. In the style of Indus Writing the cipher calls for ligatures, attaching pictographs to signify words so that the hieroglyph composition becomes a hypertext expression or ciphertext.Rebus rendering of the hieroglyphs yields the plain text in Meluhha speech form. So, in this case, of the so-called 'unicorn', a young bull is ligatured with a horn. The orthographic style of the ligatured horn yields the rebus readings.

The hieroglyphs used as pictographs for the ligature are:

1. The horn is spiny; 2. The horn is a projecting-forward horn. In both the cases, the ciphertext reads: singhin'spiny, horns projecting forward'.The plain text of this ligature, the hieroglyph is: singi'ornament gold'. Santali an Austro-Asiatic speech retains the word singhin with the following semantics and validates the two fold ciphertext readings:

Examples are: Seals m0232, h0096, which show spiny horn(s), Mohenjo-daro seal with a young bull ligatured with one spiny horn; Seals m0233, Balakot 5 which show horns projecting forward

m0232

m0232 text Spiny horns are singhin rebus: singi'ornament gold'

h0096 Spiny horns are singhin rebus: singi 'ornament gold'

Spiny horn is singhin rebus: singi 'ornament gold'

This seal from Mohenjo-daro measures 29 mm (1.14) inches on each side and is made of fired steatite. Steatite is an easily carved soft stone that becomes hard after firing. On the top are four "pictographs" of an as yet undeciphered Indus script, one of the very first writing systems in history. Below is the well-known unicorn figure of Indus Valley culture. Whether it designates a real or mythical animal is also unknown. Beneath it is a "sacred object," which could have been anything from an animal's trough to an incense burner.

https://www.harappa.com/seal/1.html

m0233 Horns projecting forward are singhin rebus: singi 'ornament gold'

Balakot 05 Horns projecting forward are singhin rebus: singi 'ornament gold'

The horn of the young bull is real. The scribe is creating a logograph ligature to signify the adjective: "शृङ्गिन् sriṅg-ín horned '

शृङ्गिन् śṛṅgin शृङ्गिन् a. (-णी f.) [शृङ्गमस्त्यस्य इनि] 1 Horned. -2 Crested, peaked. -m. 1 A mountain. -2 An elephant. -3 A ram. -4 A tree. -5 N. of Śiva. -6 N. of one of Śiva's attendants; शृङ्गी भृङ्गी रिटिस्तुण्डी Ak. -7 A bull; शङ्ग्यग्निदंष्ट्र्यसिजलद्विजकण्टकेभ्यः Bhāg.1.8.25.

शृङ्गी śṛṅgī शृङ्गी 1 Gold used for ornaments. -2 A kind of medicinal root. -3 A kind of poison. -4 The sheat-fish. -Comp. -कनकम् gold used for ornaments.

The young bull is real. The ligatured horn, pannier, rings on neck are semantic elaborations to create a ciphertext or hypertext.

खोंड khōṇḍa 'young bull', 'holcus sorghum', 3) khōṇḍa 'sack, pannier' Rebus: konda 'furnace', kunda 'fine gold' खोंड a variety of jōndhaḷā A cereal plant or its grain, Holcus sorghum khonda 'holcus sorghum' rebus: khoD 'alloy metal'; Mundari khoṇḍe’j'axe'

A variant orthography of 'one-horned young bull' to signify a young bos aurochs.

Hieroglyph: bos aurrochs: खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. Rebus: kõdā 'to turn in a lathe' (B.) कोंद kōnda. 'engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems' (Marathi) कोंडण [kōṇḍaṇa] f A fold or pen. khōṇḍī 'pannier sack'खोंडी (Marathi) Rebus: kunda 'nidhi' kundaṇa 'fine gold' PLUS koḍ 'horn' rebus: koḍ 'workshop'.

*śārṅgala ʻ horned ʼ. [śārṅga -- ]Paš.lauṛ. ṣaṅgala ʻ a small horn ʼ; K. hã̄gul m. ʻ the stag Cervus wallichii ʼ.(CDIAL 12410) śārṅga ʻ made of horn ʼ Suśr., n. ʻ bow ʼ MBh. [śŕ̊ṅga -- ]Pk. saṁga -- ʻ made of horn ʼ; Paš.lauṛ. ṣāṅg f.(?) ʻ horn ʼ (or < śŕ̊ṅga -- ).(CDIAL 12409) Rebus:જંગડિયો jangaḍiyo 'military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury' (Gujarati); jangaḍ semantically expanded with meaning well-settled in Indian legal system to signify "Goods sent on approval or 'on sale or return'
Image result for composite animal bharatkalyan97

Image result for composite animal bharatkalyan97

Buffalo. rango 'buffalo' rebus: rango 'pewter, an alloy of copper, zinc and tin’

Ta. taṭṭāṉ gold or silver smith; fem. taṭṭātti.

tatara 'smelter' (Japanese) < ṭhaṭṭhāra 'brass worker' (Prakritam) (< is indicated as a possibile transfer mode in language contacts for metalwork technical gloss.) "The tatara (鑪^?) is the traditional Japanese furnace used for smelting iron and steel. The word later also came to mean the entire building housing the furnace...tatara is foreign to Japan, originating in India or Central Asia...Tokutaro Yasuda suggests that the word may be from the Sanskrit word taatara, meaning "heat," noting that the Hindi word for steel is sekeraa, which is very similar to the word used in Japan for the steel bloom which the tatara produces..."

taTThAr, 'buffalo horn' Rebus: taTTAr 'goldsmith guild'; ṭhaṭherā 'brass worker' (Punjabi)

Tutari, trumpetPlaying the tutari, 'trumpet'. துத்தாரி tuttāri , n. 1. [T. tutāra, K. M. tuttāri.] Long, straight pipe; ஊதுகுழல்வகை.துத்தரி tuttari
, n. [T. tutāra.] See துத்தரிக் கொம்பு. கொம்பு துத்தரி கொட்டு முறைமையன் (கம்ப ரா. கங்கைப். 30).துத்தரிக்கொம்பு tuttari-k-kompu

, n. < துத்தரி +. A kind of bugle-horn; ஒருவகை ஊதுகொம்பு. துத்தரிக்கொம்புந் துடியும் (சீவக. 434, உரை).

12583 śŕ̊ṅga -- : siṅgh m. ʻ horn ʼ.

12595 śr̥ṅgín ʻ horned ʼ RV. [śŕ̊ṅga -- ]

Pa. siṅgin -- , siṅgika -- ʻ horned ʼ, Pk. siṁgi -- , N. siṅe, G. sĩgī; -- ext. -- l -- : Pa. siṅgila -- m. ʻ a kind of horned bird ʼ; S. siṅiru ʻ horned ʼ.

Addenda: śr̥ṅgín -- : OMarw. (Vīsaḷa) sīṁgī f.adj. ʻ horned (of cow) ʼ.

12583 śŕ̊ṅga n. ʻ horn ʼ RV. [See *śrū -- , *śruṅka -- ]
Pa. siṅga -- n., Pk. siṁga -- , saṁga -- n.; Gy. eur. šing m. (hung. f.), ʻ horn ʼ, pal. šíngi ʻ locust -- tree ʼ (so -- called from the shape of its pods: with š -- < ṣ -- < śr -- ); Ash. Kt. ṣĭ̄ṅ ʻ horn ʼ, Wg. ṣīṅ, ṣŕiṅ, Dm. ṣiṅ, Paš.lauṛ. ṣāṅg (or < śārṅga -- ), kuṛ. dar. ṣīṅ, nir. ṣēṅ, Shum. ṣīṅ, Woṭ. šiṅ m., Gaw. Kal.rumb. ṣiṅ, Bshk. ṣīṅ, Phal. ṣiṅ, pl. ṣíṅga; Sh.gil. ṣĭṅ m. ʻ horn ʼ, jij. ṣiṅ, pales. c̣riṅga ʻ temples ʼ (← Kaf. AO xviii 229); K. hĕng m. ʻ horn ʼ, S. siṅu m., L. siṅg m., awāṇ. sìṅg, P. siṅg m., WPah.bhad.bhal.khaś. śiṅg n., (Joshi) śī˜g m., Ku. sīṅ, N. siṅ, A. xiṅ, B. siṅ, Or. siṅga, Bhoj. sī˜gi, Aw.lakh. H. sī˜g m., G. sĩg n., M. śī˜g n., Ko. śī˜ṅga, Si. han̆ga, an̆ga, pl. aṅ (sin̆gu ← Pa.).
śārṅga -- , śr̥ṅgín -- , śr̥ṅgī -- ; *śr̥ṅgadrōṇa -- , *śr̥ṅgapaṭṭa -- , *śr̥ṅgamāta -- , *śr̥ṅgayukta -- , *śr̥ṅgāsana -- ; *ut -- śr̥ṅga -- ; karkaṭaśr̥ṅgī -- , cátuḥśr̥ṅga -- , mēḍhraśr̥ṅgī -- ; -- śr̥ṅgāra -- ?
Addenda: śr̥ṅga -- : WPah.kṭg. (kc.) śīˊṅg m. ʻ horn ʼ, J. śīṅg m., Garh. 'siṅg.

Ta. māṭai being bent downwards as horns of cattle. Ma. māṭa cow with horns bent downwards. Ko. maṭ et bullocks with horns curving back. Tu. mōḍè ox or buffalo with curved horns. (DEDR 4799)

10120 *miḍḍa ʻ defective ʼ. 2. *miṇḍa -- . 3. *miṇḍha -- 1. 4. *mēṭṭa -- 1. 5. *mēṇḍa -- 1. 6. *mēṇḍha -- 1. [Cf. *mitta -- and list s.v. *maṭṭa -- ; -- mḗṭati, mḗḍati ʻ is mad ʼ Dhātup. -- Cf. *mēṭṭa -- 2 ʻ lump ʼ]
1. G. miḍiyɔ ʻ having horns bent over forehead (of oxen and goats) ʼ.
2. G. mī˜ḍũ ʻ having rims turned over ʼ.
3. S. miṇḍhiṇo ʻ silent and stupid in appearance but really treacherous and cunning ʼ; G. miṇḍhũ ʻ having deep -- laid plans, crafty, conceited ʼ.
4. A. meṭā ʻ slow in work, heavy -- bodied ʼ.
5. Or. meṇḍa ʻ foolish ʼ; H. mẽṛā, mẽḍā m. ʻ ram with curling horns ʼ, ˚ḍī f. ʻ she -- goat do. ʼ.
6. Or. meṇḍha ʻ foolish ʼ, ˚ḍhā ʻ fool ʼ; M. mẽḍhā m. ʻ crook or curved end (of a horn, stick, &c.) ʼ.
*miṇḍa -- , *miṇḍha -- 1 ʻ defective ʼ see prec.
miṇḍha -- 2 ʻ ram ʼ see mēṇḍha -- 2.

PLUS muh 'face' rebus: muh 'ingot'

10310 mēṇḍha2 m. ʻ ram ʼ, ˚aka -- , mēṇḍa -- 4, miṇḍha -- 2, ˚aka -- , mēṭha -- 2, mēṇḍhra -- , mēḍhra -- 2, ˚aka -- m. lex. 2. *mēṇṭha- (mēṭha -- m. lex.). 3. *mējjha -- . [r -- forms (which are not attested in NIA.) are due to further sanskritization of a loan -- word prob. of Austro -- as. origin (EWA ii 682 with lit.) and perh. related to the group s.v. bhēḍra -- ]
1. Pa. meṇḍa -- m. ʻ ram ʼ, ˚aka -- ʻ made of a ram's horn (e.g. a bow) ʼ; Pk. meḍḍha -- , meṁḍha -- (˚ḍhī -- f.), ˚ṁḍa -- , miṁḍha -- (˚dhiā -- f.), ˚aga -- m. ʻ ram ʼ, Dm. Gaw. miṇ Kal.rumb. amŕn/aŕə ʻ sheep ʼ (a -- ?); Bshk. mināˊl ʻ ram ʼ; Tor. miṇḍ ʻ ram ʼ, miṇḍāˊl ʻ markhor ʼ; Chil. mindh*ll ʻ ram ʼ AO xviii 244 (dh!), Sv. yēṛo -- miṇ; Phal. miṇḍ, miṇ ʻ ram ʼ, miṇḍṓl m. ʻ yearling lamb, gimmer ʼ; P. mẽḍhā m., ˚ḍhī f., ludh. mīḍḍhā, mī˜ḍhā m.; N. meṛho, meṛo ʻ ram for sacrifice ʼ; A. mersāg ʻ ram ʼ ( -- sāg < *chāgya -- ?), B. meṛā m., ˚ṛi f., Or. meṇḍhā, ˚ḍā m., ˚ḍhi f., H. meṛh, meṛhā, mẽḍhā m., G. mẽḍhɔ, M. mẽḍhā m., Si. mäḍayā.
2. Pk. meṁṭhī -- f. ʻ sheep ʼ; H. meṭhā m. ʻ ram ʼ.
3. H. mejhukā m. ʻ ram ʼ.
*mēṇḍharūpa -- , mēḍhraśr̥ṅgī -- .
Addenda: mēṇḍha -- 2: A. also mer (phonet. mer) ʻ ram ʼ AFD 235.

5473 N. ṭernu ʻ to notice, regard ʼ, ṭer ʻ attention ʼ, B. ṭer, Or. ṭera; H. ṭernā ʻ to call out ʼ, ṭer f. ʻ summons ʼ. <-> Conn. with WPah. pāḍ. paṅ. cur. ṭīr ʻ eye ʼ very doubtful.
Addenda: *ṭēr -- : WPah.kṭg. ṭēr f. ʻ request, urge ʼ.(CDIAL 5473)

To. terf- (tert-) to make a loop (of cane); tešk loop, curve of horn. Ka. tere a wave, billow, curtain, cloth for concealing oneself used by huntsmen.(DEDR 3244)

ṭēraka ʻ squinting ʼ lex. 2. *ḍēra -- 2. 3. *ḍhēra -- 3. [Cf. ṭagara -- 1, *trēḍḍa -- , kēkara -- ]
1. Sh. ṭērṷ ʻ slanting, crooked, squinting ʼ; P. ṭīrā ʻ squinting ʼ; A. ṭeruwā ʻ squinting ʼ, ṭerā ʻ crooked ʼ (or < *trēḍḍa -- ); B. ṭera ʻ squinting ʼ, Or. ṭerā; Bi. bhaũã̄ -- ṭer ʻ bullock with crooked eyebrows ʼ; H. ṭerā ʻ squinting ʼ.
2. Pk. ḍēra -- ʻ squinting ʼ, N. ḍero, ḍeṛo (X ṭeṛo < *trēḍḍa -- ), Bi. bhaũã̄ -- ḍer, (SMunger) ˚rā = bhaũã̄ -- ṭer above; Mth. kana -- ḍēriā ʻ having half -- closed eyes ʼ; H. ḍerā ʻ squinting ʼ.
3. WPah. bhal. ḍher -- šiṅgo m. ʻ bullock with hanging horns ʼ, ḍheru m. ʻ bullock with one horn hanging down ʼ; H. ḍherā ʻ squinting ʼ; -- prob. H. ḍherā m. ʻ crosspiece of wood for threading yarn on ʼ; P. ḍhērā m. ʻ instrument for twisting yarn ʼ, S. ḍhero m. ʻ ball of thread ʼ.
*ṭēla -- ʻ lump ʼ see *ḍala -- .
*ṭēll -- ʻ push ʼ see *ṭhēḍḍ -- .
Addenda: ṭēraka -- : A. ṭerā (phonet. t -- ) ʻ squint -- eyed ʼ (CDIAL 5474)

kuṇṭha ʻ blunt, dull, stupid, lazy ʼ MBh. [Ir. *kunda- or *kunta -- ʻ defective ʼ in Pers. kund, Bal. kunt ʻ blunt ʼ H. W. Bailey TPS 1955, 72: cf. esp. *kunta -- 2. But kuṇṭha -- is also one of a number of ʻ defective ʼ words listed below characterized by the sequence ʻ guttural <-> u or ō with or without nasal -- retroflex or dental stop ʼ, which lend some support to F. B. J. Kuiper's theory, PMWS 40, of Muṇḍa origin. Despite EWA i 225 and P. Tedesco JAOS 65, 97, not < kr̥ttá -- ]

Pa. kuṇṭha -- ʻ blunt, lame, bent ʼ; Pk. kuṁṭha -- ʻ slow, stupid ʼ; Ash. kuṭä ʻ lame ʼ; Sh. (Lor.) kuḍo, kuḍilo ʻ lame ʼ; S. kuṇḍhu m. ʻ blockhead ʼ; L. kuṇḍh ʻ ignorant, unskilful ʼ; P. kuṇḍh ʻ stupid ʼ, kuṇḍhī f. ʻ crooked -- horned (of buffalo) ʼ; Ku. kunīṇo ʻ to become blunt ʼ, N. kũṛhinu, kuṛi˚; Si. koṭu ʻ blunt ʼ.(CDIAL 3261) kuṇḍī = crooked buffalo horns (L.) rebus: kuṇḍī = chief of village. kuṇḍi-a = village headman; leader of a village (Pkt.)

Ta. kōṭu (in cpds. kōṭṭu-) horn, tusk, branch of tree, cluster, bunch, coil of hair, line, diagram, bank of stream or pool; kuvaṭu branch of a tree; kōṭṭāṉ, kōṭṭuvāṉ rock horned-owl (cf. 1657 Ta. kuṭiñai). Ko. ko·ṛ (obl. ko·ṭ-) horns (one horn is kob), half of hair on each side of parting, side in game, log, section of bamboo used as fuel, line marked out. To. kwï·ṛ (obl. kwï·ṭ-) horn, branch, path across stream in thicket. Ka. kōḍu horn, tusk, branch of a tree; kōr̤ horn. Tu. kōḍů, kōḍu horn. Te. kōḍu rivulet, branch of a river. Pa. kōḍ (pl. kōḍul) horn. Ga. (Oll.) kōr (pl. kōrgul) id. Go. (Tr.) kōr (obl. kōt-, pl. kōhk) horn of cattle or wild animals, branch of a tree; (W. Ph. A. Ch.) kōr (pl. kōhk), (S.) kōr (pl. kōhku), (Ma.) kōr̥u (pl. kōẖku) horn; (M.) kohk branch (Voc. 980); (LuS.) kogoo a horn. Kui kōju (pl. kōska) horn, antler. (DEDR 2200)

Banawali 10

Banawali 11

Banawali 12

Banawali

Banawali 17

m0121

m1168

m1171

"Unicorn" seal, from Harappa
Source: Courtesy of Prof. Frederick Asher, Univ. of Minnesota, October 1999 Source: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/bce_500back/indusvalley/unicorn/unicorn.html

Unicorn Seal from Bagasra (Gujarat), C Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.

Large square unicorn seal with perforated boss on the back. The unicorn is the most common motif on Indus seals and appears to represent a mythical animal that Greek and Roman sources trace back to the Indian subcontinent.

A relatively long inscription of eight symbols runs along the top of the seal. The elongated body and slender arching neck is typical of unicorn figurines, as are the tail with bushy end and the bovine hooves. This figure has a triple incised line depicting a pipal leaf shaped blanket or halter, while most unicorn figures have only a double incised line. The arching horn is depicted as if spiraling or ribbed, and the jowl is incised with multiple folds.

A collar or additional folds encircle the throat. In front of the unicorn is a ritual offering stand with droplets of water or sacred liquid along the bottom of the bowl. The top portion of the stand depicts a square grid or sieve, that actually may have been a circular cylinder.

https://www.harappa.com/blog/unicorn-seal

http://www.sindhishaan.com/gallery/manuscripts.html

Material: white fired glazed steatite

Dimensions: 5.08 x 5.08 cm
Mohenjo-daro, HR 743
National Museum, Karachi, NMP 50.192
Marshall 1931: pl. CIII, 8.

Steatite seal from the Indus valley, c.2500 BC. The script is still undeciphered.

m0010

Section C: Meluhha is Indian sprachbund,'speech union': Arguments of Michael Witzel and JBJ Kuiper
[quote] In Mesopotamia, there are men with Meluhha as a personal name, thus apparently, 'the Meluhhan'; several persons, among them Urkal and Ur-dlama, are called 'the son of Meluhha'. There also is a 'village of Meluhha', from where a person called Nin-ana comes. The products of Melu a include giš-ab-ba-me-lu-a (abba wood, a thorn tree), mêsu wood ('of the plains'), magilum boats of Melu an style (Possehl 1996a). In total, there are some 40 "Indian" words transmitted to ancient Mesopotamia, some of which may have been coined by Dilmun (Bahrain) traders. They include: Sindh wood sinda (si-in-da-a, si-in-du), date palm, the 'red dog of Melu a', zaza cattle (zebu?), elephants, etc. Coming from Dilmun (Bahrain), we may add the Meluhhan(?) trees giš-a-lu-ub or aluppu wood, giš-mes-makan or mêsu wood of Magan, and the gišgišimmar wood (cf. śimmal in Ved. śimbala, śalmali 'Salmalia malabarica')…. The word melua is of special interest. It occurs as a verb in a different form (mlecha-ti) in Vedic only in ŚB 3.2.1, an eastern text of N. Bihar where it indicates 'to speak in barbarian fashion'. But it has a form closer to Melua in Middle Indian (MIA): Pali, the church language of S. Buddhism which originated as a western N. Indian dialect (roughly, between Mathura, Gujarat and the Vindhya) has milakkha, milakkhu. Other forms, closer to ŚB mleccha are found in mod. Sindhi, Panjabi, Kashmiri, W. Pahari. It seems that, just as in other cases mentioned above, the original local form m(e)lu was preserved only in the South (> Pali), while the North has mlecch. The meaning of Mleccha must have evolved from 'self-designation'> 'name of foreigners', cf. those of the Franks > Arab Farinjī 'foreigner.' Its introduction into Vedic must have begun in Melu a, in Baluchistan-Sindh, long before surfacing in eastern North India in Middle/Late Vedic as Mleccha (for details, see Witzel 1999 a,b)…. While there is no proof that (almost all of) these words should be derived from S. Afghanistan, the word anc'u 'Soma plant' (probably Ephedra), which is used to prepare the sacred drink of the Iranian and Vedic peoples, may point to the high mountains of Central Asia (Tian Shan) and Afghanistan. It is on the high mountains that the best Soma grows, both according to the Avesta and the gveda, and that is exactly where the more potent variety of Ephedra is found. There are, indeed, some indications of non-IIr speakers in the high mountains of Afghanistan (cf. Witzel, forthc., on Airiianəm Vaẽjah, and note that one buys the high mountain Soma plants from aboriginals who are then beaten up); such 'foreigners' indeed still survive in the Pamirs (with Burushaski). …a large amount of the c. 380 loans in the RV (excluding, of course the older, Central Asian loans), stem from the original Panjab language(s) of the pre-IA population. In other words, they represent the Harappan population(s), and therefore can serve as the Rosetta stone for the Indus script, -- even if most of them deal with agriculture, village life, music, popular customs and some religion (Kuiper 1955, 1991) and they contain very little, if anything at all of city life….In the Greater Panjab, the prefixing Para-Mundic or Para-Austroasiatic Harappan language was spoken, along with a few hints of Masica's more eastern (Haryana/U.P.) "Language X"
[unquote]
(Witzel, Michael (2000-02-17). "The Languages of Harappa" In Kenoyer, J. (ed.). Proceedings of the conference on the Indus civilization. Madison.)
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/IndusLang.pdf
M. Witzel, "The Vīdēvdað list obviously was composed or redacted by someone who regarded Afghanistan and the lands surrounding it as the home of all Aryans (airiia), that is of all (eastern) Iranians, with Airiianem Vaẽjah as their center." p. 48, “The Home Of The Aryans”, Festschrift J. Narten = Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft, Beihefte NF 19, Dettelbach: J.H. Röll 2000, 283-338.
Mirror: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf
Range of these 'foreign' words (Kuiper 1955) is limited to local flora and fauna, agriculture and artisanship, to terms of toilette, clothing and household; however, dancing and music are particularly prominent, and there are some items of religion and beliefs (Kuiper 1955, 1991).
Kuiper, F.B. J. Proto-Munda words in Sanskrit. Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij 1948
---, An Austro-Asiatic myth in the RV. Amsterdam : Noord-Hollandsche Uitg. Mij. 1950
. ---, The Genesis of a Linguistic Area. IIJ 10, 1967, 81-102
---, Rigvedic loan-words. In: O. Spies (ed.) Studia Indologica. Festschrift für Willibald Kirfel zur Vollendung seines 70. Lebensjahres. Bonn: Orientalisches Seminar 1955.
---, Nahali, A comparative Study. Amsterdam 1962
---, The sources of Nahali vocabulary. In: N.H. Zide (ed.), Studies in comparative Austroasiatic Linguistics. The Hague 1966, 96-192
---, Aryans in the Rigveda, Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi 1991
---, On a Hunt for 'Possible' Objections. IIJ 38, 1995, 239-247

Decipherment of Ur Indus Script hypertexts, metalwork wealth accounting ledgers. Ur excavationx Full texts of reports. https://tinyurl.com/y7fryz3x

Indus Script Corpora: Decipherment of Gadd Seal 1 of Ur with cuneiform text: principal money-lender for bharata metalcasters
Mirror: https://www.academia.edu/12345364/Indus_Script_Corpora_--_Decipherment_of_Gadd_Seal_1_of_Ur_with_cuneiform_text_principal_money-lender_for_bharatametalcasters
-- Sag kusida, 'chief money-lender' for bharata, 'metalcasters' -- cuneiform text on an Indus seal of Ur including kusida as a borrowed word from Meluhha PLUS hieroglyph 'ox' read rebus in Meluhha as bharata, 'metal alloy of copper, pewter, tin'.
Seal impression and reverse of seal from Ur (U.7683; BM 120573); image of bison and cuneiform inscription; cf. Mitchell 1986: 280-1 no.7 and fig. 111; Parpola, 1994, p. 131: signs may be read as (1) sag(k) or ka, (2) ku or lu orma, and (3) zi or ba (4)?. The commonest value: sag-ku-zi
This may be called Gadd Seal 1 of Ur since this was the first item on the Plates of figures included in his paper.
Gadd, CJ, 1932, Seals of ancient Indian style found at Ur, in: Proceedings of the British Academy, XVIII, 1932, Plate 1, no. 1. Gadd considered this an Indus seal because, 1) it was a square seal, comparable to hundreds of other Indus seals since it had a small pierced boss at the back through which a cord passed through for the owner to hold the seal in his or her possession; and 2) it had a hieroglyph of an ox, a characteristic animal hieroglyph deployed on hundreds of seals.
This classic paper by Cyril John Gadd F.B.A. who was a Professor Emeritus of Ancient Semitic Languages and Civilizations, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, opened up a new series of archaeological studies related to the trade contacts between Ancient Far East and what is now called Sarasvati-Sindhu (Hindu) civilization.
There is now consensus that Meluhhan communities were present in Ur III and also in Sumer/Elam/Mesopotamia. (Parpola S., A. Parpola & RH Brunswig, Jr., 1977, The Meluhha village. Evidence of acculturation of Harappan traders in the late Third Millennium Mesopotamia in: Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient, 20, 129-165.)
Use of rebus-metonymy layered cipher for the entire Indus Script Corpora as metalwork catalogs provides the framework for reopening the investigation afresh on the semantics of the cuneiform text on Gadd Seal 1, the Indus seal with cuneiform text.
This renewed attempt to decipher the inscription on the seal starts with a hypothesis that the cuneiform sign readings as: SAG KUSIDA. The ox is read rebus in Meluhha as: barad, barat 'ox' Rebus: भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c. The gloss bharata denoted metalcasting in general leading to the self-designation of metalworkers in Rigveda as Bharatam Janam, lit. metalcaster folk.
While SAG is a Sumerian word meaning 'head, principal' (detailed in Annex A), KUSIDA is a Meluhha word well-attested semantically in ancient Indian sprachbund of 4th millennium BCE. The semantics of the Meluhha gloss, kusida signifies: money-lender (Annex B). Thus SAG KUSIDA is a combined Sumerian-Meluhha phrase signifying 'principal of chief money-lender'. This could be a clear instance of Sumerian/Akkadian borrowing a Meluhha gloss.
SAG KUSIDA + ox hieroglyphon Gadd Seal 1, read rebus signifies: principal money-lender for bharata metal alloy artisans. This reading is consistent with the finding that the entire Indus Script Corpora are metalwork catalogs.
The money-lender who was the owner of the seal might have created seal impressions as his or her signature on contracts for moneys lent for trade transactions of seafaring merchants of Meluhha.
The Gadd Seal 1 of Ur is thus an example of acculturation of Sumerians/Akkadians in Ur with the Indus writing system and underlying Meluhha language of Meluhha seafaring merchants and Meluhha communities settled in Ur and other parts of Ancient Near East.
Annex A: Meaning of SAG 'head, principal'
(Sumerian)
The Sumerians called themselves sag-giga, literally meaning "the black-headed people"
Cuneiform sign SAG
phonetic values
Sumerian: SAG, SUR₁₄
Akkadian: šag, šak, šaq, riš
sign evolution
1. the pictogram as it was drawn around 3000 BC;
2. the rotated pictogram as written around 2800 BC;
3. the abstracted glyph in archaic monumental inscriptions, from ca. 2600 BC;
4. the sign as written in clay, contemporary to stage 3;
5. late 3rd millennium (Neo-Sumerian);
6. Old Assyrian, early 2nd millennium, as adopted into Hittite;
7. simplified sign as written by Assyrian scribes in the early 1st millennium.

Akkadian Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *raʾš-.

Noun

𒊕 (rēšu, qaqqadu) [SAG]
head (of a person, animal)
top, upper part
beginning
top quality, the best
Sumerian:
(SAG)
head

Derived terms[edit]

SAG(.KAL) "first one"
(LÚ.)SAG a palace official
ZARAḪ=SAG.PA.LAGAB "lamentation, unrest"
SAG.DUL a headgear
SAG.KI "front, face, brow"
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%92%8A%95
Sag.ur.Sag is interpreted as “ Chief warrior” (www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/10.1086/677312.pdf http://www.angelfire.com/tx/tintirbabylon/ME.html)
Annex: Meaning of kusīda 'money-lender'
कुशीदम् Usury; see कुसी. कुषीद a. Indifferent, inert. -दम् Usury. कुसितः 1 An inhabited country. -2 One who lives on usury; see कुसीद below. कुसितायी kusitāyī (= कुसीदायी).कुसी kusī (सि si) द d कुसी (सि) द a. Lazy, slothful. -दः (also written as कुशी-षी-द) A monkey-lender, usurer; Mbh.4.29. -दम् 1 Any loan or thing lent to be repaid with in- terest. -2 Lending money, usury, the profession of usury; कुसीदाद् दारिद्र्यं परकरगतग्रन्थिशमनात् Pt.1.11; Ms. 1.9;8.41; Y.1.119. -3 Red sandal wood. -Comp. -पथः usury, usurious interest; any interest exceeding 5 per cent; कृतानुसारादधिका व्यतिरिक्ता न सिध्यति कुसीदपथमा- हुस्तम् (पञ्चकं शतमर्हति) Ms.8.152. -वृद्धिः f. interest on money; कुसीदवृद्धिर्द्वैगुण्यं नात्येति सकृदाहृता Ms.8.151. कुसीदा kusīdā कुसीदा A female usurer. कुसीदायी kusīdāyī कुसीदायी The wife of a usurer. कुसीदिकः kusīdikḥ कुसीदिन् kusīdin कुसीदिकः कुसीदिन् m. A usurer. (Samskritam. Apte) kúsīda ʻ lazy, inert ʼ TS. Pa. kusīta -- ʻ lazy ʼ, kōsajja -- n. ʻ sloth ʼ (EWA i 247 < **kausadya* -- ?); Si. kusī ʻ weariness ʼ ES 26, but rather ← Pa.(CDIAL 3376). FBJ Kuiper identifies as a 'borrowed' word in Indo-Aryan which in the context of Indus Script decipherment is denoted by Meluhha as Proto-Prakritam: the gloss kusīda 'money-lender'. (Kuiper, FBJ, 1948, Proto-Munda words in Sanskrit, Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uit. Mij.; Kuiper, FBJ, 1955, Rigvedic loan-words in: O. Spies (ed.) Studia Indologica. Festschrift fur Willibald Kirfel Vollendung Seines 70. Lebensjahres. Bonn: Orientalisches Seminar; Kuiper, FBJ, 1991, Aryans in the Rigveda, Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi).

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An advance over invention of writing. Printing technology of Sarasvati Civiliization demonstrated by Rick Willis

December 9, 2019, 5:20 pm

≫ Next: Itihāsa. Splendour of sculptural divinity of the sole, in Thiruvellarai Divyadesam, thanks to Kazhiyur Varadan

≪ Previous: Two-inch square seal is wealth-accounting ledger of Harappa warehouse. A tribute to JM Kenoyer and SA Farmer

See how the writing with ferrous oxide ink can be used as a template for taking multiple impressions, demonstrated by Rick Willis. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2015/08/indus-script-bronze-age-inscriptions-on.html?view=mosaic#! Rick Willis demonstrates the possibility that the copper plates werfe used for printing: 

"My theory is that these copper plates were made for printing.  The text is reversed and the engraving is too fine to serve as a seal with clay.  Perhaps these plates served as templates from which prints were taken to instruct scattered seal-makers?  I have been working with a master printer here to test the theory and all nine plates have been trialled in a cylinder printing press.  Another argument for these plates being designed for printing is that the plates are unusually thick (compared with the Mohenjo Daro tablets) and strong (to take the pressure required).  We have trialled the plates with two types of ink which we believe could simulate an ink available millennia ago: carbon black pigment and ferric oxide pigment.  Of course, so far we have used paper for trials, and paper would not have been available.  Eventually we will try leather and real vellum or parchment, and maybe silk.  Any ideas are welcome.  The plates, despite their age give a remarkably good image.  The image I sent was a print on paper with the carbon black ink."
https://www.academia.edu/11316267/A_tribute_to_Rick_Willis_who_demonstrated_possible_use_of_Indus_Script_copper_plates_for_printing._Indus_writing_created_metalwork_catalogs

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Itihāsa. Splendour of sculptural divinity of the sole, in Thiruvellarai Divyadesam, thanks to Kazhiyur Varadan

December 9, 2019, 7:05 pm

≫ Next: Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays

≪ Previous: An advance over invention of writing. Printing technology of Sarasvati Civiliization demonstrated by Rick Willis

The sole of a foot of the divinity is unsurpassed splendour. Pray to the divine.
.facebook_1527204290739.jpg1490505833.jpg

Source: 1. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3900879694651725760#editor/target=post;postID=1217639457793329188
2. https://kazhiyurvaradanblog.in/2017/01/23/the-oldest-of-the-vaishnavaite-temples-in-south-older-than-srirangam-the-place-where-the-famous-verse-om-pavitra-pavitro-vah-had-its-origin-and-the-darshan-of-su/

From Srirangam you can go to Thiruvellarai by bus, which takes 30 minutes travel.
The oldest Vaishnavaite temple in South India, older than Srirangam. This Divyadesam is located at about 20 km north of Trichirappalli, enroute to Thuraiyur and situated in a 14 acre site and resembles like an Old fort with strong compound walls The temple is older than Srirangam and built ahead of LORD Rama’s avataram . Hence the name Aadhi Vellarai. Tiruvellarai in tamil means white rock and this grand temple is situated on a white granite hill which is almost 90 to 100 feet high .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLcQFF5Nrkc&feature=emb_logo (3:17).

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Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays

December 9, 2019, 11:44 pm

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The side of the bronze offering vessel is decorated with an inscription in Malayalam on one side and the image of rays of sun and lizard on the other. The large bronze vessel has handles which would have been used to insert a carrying stick for two flagstaff bearers to carry the offering vessel.

An unprevenanced, antique bronze vessel located in a Chennai hotel lobby, may weigh more than 100 kgs and may have needed to people to carry on a carrying rod pushed through the handles.

The ancient Malayalam inscription on the vessel:

Ancien Indus Script hieroglyphs on the vessel

pata kAtta nara kaNNan (Note: pata may refer to phaDa, paTTADA, metals manufactory)

An invocatory offering from smithy (araNe) artisans to Aravana divinity, Adisesha. The writing seems to be pretty old since it is read from right to left as in Indus Script.

அரவணை² aravaṇai , n. < id. +.அணை⁴. 1. Viṣṇu's serpent bed, formed of the coils of Ādišēṣa; சேஷசயனம். (சிலப். 30, 51.) 2. Preparation of rice, sugar and some other ingredients offered to Viṣṇu at night, before bed time; விஷ்ணுகோயில்களில் அர்த்தசாமத்தில் நிவேதிக்குஞ் சருக்கரைப்பொங்கல். அரவணைச்செல்வன் aravaṇai-c-celvaṉ , n. See அரவணையான். அரவணையான் aravaṇaiyāṉ , n. < அரவு² +. Viṣṇu, reclining on the serpent; திருமால். (திவ். இயற். 2, 12.)

The sun's rays shown next to the araNe lizard are read arka 'sun's ray' rebus: arka 'gold, copper'. Thus, copper, gold smithy which is called arka araNe.

The pun on the word (rebus) makes the vessel an offering from the bronze manufactory artisans to the divinity to make aravaNa paayasam.

The vessel adorns the lobby of Trident Hotel near Chennai Airport.

Provenance: Unknown
Dimensions: 5 ft. dia, 3 ft. high
From the inscription in Malayalam, it is clearly a donation by a Smithy (Arka AraNe) signified by the sun and lizard hieroglyphs to a Vishnu temple for use to prepare அரவணை paayasam for distribution as prasaadam to devotees of the Vishnu temple. Since the inscription is in ancient Malayalam writing, the temple is likely to be located in the present-day Kerala or neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The most significant aspect of the inscription is the continuum with Indus Script Writing Cipher of using hieroglyphs. This monograph shows the use of a lizard in an ancient Indus Script inscription of Tepe Yahya.

Hieroglyph: அரணை araṇai , n. [K. Tu. araṇe, M. araṇa.] 1. Typical lizard, Lacertidae; செந்து வகை. 2. Smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpanctula; பாம்பரணை. Ta. araṇai typical lizard, Lacertidae; smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpunctula. Ma. araṇa green house lizard, L. interpunctula. Ka. araṇe, rāṇe, rāṇi greenish kind of lizard which is said to poison by licking, L. interpunctula. Tu. araṇe id.(DEDR 204)

Tepe Yahya. Seal impressions of two sides of a seal. Six-legged lizard and opposing footprints shown on opposing sides of a double-sided steatite stamp seal perforated along the lateral axis. Lamberg- Karlovsky 1971: fig. 2C Shahr-i-Soktha Stamp seal shaped like a foot.

dula 'pair' rebus; dul 'metal casting' PLUS mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Mu.Ho.) Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'. Thus, dul mẽṛhẽt, 'cast iron' (Santali)

Glyph: aṭi foot, footprint (Tamil) Rebus: aḍe, aḍa, aḍi the piece of wood on which the five artisans put the article which they happen to operate upon, a support (Kannada)

Hieroglyph: footsole: Tu. aḍi bottom, base; kār aḍi footsole, footstep; aḍi kai palm of the hand. Te. aḍugu foot, footstep, footprint, step, pace, measure of a foot, bottom, basis (DEDR 72) Rebus: khār aḍi 'blacksmith anvil'.

Glyph: araṇe 'lizard' (Tulu) eraṇi f. ʻ anvil ʼ (Gujarati); aheraṇ, ahiraṇ, airaṇ, airṇī, haraṇ f. (Marathi) அரணை Ta. araṇai typical lizard, Lacertidae; smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpunctula. Ma. araṇa green house lizard, L. interpunctula. Ka. araṇe, rāṇe, rāṇi greenish kind of lizard which is said to poison by licking, L. interpunctula. Tu. araṇe id. (DEDR 204). Rebus: araṇi 'smith's anvil' (Sindhi) erṇe 'smithy' (WPah.)

Rebus: adhikaraṇīˊ f. ʻ *anvil ʼ, adhikaraṇa -- n. ʻ receptacle, support ʼ TUp. [√kr̥1]
Pa. adhikaraṇī -- f. ʻ smith's anvil ʼ; Pk. ahigaraṇī -- f. ʻ a piece of apparatus for a smith ʼ; K. yīran, dat. yṳ̄rüñ f. ʻ anvil ʼ, S. aharaṇi, araṇi f., L. (Jukes) ariṇ f., P. aihran, airaṇ, ā̆hraṇ f., WPah. bhal. arhini; roh. erṇe ʻ smithy ʼ, N. āran; H. aheran, ā̆hran m. ʻ anvil ʼ; -- H. Smith BSL 101, 115. Addenda: adhikaraṇīˊ -- : S.kcch. eṇ f. ʻ anvil ʼ; WPah.kṭg. n/arəṇ, n/arṇi f. ʻ furnace, smithy ʼ; āˊrəṇ m. prob. ← P. Him.I 4; jaun. āraṇ, airaṇ; G. eraṇi f. ʻ anvil ʼ, M. aheraṇ, ahiraṇ, airaṇ, airṇī, haraṇ f.(CDIAL 252)

Glyph: bhaṭa ‘six’ (G.) rebus: baṭa = kiln (Santali) baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati) [Note: six legs shown on the lizard glyph]

The rebus readings are: khār aḍi 'blacksmith anvil': Rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith'.khār खार् । लोहकारः m. (sg. abl. khāra 1 खार; the pl. dat. of this word is khāran 1 खारन्, which is to be distinguished from khāran 2, q.v., s.v.), a blacksmith, an iron worker (cf. bandūka-khār, p. 111b,l. 46; K.Pr. 46; H. xi, 17); a farrier (El.). This word is often a part of a name, and in such case comes at the end (W. 118) as in Wahab khār, Wahab the smith (H. ii, 12; vi, 17). khāra-basta 'bellows of blacksmith'. (Kashmiri); kāru ‘artisan’ (Marathi) PLUS aḍi 'anvil' airaṇ 'anvil' (for use in) baṭa 'iron working' or kiln/furnace-work.

Rebus: அரவணிந்தோன் aravaṇintōṉ , n. < அரவு² + அணி-. Šiva, wearing serpents; சிவன். (சூடா.) அரவணை¹-த்தல் aravaṇai- , v. tr. < id. + அணை²-. 1. To embrace, fondle; தழுவுதல். (ஏகாம். உலா. 436.) 2. To support, cherish; ஆதரித்தல். ஐயன்புரியு மரவணைப்பும் (பணவிடு. 27). அரவணை² aravaṇai , n. < id. +.அணை⁴. 1. Viṣṇu's serpent bed, formed of the coils of Ādišēṣa; சேஷசயனம். (சிலப். 30, 51.) 2. Preparation of rice, sugar and some other ingredients offered to Viṣṇu at night, before bed time; விஷ்ணுகோயில்களில் அர்த்தசாமத்தில் நிவேதிக்குஞ் சருக்கரைப்பொங்கல். அரவணைச்செல்வன் aravaṇai-c-celvaṉ , n. See அரவணையான். அரவணையான் aravaṇaiyāṉ , n. < அரவு² +. Viṣṇu, reclining on the serpent; திருமால். (திவ். இயற். 2, 12.) அரவம்¹ aravam , n. prob. அரவு¹-. cf. sarpa. 1. Snake; பாம்பு. வெஞ்சின வரவம் (மணி. 20, 104). 2. The ninth nakṣatra. See ஆயிலியம். ஆதிரை கேட்டை யரவம் (விதான. பஞ்சாங். 16). 3. Ascending and descending nodes, regarded as planets in the form of monstrous dragons; இராகுகேதுக் கள். வரியரவம்பெண் (விதான. பஞ்சாங். 17).

Divine lizards

"Just outside Varadaraja’s sanctum and towards the right in the prakara, are the twin lizards in the eastern corner. This is a very popular sight and is considered sacred. Etched on the roof are two lizards with two circles that seem to represent the sun and the moon. Legend says that these lizards were originally brahmana boys. Once they went to the forest to bring water for their guru, Rishi Gautama. They inadvertently left the pot uncovered, and when Gautama wanted to use the water, out leapt a lizard. The reship cursed his disciples to be born as lizards for a while for their carelessness. After they were released from the curse, Indra had a gold and a silver lizard made, and announced that whoever stands in this corner marked by the lizards and looks at the Hastigiri will get the merit of having recited Hari’s name on an ekadashi, the auspicious eleventh day of the lunar fortnight." Dr. Prema Nandakumar
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Kanchipuram

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Antique vessel of c. 5th cent. BCE is an offering in Indus Script tradition to Kaṇḥa temple by erṇe arka karṇaka Supercargo smithy, helmsman, goldsmith

December 12, 2019, 4:25 pm

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https://tinyurl.com/r6mva7f

This is an addendum to:

Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays https://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2019/12/bronze-vessel-offering-for-with.html
Flipped horizontally

While one of the two Indus Script hieroglyphs was read as arka 'sun's rays' rebus: arka 'gold, copper', eraka 'metal infusion' (comparable to the hieroglyph shown on Kanchipuram Varadaraja Temple ceiling -- see annexed pictures), the inlaid hieroglyph of 'pericarp' (of a flower) was missed out. So, the hypertext composed of 1) hieroglyph: lizard' and 2) two hieroglyphs: 'rays of sun' and 'pericarp' are read together as two hieroglyphs is read as an expression: arka कर्णक karṇaka, karṇi 'a goldsmith, helmsman seafaring, supercargo merchant".

The huge 5 ft. dia, 3 ft.high antique bronze vessel is an extraordinary offering to a temple of Kaṇḥa

I submit that the hypertext is consistent with the reading of the word கண்ணன்² kaṇṇaṉ , n. < Pkt. Kaṇḥa < Kṛṣṇa. 1. Kṛṣṇa; கிருஷ்ணன். (திவ். திருவாய். 10, 5, 1.) 2. Viṣṇu; திருமால். (திவா.) in the text of the inscription.

The hypertext which reads arka karṇaka is also a pun on the word Pkt. Kaṇḥa 'Divinity Kṛṣṇa' by a reference to the smithy and profession of the donor who has made the donation of the bronze vessel to a temple:

The text PLUS pictorial motifs together are read as an inscription composite: அரணை araṇai , n. [K. Tu. araṇe, M. araṇa.] Rebus: araṇi 'smith's anvil' (Sindhi) erṇe 'smithy' (WPah.) PLUS arka karṇaka 'goldsmth, steersman'; thus, smithy, goldsmith, steersman, seafaring merchant.

I submit that the two pictorial motifs composition is the hallmark of the smithy which made the donation: erṇe arka karṇaka 'smithy, gold supercargo, steersman'. The offering is to the temple of Kaṇḥa < Kṛṣṇa.

An example of the focus on 'pericarp' of a flower is seen in Sanchi sculptures.

See: A temple at Sanchi for Dhamma by a kāraṇikā sanghin 'guild of scribes' in Indus writing cipher continuum http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/x.html

The s'ilpin standing next to the fish-fin hieroglyph-multiplex ayo khambhaṛā 'fish-fin', rebus: ayas kammaTa 'metal mint' is: kāraṇikā 'helmsman' (perhaps also śrēṣṭhin 'foreman of guild') The elephant carrying the wheel (eraka 'nave of wheel' rebus: eraka 'moltencast, copper', arA 'spoke' rebus: Ara 'brass') is karibha 'trunk of elephant' ibha'elephant' rebus: karba 'iron' ib 'iron' is the centrepiece proclaiming metalwork (iron and brass).

With the focus on 'spread legs' on this hieroglyph of 'standing person' orthography, it is possible that the 'body hieroglyph with spread legs' also connoted: कर्णक 'spread legs' rebus: 'helmsman',karṇi supercargo'.

Decipherment: कर्णक 'helmsman' PLUS mē̃d, mēd 'body' rebus: mē̃d, mēd 'iron', med 'copper' (Slavic). Thus the body hieroglyph signifies mē̃d कर्णक karṇi 'an iron helmsman seafaring, supercargo merchant.'Hieroglyph: pericarp of lotus: kárṇikā f. ʻ round protuberance ʼ Suśr., ʻ pericarp of a lotus ʼ MBh., ʻ ear -- ring ʼ Kathās. [kárṇa -- ] Pa. kaṇṇikā -- f. ʻ ear ornament, pericarp of lotus, corner of upper story, sheaf in form of a pinnacle ʼ; Pk. kaṇṇiā -- f. ʻ corner, pericarp of lotus ʼ; Paš. kanīˊ ʻ corner ʼ; S. kanī f. ʻ border ʼ, L. P. kannī f. (→ H. kannī f.); WPah. bhal. kanni f. ʻ yarn used for the border of cloth in weaving ʼ; B. kāṇī ʻ ornamental swelling out in a vessel ʼ, Or. kānī ʻ corner of a cloth ʼ; H. kaniyã̄ f. ʻ lap ʼ; G. kānī f. ʻ border of a garment tucked up ʼ; M. kānī f. ʻ loop of a tie -- rope ʼ; Si. käni, kän ʻ sheaf in the form of a pinnacle, housetop ʼ.(CDIAL 2849) rebus: supercargo: kāraṇika m. ʻ teacher ʼ MBh., ʻ judge ʼ Pañcat. [kā- raṇa -- ]Pa. usu -- kāraṇika -- m. ʻ arrow -- maker ʼ; Pk. kāraṇiya -- m. ʻ teacher of Nyāya ʼ; S. kāriṇī m. ʻ guardian, heir ʼ; N. kārani ʻ abettor in crime ʼ; M. kārṇī m. ʻ prime minister, supercargo of a ship ʼ, kul -- karṇī m. ʻ village accountant ʼ. (CDIAL 3058) Helmsman: कर्णिक m. a steersman W.; having a helm (Monier-Williams)

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Toast to an academic

December 12, 2019, 5:09 pm

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Cave art Sulawesi and spearing narratives of Indus Script read rebus in Meluhha

December 12, 2019, 8:14 pm

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See decipherment of narratives of Indus Script, comparable to the Sulawesi cave art at:

Hieroglyphs of spearing, kick, buffalo, cobrahood narrate working in iron, pewter in a metals manufactory workshop

https://tinyurl.com/y3sh72jd
One side of a molded tablet m 492 Mohenjo-daro (DK 8120, NMI 151. National Museum, Delhi. A person places his foot on the horns of a buffalo while spearing it in front of a cobra hood. FS 99 Person throwing a spear at a sho rt·ho rned bull and placing o ne foot on the head of the animal; a hooded serpe nt at L.

Hieroglyph: kolsa = to kick the foot forward, the foot to come into contact with anything when walking or running; kolsa pasirkedan = I kicked it over (Santali.lex.)mēṛsa = v.a. toss, kick with the foot, hit with the tail (Santali)

kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pancaloha’ (Ta.) •kolhe (iron smelter; kolhuyo, jackal) kol, kollan-, kollar = blacksmith (Ta.lex.)•kol‘to kill’ (Ta.)

(s)phaṭa-, sphaṭā- a serpent's expanded hood, Pkt. phaḍā id. rebus: phaḍā, paṭṭaḍa 'metals manufactory'. paTa 'hood of serpent' Rebus: padanu 'sharpness of weapon' (Telugu)

Hieroglyph: rã̄go ʻ buffalo bull ʼ

Rebus: Pk. raṅga 'tin' P. rã̄g f., rã̄gā m. ʻ pewter, tin ʼ Ku. rāṅ ʻ tin, solder ʼOr. rāṅga ʻ tin ʼ, rāṅgā ʻ solder, spelter ʼ, Bi. Mth. rã̄gā, OAw. rāṁga; H. rã̄g f., rã̄gā m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼraṅgaada -- m. ʻ borax ʼ lex.Kho. (Lor.) ruṅ ʻ saline ground with white efflorescence, salt in earth ʼ *raṅgapattra ʻ tinfoil ʼ. [raṅga -- 3, páttra -- ]B. rāṅ(g)tā ʻ tinsel, copper -- foil ʼ.

Hieroglyph: kunta1 ʻ spear ʼ. 2. *kōnta -- . [Perh. ← Gk. konto/s ʻ spear ʼ EWA i 229]1. Pk. kuṁta -- m. ʻ spear ʼ; S. kundu m. ʻ spike of a top ʼ, °dī f. ʻ spike at the bottom of a stick ʼ, °diṛī, °dirī f. ʻ spike of a spear or stick ʼ; Si. kutu ʻ lance ʼ.2. Pa. konta -- m. ʻ standard ʼ; Pk. koṁta -- m. ʻ spear ʼ; H. kõt m. (f.?) ʻ spear, dart ʼ; -- Si. kota ʻ spear, spire, standard ʼ perh. ← Pa.(CDIAL 3289)

Rebus: kuṇṭha munda (loha) 'hard iron (native metal)'.

Earliest known cave art by modern humans found in Indonesia

Pictures of human-like hunters and fleeing mammals dated to nearly 44,000 years old

Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

@hannahdev

1797

The drawings are nearly twice as old as any previously known narrative scenes. Photograph: Ratno Sardi/Griffith University

Cave art depicting human-animal hybrid figures hunting warty pigs and dwarf buffaloes has been dated to nearly 44,000 years old, making it the earliest known cave art by our species.

The artwork in Indonesia is nearly twice as old as any previous hunting scene and provides unprecedented insights into the earliest storytelling and the emergence of modern human cognition.

Previously, images of this level of sophistication dated to about 20,000 years ago, with the oldest cave paintings believed to be more basic creations such as handprints.

“We were stunned by the implications of this image,” said Adam Brumm, an archaeologist at the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University. “This was just mind-boggling because this showed us that this was possibly the oldest rock art anywhere on the face of this planet.”

The painting, discovered in 2017, is one of hundreds in South Sulawesi, including a red hand stencil, which was dated to at least 40,000 years ago. But the latest finding is exceptional as it is more than twice as old as any previously known narrative scenes and hints at ancient myths and an early capacity for imagination.

“It suggested to us that this extraordinary scene suggests a story or some kind of myth,” said Brumm.

The 4.5-metre-wide panel shows six fleeing mammals – two Sulawesi warty pigs and four dwarf buffaloes, known as anoas, small but fierce animals that still inhabit the island’s dwindling forests. The animals are being pursued by human-like figures with some animal features (academics call these therianthropes), who seem to be wielding long swords or ropes. Their bodies are human-shaped but one appears to have the head of a bird and another has a tail.

Archaeologists in cave — The art was found after an expedition member noticed what appeared to be an entrance to a high-level chamber above. Photograph: Ratno Sardi/Griffith University

Human-animal hybrids occur in the folklore of almost every modern society and are frequently cast as gods, spirits or ancestral beings in religions across the world.

“The most fascinating aspect is it has all the key elements of modern human cognition,” said Prof Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Australia’s Griffith University. “Hand stencils, a narrative scene, human-like figures that were conceived of something that doesn’t really exist in the real world. Everything is there by 44,000 years ago.”

The cave is in a well-explored system, which researchers had visited frequently over the past decade. The discovery was made after an expedition member noticed what appeared to be an entrance to a high level chamber above and climbed up a fig tree to investigate. “And then, bang, there’s this incredible new rock art site in there that’s essentially like nothing we’ve ever seen before in this entire region,” said Brumm.

Cave drawing of dwarf buffalo — The dwarf buffalo species pictured still inhabits forests on the island. Photograph: Maxime Aubert/PA

Rock art is difficult to date, and the scientists relied on analysing mineral growths known as cave popcorn, that had formed over the painting. Measuring the radioactive decay of uranium and other elements in the deposits gave dates ranging from 35,100 to 43,900 years as a minimum age for the Sulawesi discovery. The findings are described in the journal Nature.

“It’s just amazing and to me it just shows how much more rock art that is out there waiting to be discovered that completely changes our understanding of the human story,” said Brumm.

Before this latest discovery, the oldest undisputed examples of figurative cave art date to about 35,000 years old. The oldest cave art on record is abstract forms attributed to Neanderthals, which have been dated to 64,000 years old. The art features lines, dots and animal-like shapes.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/dec/11/earliest-known-cave-art-by-modern-humans-found-in-indonesia

Ancient cave art may depict the world's oldest hunting scene

The spectacular scene in Indonesia reinforces the notion that the origins of art are more global than once thought.

BY MICHAEL GRESHKO

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 11, 2019

AN INDONESIAN SPELUNKER named Hamrullah was exploring the grounds of a concrete plant on the island of Sulawesi in 2017 when he spotted the unassuming hole in the limestone high above his head. Without a second thought, he shimmied up the rock and tucked himself into the mouth of a small cave, where he clambered through the tunnel’s cool, musty air. He hit the back wall and saw a mural spread out across eight feet of flaking rock, so he pulled out his phone and began snapping pictures.

The painting, described today in the journal Nature, depicts two pigs and four small-bodied relatives of water buffalo, as well as what appear to be eight humanoid figures that are two to four inches tall. Some of the human figures are holding long, spindly objects pointed toward the animals that might be ropes or spears.

The rock art panel extends some eight feet across the back wall of Leang Bulu' Sipong 4, one of the many caves in Sulawesi's Maros-Pangkep region.

IMAGE BY ADAM BRUMMWhether the art depicts a hunt or some other event, it’s likely the oldest known story told through pictures, the researchers say. The mural dates back at least 44,000 years, which makes it about twice as old as most similar cave-art scenes in Europe, such as a 19,000-year-old French mural of a bison charging a bird-headed man. The discovery adds to a growing body of ancient art known in Southeast Asia that changes some long-standing ideas about when and where humans started showing our defining cognitive traits.

“When you do an archaeological excavation, you usually find what people left behind, their trash. But when you look at rock art, it’s not rubbish—it seems like a message, we can feel a connection to it,” says lead study author Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist at Australia’s Griffith University.

“Now we’re starting to date it, not just in Europe but in Southeast Asia, and we see that it completely changes the picture of our human journey.”

Finding the time

The mural is the latest major artistic work found in the caves of Sulawesi’s Maros-Pangkep region. Millions of years ago, underground rivers had cut through the limestone here to form a maze of caverns, many of which contain hand stencils and other paintings made by the humans who called the island home tens of thousands of years ago.

Since the 1950s, scholars have documented more than 240 cave art sites on Sulawesi, but for decades, these paintings were assumed to be no older than about 12,000 years. That started to change in 2014, when a team including Aubert and Brumm began finding cave paintings in Indonesia that were at least 40,000 years old, making them at least as old as Europe’s famed cave-art sites, if not older.

“Europe was once thought of as a ‘finishing school’ for humanity, because France in particular was the subject of intense research early on ... so for a long time the European rock art record really set the tone for what we expected to see,” University of Victoria archaeologist April Nowell, who wasn’t involved with the research, says in an email. “We have long known this view of Europe as a ‘finishing school’ is no longer tenable, and the richness of the finds from Australia and Indonesia continue to underscore this point.”

The mural is globally significant, says Peter Veth, a University of Western Australia archaeologist who reviewed drafts of the study: “As with the early dates of people voyaging across the sea to Australia and engaging in highly complex art, here we have [Southeast] Asian Indigenes showing human-animal relations before sapiens even got to Europe.”

How do researchers tell the age of a cave painting? One method provides an indirect estimate by revealing when minerals started growing over the finished art. These minerals naturally include trace amounts of radioactive uranium, which decays into thorium at a predictable pace. The older the deposit, the more thorium it’ll have relative to uranium.

For the newfound mural, Aubert and Brumm’s team sampled deposits that grew over parts of the painting and found that the minerals started forming between 35,100 and 43,900 years ago. Since it’s possible that the mural was made even earlier, the researchers are treating these dates as minimums. And because the team thinks that the mural was done in one fell swoop, they are using the oldest date—43,900 years—as the whole mural’s minimum age.

Aubert is confident these dates will hold. For one, the team sampled minerals that clearly formed over the painting’s pigment layer and so were assuredly younger than the painting. The samples don’t seem to have leached uranium over time, which nixes a possible source of error. It’s also clear that Sulawesi’s ancient residents had developed artistic chops; a nearby excavation led by Brumm found 30,000-year-old “crayons” and pieces of jewelry.

Elisabeth Culley, an archaeologist at Arizona State University who specializes in cave art, agrees that the Sulawesi painting is at least as old as the paintings in France’s Chauvet Cave, which date to between 30,000 and 32,000 years ago. She also agrees that the artwork represents a proper scene.

“I don’t think the interpretation is controversial,” she says. “The figures are oriented toward each other, [and] it’s not simply dynamic—there does seem to be some motion.”

Going abstract

But the new mural has more contentious elements for scientists to ponder. The humanoid figures bear unusual features, including one with a stubby tail and another with a birdlike beak. As part of their paper, Aubert’s team claims that the figures might be the oldest human-animal hybrids ever found in a work of art. The oldest accepted one, a lion-headed male figurine, was carved from mammoth ivory in what’s now Germany 39,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Six small figures surround the head of an anoa, a small-bodied relative of water buffalo, in part of the mural. Researchers interpret the six entities as abstract figures that combine animal and human features. The figure second from the top, for instance, appears to have a birdlike beak.

IMAGE BY RATNO SARDIIf the painting’s figures do in fact blend the human and the non-human, they suggest that the artist behind them could think abstractly and creatively. It’s even possible that the figures hint at an early spirituality or express shamanic beliefs.

“Maybe early people at that time, to them, they saw themselves as an indivisible part of the animal world,” says study coauthor Adam Brumm, an archaeologist at Griffith University. “This special bond between humans and animals was so strong that culturally and philosophically, they might have seen themselves as part-animal, part-human, for all we know.”

Nowell agrees that the artwork might depict an abstract hunting scene: “Given that some of the human-like figures appear to have a tail or beak suggests that it is not a straightforward hunting scene, that there is some mythological quality to it,” she says. Culley also agrees that the artwork is meant to be abstract, since the painting’s humanoid figures are unrealistically tiny. But precisely because it’s abstract, Culley says, the painting could support many interpretations beyond a hunting scene. Perhaps the putative spears are shamanistic “power lines” meant to show energy moving from one object to another.

Regardless of the specifics, Culley says that the scene’s true importance lies in the artist’s attempt at abstraction—a trait that also pops up in France more than 30,000 years ago.

“There’s huge variation in [the two] cultures, there’s a lot of space dividing these traditions ... but they’re also very consistent,” she says. “That, to me, is the real take-home: They’re contemporaneous with a very, very similar tradition, which must have some shared origin.”

Protecting the past

Now that researchers have described the painting, they're racing to find and document more. Hamrullah, who is a study coauthor, and the team's other Indonesian members routinely find more as-yet unexplored caves as they survey the region. The team is also trying to chart a future for this mural’s cave site. It’s unclear precisely why, but the newfound art has recently started flaking off the cave wall at an accelerating pace.

The bustle of activity around the site may play a role. While the local government and the concrete plant have agreed to protect the cave, nearby mining explosions still rattle the landscape.

“We don’t know how long it’s still going to be there,” Aubert says.

It’s possible that protections for the area will strengthen. In an email, Hamrullah expressed hope that the cave system could be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. And even though its future is uncertain, Brumm marvels at what the cave has already told us about our shared past.

“You do have this opportunity to sit in this cave where you’re only the fourth person, or fifth or sixth, to have seen this in tens of thousands of years, as far as we’re aware—and then to be privy to this knowledge, this understanding, to know how ancient this is,” he says. “It’s very hard to describe that feeling. But it’s certainly what keeps you going.”

Michael Greshko is a writer for National Geographic's science desk.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/ancient-cave-art-in-indonesia-may-be-worlds-oldest-hunting-scene/

11 DECEMBER 2019

Is this cave painting humanity’s oldest story?

Indonesian rock art dated to 44,000 years old seems to show mythological figures in a hunting scene.

Ewen Callaway

A section of the ancient cave art discovered in Indonesia that depicts a type of buffalo called an anoa, at right, facing several smaller human–animal figures.Credit: Ratno Sardi

A cave-wall depiction of a pig and buffalo hunt is the world’s oldest recorded story, claim archaeologists who discovered the work on the Indonesian island Sulawesi. The scientists say the scene is more than 44,000 years old.

The 4.5-metre-long panel features reddish-brown forms that seem to depict human-like figures hunting local animal species. Previously, rock art found in European sites dated to around 14,000 to 21,000 years old were considered to be the world’s oldest clearly narrative artworks. The scientists working on the latest find say that the Indonesian art pre-dates these.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean, we’ve seen hundreds of rock art sites in this region, but we’ve never seen anything like a hunting scene,” says Adam Brumm, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, whose team describes the finding in Nature on 11 December¹.

Other researchers say the discovery is important because the animal paintings are also the oldest figurative artworks — those that clearly depict objects or figures in the natural world — on record. But some aren’t yet convinced by the claim the panel represents a single ‘scene’, or story. They suggest it might be a series of images painted over the course of perhaps thousands of years. “Whether it’s a scene is questionable,” says Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist and rock-art specialist at Durham University, UK.

Ancient art

“They’ve invented everything,” Pablo Picasso is reported to have said after visiting the famed Lascaux Cave, in France’s Dordogne Valley. The site, discovered in 1940, includes hundreds of animal figures painted around 17,000 years ago. An image from the cave, and others from the same period, are widely considered to be the earliest known narrative artworks. In the decades since, archaeologists have discovered even older rock art, dating to around 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, including depictions of animals and stylized symbols, in European caves such as Chauvet in France and El Castillo in Spain.

Lascaux (Lascaux Caves) is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France.

The Lascaux Caves in southwestern France feature clearly narrative scenes in rock art dated to around 17,000 years ago.Credit: Alamy

Many researchers assumed that rock art found later in Africa, Australia and Asia was younger than these European works; such artworks are notoriously difficult to date because they can be made with raw materials, such as charcoal, that can be much older than the paintings themselves. But scientists including Brumm jolted the archaeological world when they reported, in 2014 and 2018, that caves in Sulawesi² and Borneo³ held artworks, including animal paintings, that were older than 40,000 years — of similar age to and perhaps older than those created during the European Ice Age.

Brumm was sitting at his desk in Australia in December 2017, when an Indonesian colleague texted blurry pictures of the hunting scene, from a cave in southern Sulawesi called Leang Bulu’Sipong 4. “These images appeared on my iPhone. I think I said the characteristic Australian four-letter word out very loud,” says Brumm. A team member named Hamrullah, who is a Sulawesi-based archaeologist and caver, had found the paintings after shimmying up a fig tree to reach a narrow passage at the roof of another cave.

The panel seems to depict wild pigs found on Sulawesi and a species of small-bodied buffalo, called an anoa. These appear alongside smaller figures that look human but also have animal traits such as tails and snouts. In one section, an anoa is flanked by several figures holding spears and possibly ropes.

The depiction of these animal–human figures, known in mythology as therianthropes, suggests that early humans in Sulawesi had the ability to conceive of things that do not exist in the natural world, say the researchers. “We don’t know what it means, but it seems to be about hunting and it seems to maybe have mythological or supernatural connotations,” says Brumm.

The oldest such example from Europe is a half-lion, half-human ivory figure from Germany that researchers have estimated to be 40,000 years old — although some suggest that it might be significantly younger. A roughly 17,000 year-old painting of a bird-headed human being charged by a bison, from Lascaux Cave, is considered to be one of the earliest depictions of a clear scene in European rock art.

Popcorn dating

To determine the age of the hunting scene, researchers led by archaeologist Maxime Aubert, at Griffith, analysed calcite ‘popcorn’ that had built up on the painting. Radioactive uranium in the mineral slowly decays into thorium. So by measuring the relative levels of different isotopes of these elements, the researchers were able to determine that calcite atop one pig began forming at least 43,900 years ago, and deposits on two anoa are older than 40,900 years.

The dating gives scientists clues about the origins of figurative art. “It has always been assumed that the tradition of figurative painting arose in Europe,” says Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at the University of Southampton, UK. “This shows the tradition does not have its origins in Europe.” But he notes that the researchers dated only the portions of the painting that show animals, so it’s possible that the therianthropes were added later. Aubert says the team did not find calcite samples over the therianthropes.

In other parts of the world, including Europe, Africa and North America, depictions of humans alongside animals did not start becoming common until about 10,000 years ago, says Pettitt. So without solid dates attached, “I’d certainly conclude that the human figures are much younger than the other depictions.”

Aubert thinks the animals and the therianthropes were painted at the same time. They are of similar colour and weathered in the same way, he notes, and all the other cave art from the region is from the same time period.

Archaeologist Bruno David, at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, agrees with Aubert’s interpretation. Nonetheless, he says, it would be worth testing whether the pigments used to paint the animals and the therianthropes are the same.

If the entire painting is more than 44,000 years old, it could mean that early humans have arrived in southeast Asia with the capacity for symbolic representation and storytelling, David says. Archaeologists have already found paint palettes and objects such as eggshells with abstract engravings made by early humans in southern Africa, he adds. “It’s probably only a matter of time before narrative paintings of this, and much older age, are found in Africa.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03826-4

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Indus Script hieroglyph څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, āre 'potters wheel' rebus: arka 'gold'. Invention and Development of Spoked Wheel -- Krishnendu Das

December 12, 2019, 10:18 pm

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https://tinyurl.com/wmozqn5

Spoked wheel is an Indus Script hieroglyph. See:

Spoked wheel in Meluhha is tsarkh 'potter's wheel'अर्क 'the sun, copper', agasāla 'goldsmith workshop' https://tinyurl.com/y2jq5okl

āre ‘potter's wheel’ rebus: āra ‘brass’; څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, 'potter's wheel'; eraka 'knave of wheel' rebus: arka, aka 'gold, copper'; eraka 'metal infusion'.

څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, s.m. (2nd) (P چرخ). 2. A wheeled-carriage, a gun-carriage, a cart. Pl. څرخونه ṯs̱arḵẖūnah. څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, s.m. (2nd) A wheel (particularly a potter's, or of a water-mill or well). 2. A grindstone. 3. Circular motion, turn, revolution, the act of turning. 4. Fortune, chance. 5. The heavens, the sphere, the celestial globe. 6. A kind of hawk or falcon, an eagle. 7. A stab, a puncture, a prick, a wound produced by a spear, an arrow, or the like. Pl. څرخرنه ṯs̱arḵẖ-ūnah; 8. adj. Punctured, pricked, pierced, stabbed; (Fem.) څرکه ṯs̱arkaʿh. څرخیدل ṯs̱arḵẖedal, verb intrans. To revolve, to turn round, to wheel. 2. To dance. Pres. څرخبږي ṯs̱arḵẖej̱ẕī (W.) or څرخیګي ṯs̱arḵẖegī (E.); past ؤ څرخیده wu-ṯs̱arḵẖedah or ؤ څرخیدَ wu-ṯs̱arḵẖeda; fut. ؤ به څرخیږي wu bah ṯs̱arḵẖej̱ẕī or ؤ به څرخیګي wu bah ṯs̱arḵẖegī; imp. ؤ څرخیږه wu-ṯs̱arḵẖej̱ẕah or ؤ څرخیګه wu-ṯs̱arḵẖegah; act. part. څرخیدونکيَ ṯs̱arḵẖedūnkaey or څرخیدونيَ ṯs̱arḵẖedūnaey; past part. څرخید ليَ ṯs̱arḵẖedalaey; verb. n. څرخیدنه ṯs̱arḵẖedanaʿh. څرخول ṯs̱arḵẖawul, verb trans. To turn, to make revolve, to wheel round. 2. To sharpen. Pres. څرخوي ṯs̱arḵẖawī; past ؤ څرخاوه wu-ṯs̱arḵẖāwuh or ؤ څرخاوو wu-ṯs̱arḵẖāwo; fut. ؤ به څرخوي wu bah ṯs̱arḵẖawī; imp. ؤ څرخوه wu-ṯs̱arḵẖawah; act. part. څرخوونکيَ ṯs̱arḵẖawūnkaey or څرخوونيَ ṯs̱arḵẖawūnaey; past part. څرخوليَ ṯs̱arḵẖawulaey; verb. n. څرخونه ṯs̱arḵẖawunaʿh. (P چرخ).

څرخ کول ṯs̱arḵẖ kawul, verb trans. To pierce, to stab, to puncture. څرخ کیدل ṯs̱arḵẖ kedal, verb intrans. To enter (as a pointed instrument), to penetrate, to stab, to pierce.

څرخه ṯs̱arḵẖaʿh, s.f. (3rd) A spinning-wheel, a large reel. Pl. يْ ey. (P چرخه).

څرخيَ ṯs̱arḵẖaey, s.m. (1st) A kind of reel for winding cotton on, a ball of cotton, silk, etc. 2. A species of falcon. Pl. يِ ī. See څاښي

څرخلګيَ ṯs̱arḵẖal-gaey, s.m. (1st) A piece of wood, stone, etc., on which thread is wound, a reel. Pl. يِ ī. Also څرخلرګيَ ṯs̱arḵẖ- largaey. Pl. يِ ī.

څرخندوکيَ ṯs̱arḵẖandūkaey, s.m. A tee-totum, a child's top. Pl. يِ ī. See لاډو ,چرلندي and چلخئِي (Pashto)

अर्क 'the sun, copper, m. ( √ अर्च्) , Ved. a ray , flash of lightning RV. &c; fire RV. ix , 50 , 4 S3Br. Br2A1rUp. (Monier-Williams) arká1 m. ʻ flash, ray, sun ʼ RV. [√arc]Pa. Pk. akka -- m. ʻ sun ʼ, Mth. āk; Si. aka ʻ lightning ʼ, inscr. vid -- äki ʻ lightning flash ʼ.(CDIAL 624) *arkavarta ʻ a sort of ornament ʼ. [Cf. arkapuṭikā -- f. ʻ a silver ornament consisting of a round disk like the sun ʼ lex.: arká -- 1, *varta -- 3]G. akɔṭī f. ʻ earring ʼ.(CDIAL 628) (Note:the Pashto word ṯs̱arḵẖ may explain the various semantic expressions listed in Annex. Cakra and examples of semantic expansions).

Krishnendu Das, 2019, Invention and Development of Spoked Wheel : A Harappan Perspective, in Puratattva no. 49 (2019).

https://www.academia.edu/41275548/Invention_and_Development_of_Spoked_Wheel_A_Harappan_Perspective?fbclid=IwAR1prZQJgPitpMI2SPwvQDsvjLzr87BCqy9Jb7Y0ngl_-tGCQVBTz2u0FEc

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Indus Script hieroglyphs of Copper coin Avanti signify goldsmith mint metal equipment

December 13, 2019, 3:44 am

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https://tinyurl.com/s5nvrv5

2nd Century B.C :: Copper Coin of Avanti Kingdom ( Indian Museum Kolkata )

Standing Shiva holding danda and kamandalu; sun; six-aarmed symbol

Indus Script hieroglyphs:

Six spokes of wheel: baTa 'six' rebus: baTa 'iron' bhaTa 'furnace'

khambhaṛā'fish-fin' rebus: Ta. kampaṭṭam coinage, coiner, mint' PLUS three spokes: kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'

Or. kāṇḍa, kã̄ṛ ʻstalk, arrow ʼ(CDIAL 3023). ayaskāṇḍa 'a quantity of iron' (Panini) khaNDa 'equipment;' PLUS three spokes: kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'

arka 'sun's rays' अर्क m. ( √ अर्च्) , Ved. a ray , flash of lightning RV. &c (Monier-Williams) arká1 m. ʻ flash, ray, sun ʼ RV. [√arc] Pa. Pk. akka -- m. ʻ sun ʼ, Mth. āk; Si. aka ʻ lightning ʼ, inscr. vid -- äki ʻ lightning flash ʼ.(CDIAL 624)

āre ‘potter's wheel’ rebus: āra ‘brass’; څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, 'potter's wheel'; eraka 'knave of wheel' rebus: arka, aka 'gold, copper'; eraka 'metal infusion'.

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Itihāsa. Bodh Gaya – The centre of the Buddhist world -- Ruchi Pritam

December 13, 2019, 5:16 pm

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Bodh Gaya – The centre of the Buddhist world

The centre where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment is truly the centre of Buddhism.

by Ruchi Pritam
Posted On: 01 Nov 2019

Ruchi

Ruchi is a History and Law Graduate from Delhi University with an MBA from Madras University. She is a Bank-empaneled lawyer and has taught at several MBA institutions as a visiting faculty. She has always had a fascination for Indian art, temples and culture that has led her to travel and write on the various architectural wonders of India. She believes that making one connect with the ancient roots through an understanding of heritage brings one closer to others. After all, humans are one big family.

Not very far from the ancient Magadh kingdom of Rajgir and adjoining the sacred city of Gaya, is the small town of Bodhgaya in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. It was in Bodh Gaya that Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment with the Mahabodhi Temple being built at this spot to commemorate his enlightenment. The 7th century Chinese Buddhist traveller Xuanzang called Bodhgaya ‘the centre of the Buddhist World’.

With the Islamic invasions of the Indian subcontinent during the medieval times and more specifically due to the invasions and destructions caused by Qutb-ud-din Aibak and the brutal blows by Bakhtiyar Khilji during the 12th century CE that the traditions which existed for millennia in central Bihar, especially at Nalanda and Gaya were devastated. Indic religions struggled from this point onwards. The upkeep or restoration of temples, stupas, and monasteries became an impossible feat for the survivors of the destructive onslaughts. It was from the 18th Century onwards that the colonial archaeologists and scholars realized the ancient significance of Gaya and Bodhgaya as these places had been mentioned in innumerable texts and inscriptions of both these religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Francis Buchanan during the early years of the 19th century, conducted the first major documentation of the findings at Bodhgaya that included structural remains, sculptures and inscriptions. He also interacted with the local communities and collected legendary accounts. By 1871, Alexander Cunningham, who was the surveyor-general had noted the reconstruction of most temples and structures on former sites with older materials. While documenting Bodhgaya, he relied on inscriptional and textual materials (Chinese and Burmese Buddhist works), especially the works of Xuanzang and Faxian. Cunningham documented several structural remains at the Mahabodhi temple site that included thirty-three inscribed sandstone and granite pillars, smaller temples (Tara Devi and Vagiswari Devi), a ruined fortress considered to be that of Amara Sinha, a cenotaph and numerous Buddhist statues.

Alexander Cunningham’s survey inspired future scholars to study Bodhgaya. The main questions to be answered were – the antiquity of Bodhgaya; the chronology of the construction of Mahabodhi temple and its architectural features; and the development of Bodhgaya’s landscape through analysis of smaller shrines, pillars and inscriptions. The outcome of intense research over the years has led to the understanding that the Mahabodhi temple came about in phases and the earliest phase has been attributed to 3rd century BCE Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka, who was an ardent follower of the tenets of Buddhism and ensured its spread to Central and South East Asia besides the Indian Subcontinent.

Buddhist accounts reveal the life of Siddhartha Gautam, who became the spiritual teacher, Buddha, once he attained enlightenment. Siddhartha was born in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal) as a prince in the royal house of the Shakya, with its capital at Kapilvastu. On seeing the suffering of the world he left his home in search of answers as to how to end these sufferings. This period in history, the 6th century BCE is well known for the Mahajanapada that were well established over most of the Indian Subcontinent. Gautam is said to have roamed the areas of Rajgir (in Nalanda district) and Gaya in search of answers during the reign of Bimbisar. He finally reached the banks of the Phalgu River, near the city of Gaya and sat in meditation under a Peepul Tree (Ficus Religiosa) that later came to be known as the Bodhi Tree. Gautam sat in uninterrupted meditation for three days and three nights and found answers to his questions. He attained enlightenment and became Buddha. It is at this location on the banks of the Phalgu River that Emperor Ashoka built the Mahabodhi temple around mid-3rd century BCE. Ashoka’s Mahabodhi temple has been depicted in relief on pillars in the Bharhut Stupa that is dated to 100 BCE. This Mahabodhi Temple is shown as circular and near the Bodhi Tree. The Vajrasana (seat for Buddha) is prominently placed in the centre. The Chaitya design on the temple walls is also clearly visible along with railings and an Ashokan Pillar with the Elephant crown. Representations of the early temple structure that appears to protect the Bodhi Tree are also found on the toranas of the Sanchi Stupa dated around 25 BCE.

(Mahabodhi temple depicted in the Bharhut Stupa dated to 100 BCE. The seat for Buddha is prominently placed in the centre)

The Mahabodhi temple is a two-towered structure with the bigger tower bearing a height of 55 meters. This grand brick structure in the shape of a Vimana (pyramidal form) with a hemispherical stupa on the top is one of the oldest standing grand buildings in the Indian Subcontinent. The main tower is surrounded by four smaller towers, constructed in the same Vimana style. A plaque from Kumhrar ruins of Mauryan dynasty near Patna dated 150-200 CE, shows the Mahabodhi temple in this Vimana form. This pyramidal temple style iconic structure was a changeover from the massive mound-like Buddhist stupas that held Buddha’s relics.

(A plaque from Kumhrar that shows the Mahabodhi temple in the Vimana form, dated 150-200 CE) – Wikimedia commons

The temple was built in various phases by various regimes with the Gupta period having contributed the most with regards to reconstruction and beautification during the 5th Century CE. The main buildings of the ancient Nalanda University have also been attributed to the Gupta period. The stucco figures of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas on the Nalanda structures had set the style for future such works of art of making reliefs with sharper features and depicting meditative postures and intellect. Sculpted figures on stone also found a place within temples. The Mahabodhi temple has stucco figures in niches on all sides of the structure.

(The front view of the Mahabodhi temple)

The famous Chinese traveler, Xuanzang had visited Bodhgaya in the 7th century. He has described the statue of Buddha that was kept in the Mahabodhi temple. It is said that this statue was taken away by Muslim invaders. The current image that we see inside the Mahabodhi temple was found during excavations conducted under Sir Alexander Cunningham. This image was placed inside the temple after restoration work was completed during the early 20th century.

The statue is of golden hue and the Buddha is sitting in ‘Bhumisparsha mudra’ (Earth touching gesture), with his right hand touching the earth. It is said that while Gautam was meditating under the Bodhi tree, he was struggling with doubts and confusions personified as the armies of ‘Mara’ (demon Maya tried to frighten him with armies of demons and temptations) in Buddhist Traditions. Then Gautam reached out his right hand to touch the Earth and called upon her to bear witness to the fact of his self-discipline and resolve on the path of enlightenment. The earth bore witness and the demon Mara disappeared. Thereafter Gautam became the awakened and was called Buddha. The Bhumisparsha mudra or ‘the earth witness’ commemorates Buddha’s victory over temptation and his awakening and is thus one of the most common representations of Buddha.

(Buddha in the Mahabodhi temple)

The Bodhi Tree

The Bodhi Tree is a Peepul tree that is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhists. The present tree that grows next to the Mahabodhi temple is surrounded by pillared railing. The present tree is said to originate from the original tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment. Branches of the original Bodhi tree had been taken to Srilanka by the children of King Ashoka (Mahendra and Sanghmitra) and it was planted in Anuradhapura. The original Bodhi tree was destroyed and a branch of the Anuradhapura tree was brought here and replanted.

(The bodhi tree)

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The Seat of Buddha

One of the most important cum intriguing finds during the excavations and restoration work was that of the ‘Bodhi Pallanka’ or the place of Enlightenment. This is a sandstone seat that is called the Vajrasana or the Diamond Throne. The Vajrasana was well decorated with precious stones and Buddhist motifs. This throne has been dated to the times of Emperor Ashoka and it is said that he had got this made and placed at the site where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment under the Peepul Tree. Ashoka had built a shrine and a monastery that no longer exists but this seat was found in a small shrine that has been dated to the mid-2nd Century CE. This shrine is attributed to the Sungas, who also built columns with pot-shaped bases around the Vajrasana. The Vajrasana has been placed next to the Bodhi Tree and is well protected by railings that run all around the tree. One can easily view this seat from between the gaps in the railings. It is around the Bodhi tree that all the religious activities take place. Monks wearing red/orange/maroon robes are seen in meditation or chanting with the 108 beaded mala all around the tree. Tourists throng this place. Despite the presence of so many humans what is noteworthy is a sense of calm all around. One may not be in a meditative posture but the energy radiating from the temple and praying monks touches everyone.

(The Vajrasana next to the Bodhi tree)

This place is the most revered part of the whole temple complex. Not only did Buddha get the enlightenment under this tree, it also has the ancient Ashoka era seat, one of the few original remains from that era. Statues of Buddha have been placed around the world, but this direct connect with the seminal event of enlightenment of an evolved soul is palpably present only at this location.

(Front view of the Vajrasana)

According to the Buddhist traditions, Buddha remained in the vicinity of this tree after gaining enlightenment and reflected about the universal truths. He spent 7 weeks at different places and these are part of the temple complex in this Mahabodhi temple. The first week was spent below the Bodhi tree where he gained the knowledge.

During the second week, he sat at a distance from this tree and looked at this tree without interruption and without even blinking for seven days. This place is called Animesh Lochan, which translates to eye without interruption. A small shrine marks this place.

(The Shrine of Animesh Lochan)

During the third week, he paced back and forth near the tree thinking about the universal truths and meaning of life which had been just revealed to him. This place is along the wall of the current temple and it is marked by symbols of lotus. According to Buddhist traditions, lotuses sprouted wherever Buddha placed his feet during this back and forth walk. This location is called Chakramana place.

(Chakramana place)

This place is also at the centre of devotional gathering during auspicious days. Devotees from all around the world come and this pathway symbolising Buddhas meditative walk is decorated with flowers. Devotees sit around at the floor and chant various hymns from Buddhist teachings.

(The floral decoration on festive occasions at the Chakramana Place)

During the fourth week, he sat at a place called Ratan Ghar (house of jewels). He meditated at this place for one week. It is a small shrine with a small statue of Buddha inside.

(Ratan Ghar)

During the fifth week, he sat in meditation under a banyan tree called Ajapal Nigrodha tree. A learned man (Brahman) asked him a query and Buddha replied that one becomes a Brahman by his deeds and not by his birth. It shows that by this point of time, there was an awareness in the society about this saintly presence and Buddha was on his way to be recognized as a guide to the salvation. The Banyan tree existing at one side is considered to be this place.

(Ajapal Nigrodha tree; Banyan Tree)

During the 6th week, he spent time near a pond which is called Muchalinda Sarovar. It is said that during his sleep, there was a thunderstorm and a cobra spread his hood above Buddha’s head to protect him from the storm. This place is commemorated in the water tank to the left of the main temple. It seems that the link with snakes proved to be enduring and it became one of the constant motifs in Buddhist iconography as it spread to South East Asia and East Asian countries.

(Muchalinda Sarovar)

During the final seventh week he spent time under another Peepul tree called Rajyatna tree. This tree is located behind the present temple and it has been placed within the ubiquitous railings. After crystallising his thoughts following the revelations, he travelled to Saranath, near Varanasi, where he delivered his first sermon.

(Rajyatna tree)

The Railings and their significance

The Mahabodhi temple is surrounded by a stone railing that is two metres high. What we see today is mostly a reconstruction of the original work. It is to be noted that though Bodhgaya was excavated and renovated in the 19th century, the excavations proved to be destructive since they destroyed the context of much of the ancient remains. This was mostly due to the unscientific archaeological excavations practices of those times. The railings that were discovered had diverse carvings and medallion motifs. The railings were of two materials, sandstone and granite. The sandstone railings have been dated to the Sunga period of 150 BCE. These have carved panels as well as medallions that are similar to Sunga railings at the Bharhut Stupa and Sanchi Stupa. These have carvings of both Hindu and Buddhist religions. Goddess Lakshmi in her Gajalakshmi Roop; Surya, the Sun God is shown riding a chariot that is drawn by four horses; Lord Indra are directly related to Hinduism. The Bodhi Tree; The Dharma chakra; medallions; scenes from the Jatakas are linked with Buddhism. Common motifs are that of the Lotus, elephants, lions, bulls, foliage etc.

The unpolished granite railings are additions made by the Gupta rulers. The expansion and additions appear to have gone on till the 7th century CE. The granite railings have carvings of stupas, Lord Vishnu’s mount the Garuda, Avalokiteswara, Tara, and also images of Hindu deities.

Much of the original railings are now in Museums. The motifs on the original railings speak loud about the syncretism of the two important religions of those times, Hinduism and Buddhism.

(A portion of the recreated railing that has an impression of the original carvings and lotus medalions)

The lower level niches of the Mahabodhi temple have a lot of statues of Buddha in various poses. Most of them have been recreated in recent times based on the old records which showed the original iconography. This arrangement comes in handy during festivals when the whole temple complex is full of devotees. Most of the devotees sit on the ground all around the temple and they have the presence of Buddha in front of their eyes. In fact, this temple is unique in the sense that on any crowded day the campus is full of people making it difficult to walk around but the sanctum sanctorum is relatively free and the pilgrim finds it easy to have a Darshan inside.

(The various icons of Buddha on the Temple wall)

These icons represent the various forms of Buddha. Most important of these is the Bhumisparsha, which the main deity represents inside the sanctum sanctorum. The other prominent mudras show him in benediction pose and in a pose matching with the traditional iconography of Lord Vishnu. In some Indian traditions, Buddha has come to be recognized as the incarnation of Vishnu.

The temple complex has numerous small Stupa structures all around. Some of them are simple structures and some have small Buddha statues placed in various niches.

One of the most striking stupa like structure is just after the main entry gate, to the left of the main pathway. There are numerous small icons which were discovered at this site and these are pasted to make this stupa. Some statues found during the excavations are also attached to this stupa. As a result it looks like an aggregation of thousands of Buddha images in a stupa form.

There is a stone slab with mark of feet on it. This slab is treated as the footmark of Gautam Buddha and placed near a small shrine.

(shrine dedicated to the footprint of Buddha)

Of all the organized religions, Buddhism is the most peaceful and tranquil in its overall philosophy (except, maybe Jainism). It had its state patronage in the spiritual kingdom of Tibet in high Himalayas before Tibet was captured by China and their leader, the Dalai Lama had to live in exile in India. This temple has a big bell donated by a Tibetan Lama (spiritual leader) aiming for world peace, longevity of Dhamma and to the memory of Tibet. Bells have a special place in Buddhist rituals and temples frequently have rows of bells for the use of devotees.

(The huge bell donated by a Tibetan Lama)

The Grand Buddha

A major attraction cum pilgrimage site near the Mahabodhi Temple is the grand Buddha that has a height of 80 feet from base to the top. The Buddha in meditation pose is 64 feet high. He is seated on a Lotus pedestal. This massive sandstone cum red granite statue took seven years to complete and was consecrated on 18th Nov 1989 by the 14th Dalai Lama. This statue is not a solid statue and it has 20000 small Bronze Buddha icons enclosed within it.

Statues of Buddha’s ten principal disciples stand around this Grand seated Buddha. These disciples played a major role in codifying the teachings of Buddha and taking his message forward. Ananda was the primary attendant of Buddha and his closest confidant who helped in compiling Sutras based on his memories. Mahakassapa organized the first Buddhist council in Rajgir after Buddha’s demise (Mahaparinirvana) and became the first preacher of Buddha’s teachings. Upali compiled Vinaya texts from his memory during the first Buddhist council. Sariputra’s relics were consecrated in Nalanda Mahavihar (where the great university was built). Maudgalyayana was the master of supernatural powers. Subhuti is related to Mahayana concept of emptiness. Purna was considered the greatest teacher of Law. Katyayana was considered as the person who best understood the Buddha’s teachings. Aniruddha was master of mindfulness and a cousin of Buddha. Rahul, who was the only son of Gautam Buddha, became his father’s follower at a very young age. He was a novice monk in contrast with the others who were masters of their field.

Sujata Garhi-Stupa

A very significant find by the ASI during the 1970s has been the Sujata Stupa in Bakraur Village, Bodhgaya Block. Bakraur Village is situated on the other side of the Phalgu River from the town of Bodhgaya and has rich historical remains that date back from the early historic period to the medieval period. The oldest historical find is the Sujata Stupa that has been dated to the second Century BCE on the basis of archaeological findings at this site such as dark grey polished potsherds and a punch-marked coin and seals. Based on the seals, scholars suggest that this Stupa was built to commemorate Sujata, who offered milk-rice (kheer) to the Buddha during his quest for enlightenment.

(Sujata Garhi)

There is a temple called Sujata Kuti, not far from the Stupa that is dedicated to Sujata. It is said that when Prince Siddhartha was in search of enlightenment he roamed these areas and sat in meditation under a Banyan tree. He had not eaten for a very long time as it was a phase of severe asceticism and fasting that had gone on for 7 years. Sujata, a village lady saw him meditating under the Banyan tree and fainting with starvation. She offered him a sweet milk and rice dish called kheer. Siddhartha ate this kheer and was rejuvenated. He realized that extreme penance did not help in finding answers to his questions. This was a very important point in his life and it changed his outlook towards the path to enlightenment and his focus shifted from extreme ascetism to moderation. It was soon after this incident that Siddhartha found enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree at Bodhgaya on the other side of river Phalgu and became Gautam Buddha.

For Buddhists and tourists alike the Sujata Stupa and Sujata Kuti are important religious sites. These sites are standing testimonies of tribute to the generosity of Sujata, who, perhaps unwittingly provided the final spark of intuition needed by Prince Siddhartha in his quest for enlightenment.

(Sujata Kuti)

The importance of Bodhgaya for the followers of Buddhism cannot be overemphasized. Pilgrims from almost all the East Asian countries come in large numbers to pay homage to the place where Buddha achieved enlightenment. A unique aspect of this attachment is visible through the numerous temples built by various countries within a short distance of Mahabodhi temple.

The Thai temple is built with the typical Thai style of multiple tiered roofs. There are undulating finials at the ends of roof panels which are called Lamyongs. The golden coloured Buddha statue inside has extensive decorations all around it.

(The Thai Buddha Temple)

The first country in the world to bring the national happiness index into government policy, Bhutan also maintains a Royal Bhutanese temple here. It is an elegant structure with a lavishly decorated Buddha statue inside.

(The Bhutanese Buddha Temple)

Tibet has been the custodian of Buddhism doctrine across hundreds of years. A Tibetan Karma temple is maintained by the Tibetan community. Its façade has intricate designs on the lintels and large paintings on the walls.

(Tibetan Karma Temple)

The Japanese temple is a very simple structure with a single layer roof set within a manicured garden. The Buddha statue inside is set against a wall which has wall to wall paintings in the background depicting scenes related to Buddha.

(The Japanese Buddha Temple)

Outside the town, on the way to Sujata Garhi in Bakraur village, there is a new temple called Metta Buddha, constructed by the Thai royal family. It has a beautiful white marble statue of Buddha right in the forecourt.

(Thai Metta Buddha Temple)

Bodhgaya is truly the centre for world Buddhism and it is clearly reflected by these multiple temples constructed by so many countries to pay homage to Buddha. It is in keeping with the syncretic outlook of the Indic civilisation that so many followers from all across the world come here to worship Lord Buddha in their own way and co-exist here, unmindful of their other differences. Probably in no other centre of an organised religion can such multilateralism be seen.

Conclusion

The spark of enlightenment which illuminated the thoughts of Prince Siddhartha almost 2500 -2600 years ago, not only created a new sect based on the primacy of personal experience, it also brought about a unique phenomenon concerning the spread of a religion. It was a novel feature in its own time that Buddhism spread throughout the whole of Asia without the power of the sword or the force of any king or army behind it. The religions which came after this point in history spread with the patronage of rulers and use of brute power and forced conversions.

The Mahabodhi temple survived explosions in 2013 that had been planted by elements, who had been fed intolerance as a part of their faith. It is a sad testimony of what we call ‘The Modern Times’ when in reality not much has changed from the medieval era of intolerance towards Indic religions by the newer Faiths. I could not take pictures of the Mahabodhi temple as phone cameras are not permitted within the temple premises due to the 2013 incident. Such security exists in almost all the important Indic places of worship within India.

Why is it that the new religions struggle to comprehend pluralism that ultimately extends to the universal consciousness? The answer lies in the question!

References / Footnotes

Acknowledgement: Most of the pictures of the Mahabodhi temple and temple complex are courtesy Riti Pritam.

- Archaeological Gazetteer of Gaya District by Bijoy Kumar Choudhary and Abhishek Singh Amar; Publisher K.P.Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna.http://www.pragyata.com/mag/bodh-gaya-the-centre-of-the-buddhist-world-825

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Neuroscience. Outlandish competition: a historic contest to source consciousness is announced

December 14, 2019, 6:00 am

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अप-स्मार confusion of mind (in rhet. one of the व्यभिचारिभावs). The Cosmic Dancer and Neuroscience.

The two theories to be tested pit "information processing" against "causal power" as a model of consciousness. One side must admit it is wrong

NEWS

OCTOBER 17, 2019

We can watch neurons fire and interact but we do not really know how human consciousness comes to exist. Now Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) is investing $20 million to discover the answer, first by holding a contest between two prominent theories of consciousness. Their model is the famous 1919 contest between Albert Einstein’s relativity theory and Isaac Newton’s gravity (Einstein won). The stakes, as explained at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago this week, sound high: “Proponents of each theory have agreed to admit it is flawed if the outcomes go against them.”

Consciousness, even as a concept, is much more slippery than gravity but these two prominent theories have been chosen as at least suitable for testing, starting this fall:

● Global Workspace Theory (GWT), defended by Stanislas Dehaene of the Collège de France in Paris: “theory of Bernard Joseph Baars that suggests that consciousness involves the global distribution of focal information to many parts of the brain.” – Pam N., “Global Workspace Theory,” Psychology Dictionary

vs.

● Integrated Information Theory (IIT), defended by Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin in Madison: “Initially proposed by Giulio Tononi in 2004, it claims that consciousness is identical to a certain kind of information, the realization of which requires physical, not merely functional, integration, and which can be measured mathematically according to the phi metric.” – Francis Fallon, Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The two theories can be compared because they make different predictions as to which part of the brain will become active when a person becomes aware of an image.

To test the schemes, six labs will run experiments with a total of more than 500 participants, costing the foundation $5 million. The labs, in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China, will use three techniques to record brain activity as volunteers perform consciousness-related tasks: functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, and electrocorticography (a form of EEG done during brain surgery, in which electrodes are placed directly on the brain). In one experiment, researchers will measure the brain’s response when a person becomes aware of an image. The GWT predicts the front of the brain will suddenly become active, whereas the IIT says the back of the brain will be consistently active.
Tononi and Dehaene have agreed to parameters for the experiments and have registered their predictions. To avoid conflicts of interest, the scientists will neither collect nor interpret the data. If the results appear to disprove one theory, each has agreed to admit he was wrong—at least to some extent.
SARA REARDON, “‘OUTLANDISH’ COMPETITION SEEKS THE BRAIN’S SOURCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS” AT SCIENCE

IIT is much more philosophical than GWT:

In contrast to GWT, which starts by asking what the brain does to create the conscious experience, IIT begins instead with the experience. “To be conscious is to have an experience,” Tononi said. It doesn’t have to be an experience about anything, although it can be; dreams, or some “blank mind” states attained by meditation also count as conscious experiences. Tononi has sought to identify the essential features of these experiences: namely, that they are subjective (they exist only for the conscious entity), structured (their contents relate to one another: “the blue book is on the table”), specific (the book is blue, not red), unified (there is only one experience at a time) and definitive (there are bounds to what the experience contains). From these axioms, Tononi and [Christof] Koch claim to have deduced the properties that a physical system must possess if it is to have some degree of consciousness.
IIT does not portray consciousness as information processing but rather as the causal power of a system to “make a difference” to itself. Consciousness, Koch said, is “a system’s ability to be acted upon by its own state in the past and to influence its own future. The more a system has cause-and-effect power, the more conscious it is.”
PHILIP BALL, “NEUROSCIENCE READIES FOR A SHOWDOWN OVER CONSCIOUSNESS IDEAS” AT QUANTA

That focus on the philosophical underpinnings of consciousness has attracted criticism:

Anil Seth, a neuroscientist at the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K., says the theory is too philosophical—attempting to explain why consciousness exists, rather than how the brain determines whether a stimulus is worthy of conscious attention—to be directly testable. “I don’t think [the competition] will do what it says on the tin,” he says. Tononi himself doubts the experiments could rule out all aspects of his theory, although he says they could “make our life more difficult.”
SARA REARDON, “‘OUTLANDISH’ COMPETITION SEEKS THE BRAIN’S SOURCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS” AT SCIENCE

But it’s nearly impossible to rule out the significance of philosophy in consciousness. Michael Egnor reminds us of the philosophical concept of the p-zombie:

A p-zombie (a philosophical zombie, as distinguished from the kind that sells movies) is identical to a human being but has no first-person (subjective) experience. It’s a meat robot, so to speak, that is indistinguishable in behavior from a human being. Thus, my p-zombie would look exactly like me, walk like me, talk like me, write blog posts like me, etc.. It would do exactly as I do but it would not have an “I” like me. It would feel nothing and think nothing. It would have no “I” at all. To borrow a concept from philosopher Thomas Nagel, there would be nothing it is like to be a p-zombie.
MICHAEL EGNOR, “NEUROSCIENTIST MICHAEL GRAZIANO SHOULD MEET THE P-ZOMBIE” AT MIND MATTERS NEWS

Each of us knows “I am not a p-zombie.” But no one knows that anyone else is not. That is part of the mystery of consciousness. And there is no escaping that part.

Some key concepts in consciousness from Mind Matters News:

Four researchers whose work sheds light on the reality of the mind The brain can be cut in half, but the intellect and will cannot, says Michael Egnor. The intellect and will are metaphysically simple

An Oxford neuroscientist explains mind vs. brain (Michael Egnor) Sharon Dirckx explains the fallacies of materialism and the logical and scientific strengths of dualism

Did consciousness “evolve”? (Michael Egnor) One neuroscientist doesn’t seem to understand the problems the idea raises

and

No materialist theory of consciousness is plausible (Eric Holloway) All such theories either deny the very thing they are trying to explain, result in absurd scenarios, or end up requiring an immaterial intervention

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Indus Script hieroglyphs, lizards, sun, face, crucible signify artisans of goldsmithy as donors to the temples in Srirangam, Thrissur

December 14, 2019, 5:48 pm

≫ Next: Sarasvati Civilization tradition of metal castings. vārppu or uruł̣i in Kerala, cauldrons weighing 1 to 3 tonnes

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https://tinyurl.com/yx2tzycn

This is an addendum to:

1. Antique vessel of c. 5th cent. BCE is an offering in Indus Script tradition to Kaṇḥa temple by erṇe arka karṇaka Supercargo smithy, helmsman, goldsmith

https://tinyurl.com/r6mva7f

2. Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays

https://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2019/12/bronze-vessel-offering-for-with.html

dula 'pair' rebus; dul 'metal casting' PLUS mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Mu.Ho.) Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'. Thus, dul mẽṛhẽt, 'cast iron' (Santali)

Glyph: aṭi foot, footprint (Tamil) Rebus: aḍe, aḍa, aḍi the piece of wood on which the five artisans put the article which they happen to operate upon, a support (Kannada)

Hieroglyph: அரணை araṇai , n. [K. Tu. araṇe, M. araṇa.] 1. Typical lizard,
Lacertidae; செந்து வகை. 2. Smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpanctula;
பாம்பரணை. Ta. araṇai typical lizard, Lacertidae; smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpunctula. Ma. araṇa green house lizard, L. interpunctula. Ka. araṇe, rāṇe, rāṇi greenish kind of lizard which is said to poison by licking, L. interpunctula. Tu. araṇe id.(DEDR 204)

Rebus: araṇi 'smith's anvil' (Sindhi) erṇe 'smithy' (WPah.) Rebus: adhikaraṇīˊ f. ʻ *anvil ʼ, adhikaraṇa -- n. ʻ receptacle, support ʼ TUp. [√kr̥1]Pa. adhikaraṇī -- f. ʻ smith's anvil ʼ; Pk. ahigaraṇī -- f. ʻ a piece of apparatus for a smith ʼ; K. yīran, dat. yṳ̄rüñ f. ʻ anvil ʼ, S. aharaṇi, araṇi f., L. (Jukes) ariṇ f., P. aihran, airaṇ, ā̆hraṇ f., WPah. bhal. arhini; roh. erṇe ʻ smithy ʼ, N. āran; H. aheran, ā̆hran m. ʻ anvil ʼ; -- H. Smith BSL 101, 115. Addenda: adhikaraṇīˊ -- : S.kcch. eṇ f. ʻ anvil ʼ; WPah.kṭg. n/arəṇ, n/arṇi f. ʻ furnace, smithy ʼ; āˊrəṇ m. prob. ← P. Him.I 4; jaun. āraṇ, airaṇ; G. eraṇi f. ʻ anvil ʼ, M. aheraṇ, ahiraṇ, airaṇ, airṇī, haraṇ f.(CDIAL 252)

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_golden_gecko The Indian golden gecko or Beddome's golden gecko (Calodactylodes aureus ) is a species of gecko known only from the Eastern Ghats of India...It is found among rocks in dark, shady ravines in the Tirupati Hills (fide M.A. Smith 1935).

The presence of lizard sculptures in gold and silver in temples is a remarkable evidence of the continuum of Indus Script hieroglyph tradition from the days of Sarasvati Civilization.

Lizard in Vadakkunathan temple

Perumthachan is the Malayalam synonym for Vis'vakarma, the Divine Architect. He is a smith in Indus Script and Sarasvati Civilization traditions.

“Ganesha shrine (Venmadakoil): Vadakkunathan has 12 days utsavam during uttarayana season…A dark room (nilavara) was found below the Peetham and a golden lizard lights up the place. The room was full of gold and jewels. The chieftain took only whatever was needed to conduct utsavam. You will see a stone carving of the lizard to commemorate this (behind the left door to the main entrance of the Valiyambalam). Touch and pray for prosperity here…A study done by Archaeological Survey of India on two paintings in the temple has revealed that it is 350 years old. These two rare paintings were a reclining Shiva and a Nataraja with 20 arms.”

http://hindutemples-india.blogspot.com/2019/07/vadakkunnathan-temple-thrissur-temple.html

Vadakkunathan Temple, Thrissur.According to popular local lore, this is the first temple built by Parasurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu. Thekkinkadu maidan, encircling the Vadakkunnathan Temple, is the main venue of the Thrissur Pooram. "The temple was built at the time of Perumthachan from Parayi petta panthirukulam. It is said that Perumthachan lived during the second century; so the Koothambalam may be more than 1,600 years old. According to Malayalam historian V. V. K. Valath, the temple was a pre-Dravidian Kavu (shrine).In the early days, Paramekkavu Bhagavathi was also inside the Vadakkunnathan temple. But Koodalmanikyam Temple, Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple and Ammathiruvadi Temple, Urakam is older than Vadakkunnathan temple, according to temple documents...The temple theatre, known as Koothambalam, has four magnificent gateways called Gopurams and the lofty masonry wall around the temple quadrangle are imposing pieces of craftsmanship and skill. The Koothambalam is used for staging Koothu, Nangyar Koothu and Koodiyattam, an ancient ritualistic art forms of Central Kerala. According to folk lore, before the new Koothambalam was built, there used to be an old and dilapidated structure....Maha Shivaratri is the main festival which is celebrated in the temple...Thrissur Pooram is called the mother of all Poorams in kerala. In Malayalam it's called ( poorangalude pooram). This is conducted in the Malayalam month of Medam. The deities from parmekavu ans thiruvambady temple along with other small poorams come and conduct infront of vadakkumanathan. It's a 36 long hour festival which attracts 1000s from all over the state. The main attractions of Pooram are Madathilavaravu panchavadhyam, Elanjithara melam, kudamattom and Fireworks.its a visual feast for everyone."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadakkunnathan_Temple

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/team-of-researchers-discovers-new-species-of-lizards-in-western-ghats/articleshow/65986401.cms

Team of researchers discovers new species of lizards in Western Ghats.

Two lizards on ceiling of Srirangam Ranganatha Temple Swarga Vaasal

Image result for golden lizard in srirangam"

Srirangam. Swarga Entrance. Two golden lizards on ceiling before the entrance shaped like a gopuram.

Gold and silver lizards in Kanchipuram Varadarajar Temple
ಎಲ್ಲಿದೆ ಈ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ?

Image result for Varadaraja-Perumal-Temple--Kanchipuram lizards"

Kanceepuram. Varadarajar Temple. Golden Gecko, Silver Gecko. Sun's rays and face and Moon.PLUS face. The Indus Script hieroglyphs are read rebus: sun's rays, pericarp, human face,lizard tAmarai 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper', arka 'gold, eraka, 'metal infusion' araNa 'smithy' muha 'face' rebus: muh 'ingot', kuThAru 'crucible' rebus: kuThAru 'armourers', karaNaka 'scribe'. Thus, the donor is a scribe from goldsmithy. The gold and silver metals used for the sculpting of the lizards indicates that the donors are smiths. It is notable that in Sanchi pericarp of lotus appears as hieroglyphs together with a pair of fish-fins which signify karaNaka 'pericarp' rebus: karaNaka 'scribe' PLUS ayo 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' PLUS khambhaṛā 'fish-fin', rebus: ayas kammaTa 'metal mint'. An inscription at Sanchi stats that the donors were dantakara'ivory carvers' (of Begram) who sculpted the monuments in stone at Sanchi and Bharhut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_H_AJFANc (1:02)

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Sarasvati Civilization tradition of metal castings. vārppu or uruł̣i in Kerala, cauldrons weighing 1 to 3 tonnes

December 15, 2019, 5:41 am

≫ Next: Roots of symbolisms of Vināyaka, six-pointed star of David vārppu of Somatheeram, Kovalam, lulav, menorah, links with Bronze Age Indus Script hieroglyphs of Sarasvati Civilization

≪ Previous: Indus Script hieroglyphs, lizards, sun, face, crucible signify artisans of goldsmithy as donors to the temples in Srirangam, Thrissur

https://tinyurl.com/r7szvu9

-- one weighs 3184 kgs, 12 ft. dia; another weighs 1030 kgs., 20 ft. dia

This is an addendum to:

Indus Script hieroglyphs, lizards, sun, face, crucible signify artisans of goldsmithy as donors to the temples in Srirangam, Thrissur

https://tinyurl.com/yx2tzycn

வார்ப்படம் vārppaṭam , n. < வார்²-. See வார்ப்புவேலை. (W.) வார்ப்பட

வேலைக்காரன் vārppaṭa-vēlaikkāraṉ , n. < வார்ப்படம் +. Founder, caster; வார்ப்புவேலை செய்வோன். வார்ப்பு vārppu , n. < வார்²-. 1. Pouring; ஒழுக்குகை. 2. Casting; உருக்கி வார்க்கை. வார்ப்பி னமைத்த யாப்பமை யரும்பொறி (பெருங். இலாவாண. 18, 24). 3. That which is cast; உருக்கி வார்க்கப்பட்டது. 4. A shallow, thick-lipped vessel; வயிறு அகன்று வாய் கனமாகவுள்ள பாத்திர வகை. Loc. 5. Bangle; கைவளை. (அக. நி.)

வார்ப்புவேலை vārppu-vēlai , n. < வார்ப்பு +. 1. Work of casting metal; உருக்கி வார்க் குந் தொழில். 2. See வார்ப்பு, 3.

Ta. uruḷ (uruḷv-, uruṇṭ-) to roll, tumble over and over, revolve (as a wheel), spin, become round, globular; n. car wheel, wheeled vehicle; uruł̣i wheel, circle, small vessel of bell-metal that is circular in shape; uruḷai wheel, anything that rolls or turns (as a ball); uruṭci revolving, rotundity; uruṭṭu (uruṭṭi-) to roll (tr.), revolve, whirl, impose and confound by high-sounding verbiage; n. rolling, wheel, roundness, fraud; uruṭai cart; uruṇṭai ball, anything round, roundness, mouthful of food in the shape of a ball. Ma. uruḷ circular, a wheel, rolling wave; uruḷuka (uruṇṭ-) to roll (intr.), toss, revolve; uruṇṭa round; uruḷa a ball; uruḷca rolling, roundness; uruḷi cauldron to boil 4-5 measures of rice; uruṭṭu what is round, fraud; uruṭṭan deceiver; uruṭṭuka to roll (tr.), cheat. Ir. ruḷḷu (ruṇḍ-) to roll (intr.); ruṭṭu id (tr.). Ko. urṇ- (urḍ-) to roll (intr.) over and over in one direction; urṭ- (urṭy-) id. (tr.). To. u·ḷ- (u·ḍ-) to roll (intr.); u·ṭ- (u·ṭy-) id. (tr.); u·ḷ ball (of butter, food, etc.), handful; uṭ- (uṭy-), pïṣ u·ṭ- (u·ṭy-) to turn earth with cane at funeral (for pïṣ, see 4290). Ka. uruḷ, uraḷu, uraṭu, uraṇṭu, uruṭu, uruṇṭu, urṭu, urḷu, uḷḷu, uṇṭu to roll, roll down, revolve, be turned over; uḷutu to roll; uraḷi, uruḷi, urḷi, uḷḷa, uḷḷe, oḷḷi a ball, bulb, round vessel of earth or metal; uruḷu, uruṭu, uruṇṭu, urḷu, ural, urlu rolling, roundness; uraṇe roller for moving logs; uruḷike rolling, revolving; uruḷicu, uruḷisu, uruḷcu to cause to roll, etc.; uṭṭu round stone used as an anchor, an anchor. Koḍ. urïḍ- (urïṇḍ-) to roll (intr.); urïṭ- (urïṭi-) id. (tr.). Tu. uruṇṭů, uruṇḍulu, urṇḍelů round; urṇḍe lump, morsel; urṇa round-shaped cake. Te. uralu, urlu to roll, roll down, fall down; (K.) oralu to toss in sleeplessness. Kuwi (Isr.) uṇḍḷa wave. Kur. oḷᵒṇḍārnā to roll on the ground (of animals).(DEDR 664a)

வெள்ளாஞ்செட்டி veḷḷāñ-ceṭṭi , n. < வெள்ளான் + செட்டி¹. Person belonging to a class of Vēḷāḷas who trade; வேளாளருள் வியா பாரஞ் செய்யும் பிரிவினன். (W.) வெள்ளாளன் veḷḷāḷaṉ , n. Corr. of வேளா ளன். [M. veḷḷāḷan.] Man of the Vēḷāḷa caste; வேளாளமரபினன். (தொல். எழுத். 338, உரை.) வெள்ளாங்குடி veḷḷāṅ-kuṭi , n. < வெள் ளான் + குடி⁴. Part of a village where Vēḷāḷas live; வேளாளர் வசிக்கும் ஊர்ப்பகுதி. Loc.

http://nagarjunv.blogspot.com/2008/04/worlds-largest-varpu-in-cochin.html
Image may contain: 2 people, people standing

The worlds biggest " URALI" otherwise called as varpu .This weighs 3184 kgs and has a diametre of 12 feet.You will find it in Jew street cochin,Kerala India...

https://www.facebook.com/ArtAsia.in/photos/a.350995801577760/657416147602389/?type=3&theater

A large varpu with Ganesha and Star of David

One of the largest Varpu made more than 300 years ago- Notice the Ganesha and Star of David together

History of Varpu the traditional pot to used to make Ayurveda medicines

http://desitraveler.com/varpu-uruli-kerala/

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Roots of symbolisms of Vināyaka, six-pointed star of David vārppu of Somatheeram, Kovalam, lulav, menorah, links with Bronze Age Indus Script hieroglyphs of Sarasvati Civilization

December 15, 2019, 6:09 pm

≫ Next: Vajra षट्-कोणs & Vināyaka of one of tee largest bronze cauldrons of the world in Kovalam signify divinity venerated in Brahma Saṁhitā,

≪ Previous: Sarasvati Civilization tradition of metal castings. vārppu or uruł̣i in Kerala, cauldrons weighing 1 to 3 tonnes

https://tinyurl.com/u8xltjb

This monograph posits the roots of Vināyaka, lulav, menorah, six-pointed star of David from Bronze Age Indus Script hieroglphs. The bronze, alloy metal cauldrons rival the Gundestrup cauldron in size and grandeur.

On Indus Script roots of Gundestrup cauldron, see:

Indus Script hieroglyphs on artifacts which signify Karnonov (Cernunnos), Gundestrup cauldron, Celtic tomb of Lavau (500 BCE) http://tinyurl.com/h34xgbo

Cernunnos/Kernunno of Gundestrup Cauldron/Pilier des Nautes, is Tvaṣṭṛ Triśiras r̥ṣi of R̥gveda on Indus Script seal m0304, evokes cognate kārṇī 'supercargo of a ship' https://tinyurl.com/y7gf3r8b

Ancient maritime trade from India.Druids' Gundestrup cauldron with Indus Script Hypertexts metalwork wealth ledgers https://tinyurl.com/y7zjczbu

This is an addendum to:

Sarasvati Civilization tradition of metal castings. vārppu or uruł̣i in Kerala, cauldrons weighing 1 to 3 tonnes

https://tinyurl.com/r7szvu9 This showed evidence of two cauldrons, one weighing 3184 kgs. with 12 ft. dia. and the other weighing 1030 kgs. but with a huge diameter of 20 ft. The second cauldron is unique because of the metal composition described as follows:

"During a visit to Somatheeram one of the first Ayurveda Spas in the world, in the picturesque Kovalam area in Trivandrum, I noticed this huge Vellode Varpu with its history mentioned on a poster next to it." http://desitraveler.com/varpu-uruli-kerala/

Somatheeram Ayurveda Village (Somatheeram Research Institute & Ayurveda Hospital Pvt. Ltd.)

Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram- 695501Kerala, India

This cauldron is unquie for two reasons: 1) it depicts two hieroglyphs: Vināyaka flanked by two ''six-pointed stars' which are the symbols of Judaism; it is a metallurgical marvel, an alloy of copper, brass, tin and lead. This alloy is called bharat in Marathi. भरत bharata n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c. भरताचें भांडें bharatācē mbhāṇḍēṃ n A vessel made of the metal भरत.भरती bharatī a Composed of the metal भरत. (Marathi) baran, 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) .(Punjabi). It is likely that the name Bharata for the nation came from this metal alloy which was popularly used for metalware used in households all over Bharatam. The hieroglyph which signifies this rebus reading of Bharat is barad, balad 'ox' (the old bull which looks down in front of a feeding trough in hundreds of inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora which totals over 8000 inscriptions).

aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal' PLUS dhALa 'slant' rebus: dhALako 'large ingot' PLUS kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS muh 'bun ingot, lozenge shape' rebus; muh 'ingot' PLUS karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus: karaNa 'scribe' karaNika 'steersman'; barad, balad 'ox' rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, tin, pewter, lead'; PLUS pattar 'feeding trough' rebus: patttar 'goldsmith guild'.

One of the largest Varpu- Notice the Ganesha and Star of David together

We do not know who commissioned this bronze marvel. We also do not know if the dating of the massive cauldron about 20 ft. dia has been verified by archaeo-metallurgists.

The combines symbolsm of Vināyaka and six-pointed star does point to the veneration of a Supreme Divinity. In Indus Script Corpora, the elephant signifies hieroglyph: karibha, ibha 'elephant' rebus: karba, ib 'iron'; thus, association with metalwork is emphatic. The rebus readings are vividly seen on Gardez Vināyaka; the hieroglyphs associate the divine sculpture with kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter' The tiger cub shown on Gardez Vināyaka reads: panja 'feline paw' rebus: panja 'kiln, furnace' PLUS पेटा pēṭā 'tiger cub' rebus: पेटा pēṭā smelter guild region of a town (and part of the phaḍa, paṭṭaḍa ‘metals manufactory’). See:

Tiger cub shown on Gardez Vināyaka is rebus पेटा pēṭā smelter guild region of a town

https://tinyurl.com/y6p5j4cu

Association of bulls with the Bronze Age is vividly seen in the following artifact called Molten Sea or Brazen Sea -- It is a huge brass vessel -- 5 cubits high and 10 cubits dia..

The Brazen Sea is destroyed by the Chaldeans (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

An artist's rendering of the Molten or Brazen Sea

'The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea (ים מוצק yām mūṣāq "cast metal sea") was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in 1 Kings 7:23-26 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-5. It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five cubits high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and thirty cubits in circumference. The brim was "like the calyx of a lily" and turned outward "about an hand breadth"; or about four inches. It was placed on the backs of twelve oxen, standing with their faces outward. It was capable of containing two or three thousand baths of water (2 Chronicles 4:5). The fact that it was a wash basin which was too large to enter from above lends to the idea that water would likely have flowed from it down into a subcontainer beneath. The water was originally supplied by the Gibeonites, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools. The molten sea was made of brass or bronze, which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of Hadarezer, the king of Zobah (1 Chronicles 18:8). Ahaz later removed this laver from the oxen, and placed it on a stone pavement (2 Kings 16:17). It was destroyed by the Chaldeans (2 Kings 25:13).'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_Sea

Represents the festival of Sukkot. Often an accompaniment of the Menorah. The Torah mentions the commandments to obtain a lulav for the Sukkot holiday once in Leviticus:("Leviticus 23 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre mechon-mamre.org.)

Leviticus 23:40: ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ עבת וערבי נחל ושמחתם לפני ה׳ אלהיכם שבעת ימים "And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days." (Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917).

Four Species, with the lulav longest in the middle. Lulav ([lu'lav]; Hebrew: לולב‎) is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the Four Species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other Species are the hadass (myrtle), aravah (willow), and etrog (citron). When bound together, the lulav, hadass, and aravah are commonly referred to as "the lulav".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulav

"The menorah (/məˈnɔːrə/; Hebrew: מְנוֹרָה [menoˈʁa]) is described in the Bible as the seven-lamp (six branches) ancient Hebrew lampstand made of pure gold and used in the portable sanctuary set up by Moses in the wilderness and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. Fresh olive oil of the purest quality was burned daily to light its lamps. The menorah has been a symbol of Judaism since ancient times." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_(Temple)

The historical flag of Prague's Jewish community (Wikimedia commons). Six-pointed star is integral to Jewish identity. While it is commonly identified with the shield of Biblical King David

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-did-the-six-pointed-star-become-associated-with-judaism-180959693/ The star is a hexagram formed by two overlapping triangles, one pointed upward and the other pointed downwads. Elon Gilad compares it with the graphics of triangles, hexagrams on a South African ochre block, perhaps used as talismans against evil spirits. Engraved ochre found in Blombos Cave, South Africa, found associated with Middle Stone Age levels (from 280,000 years ago to around 50,000 years ago). Many of the ochre pieces found in the cave, from the late Middle Stone Age, bear engravings which, archaeologists say, are the earliest known prehistoric art. These look like hexagrams.

Engraved ochre found in Blombos Cave, South Africa, found associated with Middle Stone Age levels (from 280,000 years ago to around 50,000 years ago). Many of the ochre pieces found in the cave, from the late Middle Stone Age, bear engravings which, archaeologists say, are the earliest known prehistoric art. These look like hexagrams.

Chris. S. Henshilwood, Wikimedia Commons

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-israel-got-its-flag-and-what-it-means-1.5381190.

Shin symbolizes El Shaddai (conventionally translated "God Almighty"), one of the Names of God in Judaism. This symbol is depicted on the ritual objects mezuzah and tefillin, and in the hand gesture of the Priestly Blessing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_symbolism. This symbol is comparable to the freuqnetly used Indus Script hieroglyph

Sign 162 which signifies hieroglyph kolmo 'rice-plant' rebus: kole.l, kolimi 'smithy, forge'; kole.l 'temple'. It is remarkable that the Sarasvati Civilization symbol for a temple (which is a smithy, forge) is Shin of Judaism's symbol for the Almighty Divinity.

Shofar (ram's horn). Represents the High Holy Days. Often an accompaniment of the Menorah.

Ur-Nammu stela is a Meluhha metalwork catalog denoting the metalcastings, metal weapons, tools and metalware as: dul 'metal casting, to cast metal in a mould (Santali)'; ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (Gujarati); lokhãḍ n. ʻ tools, iron, ironware ʼ (Gujarati).

This decipherment of Meluhha hieroglyphs complements the images presented on the 10 feet high stela of the then ongoing work of building temple, dagoba, the ziggurat of Ur linking heaven and earth and in celebration of the Bronze Age revolution.

The focus of this note on the duplicated hieroglyph shown on the central register of Ur-Nammu stela.
The two hieroglyphs show an identical palm frond with two hanging twigs or fronds as the centerpiece of an altar in front of both the male and female divinities. The male divinity is a builder holding a staff and bob plumb bob as perceptively noted by Jenny Vorys Canby whose painstaking researches resulted in a reasonable reconstruction of missing fragments of the stela. A major missing part unearthed by Canby is another hieroglyph: overflowing pots pouring into the center-piece altars with the palm fronds.

The decipherment of the three hieroglyphs: 1. duplicated frond, 2. palm frond and 3. overflowing pot will provide a framework for unraveling the central message of the Ur-Nammu stela which is a monumental 10 feet high stela which surely shows builders at work in the bottom registe. The central message is the material resources with which the builders were working -- as conveyed by a rebus reading of the three hieroglyphs: metalcastings, metalware.

1. duplicated frond: dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'metal casting, to cast metal in a mould (Santali)'

2. palm frond: ḍāla -- n. ʻ branch ʼtāla -- 2 m. ʻ Borassus flabelliformis ʼ, palm (CDIAL 5750)Rebus: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (Gujarati) ḍhālakī = a metal ingot. Vikalpa: Ka. (Hav.) aḍaru twig; (Bark.) aḍïrï small and thin branch of a tree; (Gowda) aḍəri small branches. Tu. aḍaru twig.(DEDR 67) Rebus: aduru gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Ka. Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya’ Śastri’s new interpretation of the AmarakoŚa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p.330).

3. overflowing pot: lo 'overflowing' PLUS kand 'pot' Rebus: lōkhaṇḍa लोहोलोखंड 'copper tools, pots and pans' (Marathi) N. lokhar ʻ bag in which a barber keeps his tools ʼ; H. lokhar m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; -- X lauhabhāṇḍa -- : Ku. lokhaṛ ʻ iron tools ʼ; H. lokhaṇḍ m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; G. lokhãḍ n. ʻ tools, iron, ironware ʼ; M. lokhãḍ n. ʻ iron ʼ (LM 400 < -- khaṇḍa -- )(CDIAL 11171)

Akkadian Cylinder Seal 2330-2150 BC (Wolkenstein) Serpent. Tree branches, divinities

Both faces of a large fragment from the curved top edge of the stela. The upper body of the king appears on each side, with a female deity overhead pouring out streams of water.

Artist's rendition of the proposed restoration of the 'front' of the Ur-Nammu stela (Drawing by Kathleen Galligan). Source: Jeanny Vorys Canby, A monumental puzzle, reconstructing the Ur-Nammu stela in: Expedition, Vol. 29 No. 1 http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/29-1/Monumental1.pdf

Palm fronds 1) with unicorns, rams on bas-reliefs of Nimroud; 2) Ur-Nammu stela; & 3) with pomegranate, birds on kernos are Meluhha ḍhālako Indus Script metal ingots
https://tinyurl.com/yxncnlzo

Jeanny Vorys Canby has demonstrated the depiction of 'overflowing pots' hieroglyphs on the Ur-Nammu stela. This insight reinforces the purport of the stela: to record the Bronze Age metals and materials used in the building activity directed by Ur-Nammu.

The chronology of Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed as follows, starting with Utu-hengal:
Utu-hengal: 2119-2113
Ur-Nammu: 2112-c. 2095
Shulgi: 2094-2047
Amar-Sin: 2046-2038
Shu-Sin: 2037-2029
Ibbi-Sin: 2028-2004

Utu-hengal (also written Utu-heg̃al, Utu-heĝal, and sometimes transcribed as Utu-hegal, Utu-hejal) had a daughter who married Ur-Nammu and birthed his successor, Shulgi.

It is remarkable that the suffix -hengal has a cognate in the name of one of 52 shakthi peetha शक्ति पीठ in Hindu tradition which includes Hinglaj (Or Hingula), southern Baluchistan a few hours North-east of Gawadar: Balochi: هنگلاج, Sindhi: هنگلاج, Urdu: ﮨنگلاج‎, Sanskrit: हिङ्ग्लाज, Hindi:हिंगलाज), an important Hindu pilgrimage place. It is likely that the morpheme hingal is cognate with two sets of glosses:

sinhala.siṁhala m. ʻ Ceylon ʼ, pl. ʻ Sinhalese ʼ MBh., °laka<-> VarBr̥S.Pa. sīhala -- , °laka -- ʻ Sinhalese ʼ, Pk. siṁhala -- , sīhala -- . -- Si. heḷa ʻ Ceylon ʼ, (h)eḷu ʻ pertaining to the language of Ceylon ʼ (GS 25) < **coḷiya* -- s.v.cōḍa -- Md. (old) oḷudū ʻ Ceylon ʼ.(CDIAL 13385, 13386).Pa. ēḷa -- gala -- ʻ speaking indistinctly ʼ (CDIAL 14216). This gloss has a cognate in SBr. reference to asura speaking indistinctly, uttering he'laya: śatapatha brāhmaṇa 3.2.1.23-24 refer to the use of he‘layohe‘laya Trans. ‘O enemies, O enemies’. This could also refer to ēla-p-pāṭṭu , n. < Boatmen's song in which the wordsēlō , ēlēlō occur again and again; ఏల [ēla ]ēla. [Tel.] n. Name of a stream in the Godavary District ēlēvāru. n. The rulers.[ēlu]ēlu. [Tel.] v. i. & t. To rule, govern. manage. The refrain of the song thus means: rule the waves by seafaring.SBr 23,24 refer to the use of he ‘layo he ‘laya Trans. ‘O enemies, O enemies’. This could also refer to ēla-p-pāṭṭu , n. < Boatmen's song in which the wordsēlō , ēlēlō occur again and again; ఏల [ēla ]ēla. [Tel.] n. Name of a stream in the GodavaryDistrict ēlēvāru. n. The rulers.[ēlu]ēlu. [Tel.] v. i. & t. To rule, govern. manage. The refrain of the song thus means: rule the waves by seafaring.
Le Rider, Revue Numismatique 1969 refers to the coins from Susa Mint. [quote]Susa, the ancient capital of the Elamites, had its own unique pantheon of deities. In the third millennium, a goddess seated on a lion occurs on a seal from Susa (Sb 6680) but there is no written evidence to identify her. She is said to have had a sanctuary in Elymais where tame lions were kept according to Aelian XII.23, who refers to it as the shrine of Anaitis. In this area, the worship of Nanaya was of long duration, probably beginning with the first Elamite king who godnapped the cult image of Nanaya and brought it to Susa. When Susa was refounded by Seleucus as a Greek polis Seleucia-on-the-Eulaeus, the Hellenes paid homage to Nanaya as the local goddess. Greek legal manumissions refer to Nanaya and probably came from her temple, but they left no visual image of her. When the area fell to Parthian forcess, Khuzistan became the semi-independent kingdom of Elymais under the kamnaskirid Dynasty. One unique coin minted in Susa has the legend BASIAEWS DDREIOU SWTHROU NANAIENW(N) "of the king Darius, saviour of the Nanayans (worshippers of Nanaya)." This king is said to be a usurper in Susa before the Arsacid onquest. The inscription on the reverse face NANAIENW(N) is said to indicate Susa with its famous sanctuary of Artemis-Nanaya. According to Le Rider, the Parthian king Mithradates II (123-88) was the first to mint coins in Susa with the images of Artemis as a representation of Nanaya, as a frontally facing bust adorned with rays emanating from her head or placing a polos head dress upon her head. He also minted a coin with just a crescent on the reverse face.[unquote] (Joan Goodnick Westenholz, 2013, Religions and Trade: Religious formation, transformation and cross-cultural exchange between East and West, p.186).Pk. illi-- m. ʻ lion, tiger ʼ, H. īl m. ʻ a wild animal ʼ also links with ela as a reference to a group of people conflated with siṁhá m. ʻ lion ʼ, siṁhīˊ -- f. RV.Pa. sīha -- m. ʻ lion ʼ, sīhī -- f., Dhp. siha m., Pk. siṁha -- , siṁgha -- , sīha -- m., sīhī -- f.; Wg. sī ʻ tiger ʼ; K. sah, süh m. ʻ tiger, leopard ʼ; P. sī˜h, sihã̄ m. ʻ lion ʼ, bhaṭ. sīh ʻ leopard ʼ; WPah.khaś. sīˋ ʻ leopard ʼ, cur. jaun. sīh ʻ lion ʼ; Ku. syū̃, syū ʻ tiger ʼ; Mth. sī˜h ʻ lion ʼ, H. sī˜gh, sīh m., OG. sīha m.; -- Si. sī, siha← Pa. -- L. śĩh, khet. śī ʻ tiger ʼ with ś -- from Pers. lw. śer ʻ tiger ʼ. -- Pa. sīhinī<-> f. ʻ lioness ʼ; K. sīmiñ f. ʻ tigress, leopard ʼ; P. sīhaṇī f. ʻ tigress ʼ; WPah.bhal. se_hiṇi f. ʻ leopard withcubs ʼ, jaun. sī˜haṇ ʻ tigress ʼ; H. sĩghnī f. ʻ lioness ʼ.WPah.kṭg. sīˊ m. ʻ lion, leopard, brave man ʼ, sĩˊəṇ, sī˜ṇ (with high level tone) f. ʻ lioness ʼ (also sī˜ṇ Him.I 214 misprint with i?) (CDIAL 13384).
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/12/palm-frond-overflowing-pot-hieroglyphs.html

"…bas-reliefs of Nimroud. The sacred bull, with expanded wings, and the wild goat, are introduced kneeling before the mystic flower which is the principal feature in the border…The same animals are occasionally represented supporting disks, or flowers and rosettes. A bird, or human figure, frequently takes the place of the bull and goat; and the simple flower becomes a tree, bearing many flowers of the same shape. This tree, evidently a sacred symbol, is elaborately and tastefully formed; and is one of the most conspicuous ornaments of the Assyrian sculptures. The flowers at the ends of the branches are frequently replaced in later Assyrian monuments, and on cylinders, by the fir or pine cone, and sometimes by a fruit or ornament resembling the pomegranate."

(Sir Austen Henry Layard, 1849, Nineveh and Its Remains: With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, Or Devil-worshippers, and an Enquiry Into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians, Volume 2,J. Murray, pp.295, 296)

https://books.google.co.in/books?as_brr=1&id=llVFb6qLmsgC&vid=OCLC15094280&dq=greek+pottery&jtp=1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=greek%20pottery&f=false
Winged unicorns signify फड, phaḍa 'metalwork manufactory artisan guild' PLUS dula 'pair' rebus; dul 'metal casting'
PLUS khoṇḍa singi 'horned young bull' rebus; kunda singi 'fine gold, ornament gold'.

A pair of rams signify dula 'pair' rebus; dul 'metal casting' PLUS mẽḍhā 'markhor' Rebus: mẽḍh 'iron' (Mu.), med 'copper' (Slavic languages) mẽṛhẽt 'iron' (Santali), meḍho 'helper of merchant'.

Thus, the bas-reliefs of Nimroud described by Austen Henry Layard are wealth signifiers of metalcastings
and mints for fine gold, ornament gold, and iron.
Marble , Sarasvati Civilization ( Photo - @metmuseum )
Punjabi. mẽḍhā m. 'markhor'.(CDIAL 10310) Rebus: mẽḍh 'iron' (Mu.), med 'copper' (Slavic languages) mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends; kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali) Rebus: meḍho 'helper of merchant'. (See embedded text -- Deśīnāmamālā of Hemacandra).
Deśīnāmamālā Glossary, p. 71 The early meaning of the lexeme meḍh can be traced from the semantics recorded in the following lexemes of Indian linguistic area; as Pischel notes, the word meḍh can be identified as susbtratum semantic for 'helper/assistant of merchant): MBh. [mēṭha -- 1, mēṇḍa -- 3 m. ʻ elephant -- keeper ʼ lex., Pa. hatthimeṇḍa -- m. ʻ elephant -- driver ʼ, Pk. meṁṭha -- , miṁṭha -- , miṁṭhala -- , mahāmettha -- (note final -- th in P. below), metthapurisa -- m. (Pischel PkGr 202) may point to a non -- Aryan word for ʻ elephant -- driver ʼ which became associated with mahāmātra -- : EWA ii 611. -- mahā -- , māˊtrā -- ] (CDIAL 9950). meṇḍa, मेण्ठः मेण्डः An elephant-keeper (Apte. lex.) a groom, elephant -- driver in cpd. hatthi˚ elephants' keeper J iii.431; v.287; vi.489. (Pali).
A. semantics 'iron': meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho)meṛed (Mundari);mẽṛed iron; enga meṛed soft iron; sanḍi meṛed hard iron; ispāt meṛed steel; dul meṛed cast iron; i meṛed rusty iron, also the iron of which weights are cast; bica meṛed iron extracted from stone ore; bali meṛed iron extracted from sand ore; meṛed-bica = iron stone ore, in contrast to bali-bica, iron sand ore (Mu.)
ḍ̠āṛhū̃ 'pomegranate' (Sindhi) Rebus: ḍhālako 'a large metal ingot'.

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Vajra षट्-कोणs & Vināyaka of one of tee largest bronze cauldrons of the world in Kovalam signify divinity venerated in Brahma Saṁhitā,

December 16, 2019, 5:29 am

≫ Next: Meaning of kāntara in the bronze cauldron Malayalam inscription is kāndara aravaṇai pāyasam confection-pot-maker

≪ Previous: Roots of symbolisms of Vināyaka, six-pointed star of David vārppu of Somatheeram, Kovalam, lulav, menorah, links with Bronze Age Indus Script hieroglyphs of Sarasvati Civilization

https://tinyurl.com/u3ggykx

-- 'vajra, six-angled' is an early Punch-marked coin symbol signifying mint work
-- ṣaṭkōṇa ʻ hexagonal ʼ RāmatUp. [ṣáṣ -- , kōṇa -- ]Or. chakoṇi ʻ hexagonal ʼ.(CDIAL 12681)

This is an addendum to: Roots of symbolisms of Vināyaka, six-pointed star of David vārppu of Somatheeram, Kovalam, lulav, menorah, links with Bronze Age Indus Script hieroglyphs of Sarasvati Civilization https://tinyurl.com/u8xlt jb

I submit that both the symbols: two षट्-कोणs 'two six-angled stars'& Vināyaka are signifiers of metalwork in smithy/forge. The uruḷi (cauldron) is perhaps a donation from artisans, metalwmiths for the temple utsavam-s venerating the divinities of temples.

The significance of two six-pointed stars flanking Vināyaka on the large cauldron of Kovalam has been posited.Detailed provenance and archaeo-metallurgical studies will help in dating the extraordinary artifact which constitutes the largest cauldron (20 ft. dia) of the world and further explaining the significance of the uruḷi (cauldron)

John Huntington has demonstrated the continuum from Vedic times related to some symbols on punch-marked coins, traceable to Harappa Script hieroglyphs/hypertexts, for e.g., 'six-angled' hypertext of Punch-marked coins khambhaṛā 'fish-fin' rebus: kammaṭa 'mint' From the following account it is clear that the six-pointed stars are symbolisms related to Divinity.

The uruḷi (cauldron) of Kovalam is 20 ft. dia and weighs 1030 kgs and has most likely been used in tempes on days of utsavam-s (festivals), for making and distributing prasadam (say, aravanai paayasam) to devotees.

ṣaṭ -koṇa, 'six-angled' is the thunderbolt of इन्द्र and is of great significance in early punch-marked coins.

See: Vajra and Punchmarked coins with Indus Script hypertexts
https://tinyurl.com/y85goask

Sun hieroglyph: arka 'sun' rebus: erako 'moltencast' arka 'copper, gold'

Six spokes emanating from 'dotted circle' are topped with multiple counts (2 or 3 each) of ligatured hieroglyphs: arrow, loop (with variants of ovals, buds, fish, hour-glass, one-horned young bull). dula 'two' rebus; dul'metal casting' kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' kaṇḍa 'arrow' rebus: kaṇḍa 'implements' kāca 'loop' rebus:kāsa 'bronze' mũh 'oval shape' rebus: mũh 'ingot' ayo 'fish' rebus: ayas 'metal alloy' aya 'iron' vajra (octagonal)samghāta 'adamantine glue', samgraha, samgaha 'arranger, manager'

The four official punch symbols are: 1. Vajra (with arrows and oval ingots) 2. Elephant 3. Spoked wheel PLUS round dot 4. Sun. All four are Indus Script hypertexts. 1. Vajra ayo kammata kanda vathara 'quarterof town to produce brass, alloy metal equipments, mintwork and weapons; 2. karibha, ibha 'elephant' rebus: karba, ib 'iron'; 3. gota 'round stone, pebble' rebus: goti 'silver' PLUS eraka 'nave of wheel' arA 'spokes' rebus: Ara 'brass'; 4. arka 'sun' rebus: arka, eraka 'moltencast, copper'.
Silver karshapana c. 5th-4th century BCE
Weight: 3.25 gm., Dim: 20 x 27 mm.
Four punches: sun, 6-arm, and two others, plus banker's marks /
Blank
Ref: GH --- (unlisted). This coin appears to have only four official punches: the sun, 6-arm symbol, elephant right, and chakra symbol. The sun has oblique rays, which is seen only on very early types, and the form of the elephant is also an early type. The chakra symbol, with the two "windows" below, containing pellets, is not listed in Gupta and Hardaker's symbol list. This coin may therefore be one of the earliest of the karshapana series, where there were only four official punches.
http://coinindia.com/galleries-magadha.html
See Mohenjo-daro seal m1406 which signifies an identical three plaits. kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. Thus, three 'plaited hieroglyphs' emanting from the central 'dotted circle' signify meḍ dhAtu 'iron mineral'. A pair of such hieroglyphs: dula 'pair' rebus;dul 'metal casting'. Thus, the six arms of six plaits (strands) signify: dul meḍ dhAtu 'cast iron mineral'.baTa 'six' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. Thus, the hypertext is a technical specification of mintwork repertoire of Gandhara mint with the centre-piece of a furnace to smelt mineral ores. See semantics of Rigveda: dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour).

This semantic expansion explains the unique hypertext orthographed on Gandhara silver-bent-bar Punch-marked coin.

Archaic Silver Punch-marked coin, Gandhara region, silver 'bent-bar', early type (flat bar with wide flan), (c. 450-400 BCE), Rajgor series 34, 11.39g. Obv: two radiate symbols punched at extreme ends. Rev: blank.
A silver 1/8 karshapana coin from the mint at Taxila, c.400's BCE
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/bce_500back/gandhara/coins/coins.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/10/vajra-six-angled-hypertext-of-punch.html

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Meaning of kāntara in the bronze cauldron Malayalam inscription is kāndara aravaṇai pāyasam confection-pot-maker

December 17, 2019, 3:47 am

≫ Next: Bronze zebu seal indus script inscription deciphered, carnelian beads, weights, other artifacts

≪ Previous: Vajra षट्-कोणs & Vināyaka of one of tee largest bronze cauldrons of the world in Kovalam signify divinity venerated in Brahma Saṁhitā,

https://tinyurl.com/sb3hhoz

Flipped horizontally.

Text: pana kāntara kuññan

Images of the bronze cauldron in Chennai Airport Trident Hotel Lobby

This is an addendum to:

Antique vessel of c. 5th cent. BCE is an offering in Indus Script tradition to Kaṇḥa temple by erṇe arka karṇaka Supercargo smithy, helmsman, goldsmith

https://tinyurl.com/r6mva7f

I submit that this Malayalam expression means: pana kāndara (kāndakara) 'confectionery maker' child (Divinity), an allusion to the legend of കണ്ണൻ or

Kaṇḥa Pkt. Kaṇḥa 'Divinity Kṛṣṇa' by a reference to the smithy and profession of the donor who has made the donation of the bronze vessel to a temple. The bronze vessel-maker is a confection-pot-maker -- kāndara. The confection made in the huge cauldron is: அரவணை² aravaṇai pāyasam , n. < id. +.அணை⁴ Preparation of rice, sugar and some other ingredients offered to Viṣṇu at night, before bed time.

அரவணிந்தோன் aravaṇintōṉ , n. < அரவு² + அணி-. Šiva, wearing serpents; சிவன். (சூடா.) அரவணை¹-த்தல் aravaṇai- , v. tr. < id. + அணை²-. 1. To embrace, fondle; தழுவுதல். (ஏகாம். உலா. 436.) 2. To support, cherish; ஆதரித்தல். ஐயன்புரியு மரவணைப்பும் (பணவிடு. 27). அரவணை² aravaṇai , n. < id. +.அணை⁴. 1. Viṣṇu's serpent bed, formed of the coils of Ādišēṣa; சேஷசயனம். (சிலப். 30, 51.) 2. Preparation of rice, sugar and some other ingredients offered to Viṣṇu at night, before bed time; விஷ்ணுகோயில்களில் அர்த்தசாமத்தில் நிவேதிக்குஞ் சருக்கரைப்பொங்கல். அரவணைச்செல்வன் aravaṇai-c-celvaṉ , n. See அரவணையான். அரவணையான் aravaṇaiyāṉ , n. < அரவு² +. Viṣṇu, reclining on the serpent; திருமால். (திவ். இயற். 2, 12.) அரவம்¹ aravam , n. prob. அரவு¹-. cf. sarpa. 1. Snake; பாம்பு. வெஞ்சின வரவம் (மணி. 20, 104). 2. The ninth nakṣatra. See ஆயிலியம். ஆதிரை கேட்டை யரவம் (விதான. பஞ்சாங். 16). 3. Ascending and descending nodes, regarded as planets in the form of monstrous dragons; இராகுகேதுக் கள். வரியரவம்பெண் (விதான. பஞ்சாங். 17).

Ta. kuñci anything small; young bird, chicken; kuñcu young of birds and various animals. Ma. kuññu, kuñci young, small, infant; kuññan boy; also endearingly of gïrls; kuññi = kuññu, kuññan; girl. Ko. kunj children as given by god, men as children of god; kun small. Ka. kunni young of an animal, esp. a young dog; gunna smallness; (Hav.) kuññi a young one. Koḍ. kuññi child; ma·ŋuññi n. pr. bull in mythology (see 4780); (Shanmugam) kuññappë uncle, father's younger brother; kuññavvë aunt, father's younger sister. Tu. kundu a child of Pariahs; (B-K.) kuññi, kuṇṇi small. Te. gunna young of an animal; kunna, kūna infant, young of an animal; kunnãḍu boy, lad; (Inscr.) kunnulu (pl.) sucklings, children. Kol. ku·na puppy. Kur. cuṛkuńju, (Hahn) curxunjū the last-born of a family (for cuṛ/cur, cf. cuḍḍa end, last).(DEDR 1646)

வெண்கன்னான் veṇ-kaṉṉāṉ , n. < id. +. Smith working in bell-metal; வெண்கலவேலைசெய்யும்கன்னான். வெண்கன்னானுக்குக்கைங்கர்யம். . . எல்லாம்வார்ப்பித்துப்புதிதாகப்பண்ணுகிறது (கோயிலொ. 94).வெண்கலப்பானை veṇkala-p-pāṉai , n. < id. +. Pot of bronze; வெண்கலத்தால்வார்க்கப்பட்டபாத்திரவகை.

வெண்கலம்¹ veṇ-kalam , n. < வெண்-மை + கலம்¹. [M. veṇkalam.] Bell-metal, bronze, an alloy of copper and tin; செம்பும் வெள்ளீயமும் கலந்து உருக்கி யுண்டாக்கும் கலப்புலோகம். (பிங்.) வெண்கலப்பத்திரங் கட்டி விளையாடி (திவ். பெரியாழ். 1, 9, 5). வெண்கலநிமிளை veṇkala-nimiḷai , n. < வெண்கலம் +. Bismuth pyrites. நிமிளை nimiḷai , n. Bismuth pyrites; செவ்வெண்மையானகல்வகை. (பதார்த்த. 1133.) வங்கம்¹ vaṅkam , n. < vaṅga. 1. Lead; purified lead; ஈயம். (நாமதீப. 378.) வங்கத்திற்செம்பொனுந் தெரிப்பாம் (கந்தபு. மார்க். 123). 2. Tin; தகரம். 3. Zinc; துத்தநாகம். (யாழ். அக.) 4. cf. vaṅga-jīvana. Silver; வெள்ளி. (பிங்.) 5. Bengal, one of 56 tēcam, q.v.; தேசம்ஐம்பத் தாறனுள் ஒன்று. (இரகு. திக்குவி. 66.) 6. The Bengali language, one of patiṉeṇ-moḻi, q.v.; பதினெண் மொழியுளொன்றான வங்கதேசத்துப் பாஷை.

Ta. kalam vessel, plate, utensil, earthenware, ship; kalavar navigators. Ma. kalam

pot, vessel, ship. Ko. kalm (obl. kalt-) clay pot in the making; k/gal, in: ap gal (s.v. 155 Ta. appam). Ka. kala pot, vessel. Koḍ. kala big pot. Tu. kara an earthen vessel. Te. kalamu ship; kalamari sailor. ? Br. kalanḍ broken earthen pot, any old pot. ? Cf. 1301 Ta. kallai. / Cf. Skt. kalā- boat; ? kalaśa- pot.(DEDR 1305)

Ta. vaṉai (-v-, -nt-) to form, fashion, shape, adorn, draw, paint; vaṉappu beauty, elegance; vaṉam beauty; vāṇi (-pp-, -tt-) to form, make. Ka. bān to make or fashion as a potter does, make pots, etc.; n. a pile of earthen vessels; bāmba a potter. Te. vānu to make, as a pot. Pa. vāñ- id. Kui vana a face, appearance, visage; flag. Cf. 4124 Ta. pāṉai and 4685 Ta. maṇṇu. / ? Cf. H. bannā to be made, banānā to make etc.; Turner, CDIAL, no. 11260.(DEDR 5327) vánati, vanṓti ʻ desires, gains, makes ready ʼ RV. 2. *vanvati or pass. *vanyatē. [√van]1. Pa. vanati, vanāyati, vanōti ʻ desires, aims at ʼ, Pk. vaṇēi ʻ asks ʼ; K.ḍoḍ. baṇāṇō ʻ to make ʼ; S. vaṇaṇu ʻ to suit ʼ; P. baṇnā ʻ to agree with, answer a purpose, be of use, succeed ʼ (← L. baṇṇaṇ ʻ to become ʼ, awāṇ. baṇuṇ ʻ to be made ʼ); WPah.bhad. baṇāṇū ʻ to make ʼ, paṅ. cur. baṇāṇā, pāḍ. baṇāṇ, Ku. baṇono; N. bannu ʻ to be made, be done, become ʼ; B. banā ʻ to agree, do ʼ; Mth. banab ʻ to be prepared, be made ʼ; OAw. banāvaï ʻ makes ʼ; H. bannā ʻ to be adorned, be made ʼ (→ K. banun ʻ to be made ʼ; G. banvũ ʻ to suit, be made ʼ, M. banṇẽ: LM 405 < varṇayati which does not explain NIA. -- ṇ -- ).2. Or. banibā ʻ to become ready, ripen, be made, be ʼ, banāibā ʻ to make, prepare (e.g. vegetables for cooking) ʼ or ← H. or B.Addenda: vánati. 1. WPah.kṭg. (kc.) bɔṇnõ ʻ to become, be done ʼ; -- Md. bannanī (pp. ban, absol. ban̆de, verbal noun banum) ʻ builds ʼ prob. like b˚ ʻ binds ʼ < bandhati.2. †vānayati, vanayati Dhātup.: WPah.poet. baṇno ʻ to make, prepare ʼ, kṭg. (kc.) bəṇauṇõ ʻ to make, cause to be made ʼ (kṭg. &rtodtilde; Wkc. bəṇeuṇo -S.kcch. bhanāyṇū ʻ to prepare, create ʼ ← G. banāvvũ (S. v -- = kcch. v -- : see váñcati Add2). (CDIAL 11260)

kāndavika m. ʻ baker ʼ Pañcad. [kándu -- ]Pk. kaṁdaviya -- , ˚dōiya -- , ˚duia -- (u from kaṁdua -- ) m. ʻ sweetmeat seller ʼ; G. kãdoī m. ʻ confectioner ʼ.
Addenda: kāndavika -- : S.kcch. kandhoyo m. ʻ confectioner ʼ.(CDIAL 3034) kándu f. ʻ iron pot ʼ Suśr., ˚uka -- m. ʻ saucepan ʼ.Pk. kaṁdu -- , kaṁḍu -- m.f. ʻ cooking pot ʼ; K. kō̃da f. ʻ potter's kiln, lime or brick kiln ʼ; -- ext. with -- ḍa -- : K. kã̄dur m. ʻ oven ʼ. -- Deriv. Pk. kaṁḍua -- ʻ sweetseller ʼ (< *kānduka -- ?); H. kã̄dū m. ʻ a caste that makes sweetmeats ʼ.kāndavika -- ; *kandukara -- .(CDIAL 2726) *kandukara ʻ worker with pans ʼ. [kándu -- , kará -- 1]K. kã̄dar, kã̄duru dat. ˚daris m. ʻ baker ʼ.(CDIAL 2728)

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Bronze zebu seal indus script inscription deciphered, carnelian beads, weights, other artifacts

December 17, 2019, 5:28 pm

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https://tinyurl.com/swlsbhd

This is an extremely rare bronze seal, one of only a few known. It depicts a zebu bull and it is about 42 mm square with a boss on the back. पोळ pōḷa, 'zebu, bos indicus' rebus pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrous-ferric oxide Fe3O4'; pattar 'feeding-trough' rebus pattar 'goldsmith guild'.

dATu 'cross' rebus dhatu 'mineral ore' kamaRkom 'ficus religiosa' rebus kamar 'blacksmith' karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus karaNa 'scribe' karaNaka 'helmsman, supercargo'

kuṭhī 'factory'; bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: baṭa'iron' (Gujarati); bhaṭa 'furnace'; muka 'ladle' (Tamil)(DEDR 4887) Rebus: mū̃h 'ingot' (Santali).PLUS baṭa 'pot' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'; ḍhaṁkaṇa 'lid' rebus dhakka 'excellent, bright, blazing metal article' PLUS koDa 'one' rebus: koD 'workshop'; karNaka 'rim of jar' rebus karaNa 'scribe' karaNaka 'helmsman, supercargo'

Hieroglyph, Sign 244: kṓṣṭha2 n. ʻ pot ʼ Kauś., ʻ granary, storeroom ʼ MBh., ʻ inner apartment ʼ lex., ˚aka -- n. ʻ treasury ʼ, ˚ikā f. ʻ pan ʼ Bhpr. [Cf. *kōttha -- , *kōtthala -- : same as prec.?]Pa. koṭṭha -- n. ʻ monk's cell, storeroom ʼ, ˚aka<-> n. ʻ storeroom ʼ; Pk. koṭṭha -- , kuṭ˚, koṭṭhaya -- m. ʻ granary, storeroom ʼ; Sv. dāntar -- kuṭha ʻ fire -- place ʼ; Sh. (Lor.) kōti (ṭh?) ʻ wooden vessel for mixing yeast ʼ; K. kōṭha m. ʻ granary ʼ, kuṭhu m. ʻ room ʼ, kuṭhü f. ʻ granary, storehouse ʼ; S. koṭho m. ʻ large room ʼ, ˚ṭhī f. ʻ storeroom ʼ; L. koṭhā m. ʻ hut, room, house ʼ, ˚ṭhī f. ʻ shop, brothel ʼ, awāṇ. koṭhā ʻ house ʼ; P. koṭṭhā, koṭhā m. ʻ house with mud roof and walls, granary ʼ, koṭṭhī, koṭhī f. ʻ big well -- built house, house for married women to prostitute themselves in ʼ; WPah. pāḍ. kuṭhī ʻ house ʼ; Ku. koṭho ʻ large square house ʼ, gng. kōṭhi ʻ room, building ʼ; N. koṭho ʻ chamber ʼ, ˚ṭhi ʻ shop ʼ; A. koṭhā, kõṭhā ʻ room ʼ, kuṭhī ʻ factory ʼ; B. koṭhā ʻ brick -- built house ʼ, kuṭhī ʻ bank, granary ʼ; Or. koṭhā ʻ brick -- built house ʼ, ˚ṭhī ʻ factory, granary ʼ; Bi. koṭhī ʻ granary of straw or brushwood in the open ʼ; Mth. koṭhī ʻ grain -- chest ʼ; OAw. koṭha ʻ storeroom ʼ; H. koṭhā m. ʻ granary ʼ, ˚ṭhī f. ʻ granary, large house ʼ, Marw. koṭho m. ʻ room ʼ; G. koṭhɔ m. ʻ jar in which indigo is stored, warehouse ʼ, ˚ṭhī f. ʻ large earthen jar, factory ʼ; M. koṭhā m. ʻ large granary ʼ, ˚ṭhī f. ʻ granary, factory ʼ; Si. koṭa ʻ storehouse ʼ. -- Ext. with -- ḍa -- : K. kūṭhürü f. ʻ small room ʼ; L. koṭhṛī f. ʻ small side room ʼ; P. koṭhṛī f. ʻ room, house ʼ; Ku. koṭheṛī ʻ small room ʼ; H. koṭhrī f. ʻ room, granary ʼ; M. koṭhḍī f. ʻ room ʼ; -- with -- ra -- : A. kuṭharī ʻ chamber ʼ, B. kuṭhrī, Or. koṭhari; -- with -- lla -- : Sh. (Lor.) kotul (ṭh?) ʻ wattle and mud erection for storing grain ʼ; H. koṭhlā m., ˚lī f. ʻ room, granary ʼ; G. koṭhlɔ m. ʻ wooden box ʼ.kōṣṭhapāla -- , *kōṣṭharūpa -- , *kōṣṭhāṁśa -- , kōṣṭhāgāra -- ; *kajjalakōṣṭha -- , *duvārakōṣṭha -- , *dēvakōṣṭha -- , dvārakōṣṭhaka -- .Addenda: kṓṣṭha -- 2: WPah.kṭg. kóṭṭhi f. ʻ house, quarters, temple treasury, name of a partic. temple ʼ, J. koṭhā m. ʻ granary ʼ, koṭhī f. ʻ granary, bungalow ʼ; Garh. koṭhu ʻ house surrounded by a wall ʼ; Md. koḍi ʻ frame ʼ, <-> koři ʻ cage ʼ (X kōṭṭa -- ). -- with ext.: OP. koṭhārī f. ʻ crucible ʼ, P. kuṭhālī f., H. kuṭhārī f.; -- Md. koṭari ʻ room ʼ.(CDIAL 3546)

Indus Valley artifacts are generally relatively small and made from terracotta or steatite (a type of soapstone) or in the case of jewellery carnelian or other coloured stones. Metal objects are rare. Amongst the most iconic artifacts are square steatite seals which usually bear the image of an animal such as a bull, or less commonly an elephant or rhinoceros. In addition there are usually a few characters of Indus script, which has defied deciphering to this day. This seal has the image of a single horned bull - some say this is a "unicorn"; other say it is simply a bull in profile. The back of the seal bears a perforated boss. The boss was prone to breakage, and seals were often lost. This seal is about 36 mm on a side.

This is one of the most important pottery pieces discovered from the Indus Valley region. It is about 43 cm in diameter and 24 cm in height. Very few pieces of Indus Valley pottery depict human figures, and this example has seven figures that appear to be birdmen god deities. This bowl has been tested by thermoluminescence, giving a rough date of 2900 BCE.

Indus Valley craftsmen were renowned for their ability to produce fine beads, especially from stones such as carnelian (an orange to red quartz). Often the beads were etched using lime and heat. Beads in this style are found widely throughout the Near and Far East, which suggests that such beads became esteemed objects of trade and were imitated.
Red gems: patumarākam (ruby/topaz), kuruvintam (ruby), kurun- takkal (corundum emery); nine gems: kōmētakam (sardonyx), nīlam (lapis lazuli), pavaḷam (coral), marakatam (emerald), māṇikkam (ruby), muttu (pearl), puruṭarākam (< puṣpa- rāga. topaz), vaiṭūriyam (cat's eye), vayiram (vajra, diamond);

The ultimate sign of wealth in Indus Valley civilisation were large narrow beads, as they were difficult and tedious to make. The longest bead here is about 9.1 cm. Apart from being fashioned from a rough piece of stone, the beads had to be drilled, and quartz is a very hard material. It is estimated that in hand-drilling a bead, the rate of progress might have been 1 mm per hour, and an error in alignment could cause the bead to break. A single large bead could involve a month's labour.

This is perhaps one of the most significant figures known from the Indus Valley region. Statuettes in metal are extremely rare, and this depicts three god-like figures, each with prominent nose and wide muscular shoulders. The function of the piece is unknown - it may depict a triumvirate of gods or possibly kings. Metal was a scarce and valued commodity in the Indus Valley, and was little used in art. The piece stands only 11.3 cm in height.

Indus Valley gold, chiefly in jewellery, is very rare. It seems that gold was not readily available, and was not wasted, as in the case of burial goods, although this is different at Baluchistan sites. Most gold pieces use the metal very sparingly. In this example, the beads are hollow, and in the pendant, thin gold lies over an organic core. The pendant is in the form of a Indus River reed boat. All told, the necklace is about 43 cm in length and weighs only about 18 g.

This is a remarkable engraved copper plate measuring about 56 mm by 64 mm, with a thickness of 5.5 mm. It incorporates the image of a horned deity, an altar, and a flowering herb, and bears the longest known inscription, 34 characters, of Indus script. The writing is reversed, as seen in the asymmetric characters, but the engraving is too fine to have use as a seal. It appears that this is the world's oldest known printing plate, and likely was used for printing on cloth. This and other plates have recently been described in the e-journal Ancient Asia, volume 5.
http://eclecticmuseum.com/indus-valley.html

On the copper plate, observations of Rick J. Willis (Personal communication): "1) All 9 plates were trialled with a professional printing press, and in addition I have taken impressions using a simple stamping press. These proofs have been mostly done on paper which of course is anachronistic, but easy in the short term.

2) As far as dating and authenticating the plates is concerned, this has been done in Pakistan by appropriate museum personnel, although I was not at liberty to state this in the published article, as this is a sensitive matter for Pakistani authorities."

See:

1.An advance over invention of writing. Printing technology of Sarasvati Civiliization demonstrated by Rick Willis

https://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2019/12/an-advance-over-invention-of-writing.html

2.A tribute to Rick Willis who demonstrated possible use of Indus Script copper plates for printing. Indus writing created metalwork catalogs.

https://www.academia.edu/11316267/A_tribute_to_Rick_Willis_who_demonstrated_possible_use_of_Indus_Script_copper_plates_for_printing._Indus_writing_created_metalwork_catalogs

Weighs, Ancient Far East

Image result for Burmese Weights and Other Animal-shaped Weights rick willis"

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The book was originally scheduled to be published with River Books, but is now being published in Australia by Hintha Books. There is a wealth of totally new information about weights, and the chapter about the previously unknown weights of Bagan and Ava is remarkable in presenting for the first time the incredible story of the discovery of the treasure of the 16th Century Ava king, Moe Bye Narapati, which at its centre held a hoard of unique weights, previously unseen.
The long awaited book by Rick Willis and Greg Herman entitled "Burmese Weights and Other Animal-shaped Weights". The book provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of the topic of weights, once known as "opium weights", now respectfully known as Burmese Weights. The book has been published in economical A4 format and is in full colour.

Another departure from the usual books about Burmese and similar weights, is that the book describes the weights most often seen in the marketplace, including copies and fakes, and not just those confined to museums.

The book comprises 262 pages, and covers the following topics:

Historical background
Manufacture and use of Burmese weights
Origins of zoomorphic weights
Weights of the Bagan and Ava eras
Burmese bird-shaped weights
Burmese lion-like weights (i.e. toe and chinthe)
Elephant weights
Amulet-like weights
Weights of Laos
Weights of India
African goldweights
Weights and the collector

Many of these topics have been tackled for the first time in book form. In addition, there is a near complete bibliography concerning Burmese weights and a comprehensive Index.

There is a rich text of about 74000 words, over 450 photos, mostly original, and much information new to the subject.

Publication has just occurred in January 2019, The book weight is just under 1 kg.

The ISBN is 978-0-646-99662-2

So-called opium weights usually range in size from about 1.6 g (1/10 kyat or tical) to about 16000 g or 16 kg (10 viss = 1000 tical); the basic unit is a tical, which is about 16 g. Displayed here are three examples of 1/10 tical weights in the shape of a chinthe (beast), elephant, and hintha (bird). The uppermost weight is gold and extremely rare, and weighs about 0.2 g and thus may approximate to 1/50 tical (in very old weights, a tical is closer to 10-12 g). All weights of these sizes are very scarce as they are obviously easily lost.

This weight offers a reasonable representation of a chinthe weight. Chinthe weights, even in smaller sizes such as 20 tical, often have a handle. This weight is a large example, standing 21.5 cm tall and weighing 5 viss (about 8 kg); however, it is extremely unusual as it made of cast iron. This indicates that in some regions bronze was too scarce or too valuable to be used in large weights. It is possible this weight originates from an area near China, as the Chinese commonly cast their weights in iron.

At first sight, this seems an unlikely authentic open weight, as most people regard the rhinoceros as an African beast. However until about 1900, a species of rhino with a single-horn was native to much of SE Asia, including Burma, Thailand and Laos. It is likely that rhino opium weights were created for weighing rhino horn powder, chiefly by Chinese merchants. Another clue is that the number '8', an auspicious number, relates to this weight. The weight weighs 128 g, which is 8 ticals, and the front bears an 8-ray star mark.

This is an early chinthe weight, that Gear & Gear (1992) in their book "Earth to Heaven", assign to the earliest group of beast weights, Group 5. This particular weight is similar to the one they illustrate on p. 177. It is characterised by a base inscribed with fine oblique lines. The weight here has had a number of weight adjustments - the underside of the base has been scraped to reduce weight, and then it has also been repaired with copper (turquoise colour) or had metal added to previously chipped areas to add mass. The weight now weighs 147 g and thus represents 10 tical.

There has long been a connection between coins and weights. In antiquity, any metal was precious, and about 3000 years ago, the earliest coins standardised metals such as bronze, silver and gold into tradeable amounts. It is uncertain whether in Burma, coins served as weights, or vice versa, but the term "kyat" is used both as a unit of money and of weight (= tical). The relationship between coins and weights was evident in the money of French Indochina, where, for example, a 1 centime coin (left) was engraved with its weight of 10 g. Similarly, in India until 1947, the silver 1 rupee coins were minted with a weight of 1 tola (11.6 g), as were some silver coins in Tibet. Until 1942, the 50 cent silver coins of Ceylon weighed a half tola, and even the famous 1 kyat 1852 peacock coin of Burma weighs a half tola. It is interesting that some of the lead "coins" attributed to the Pegu region are more credible as weights, as they are unusually thick, about 10 mm, and have a weight of about 5 ticals or 80 g

Most opium weights originate from either Burma or Thailand. The Burmese weights are mostly based on the chinthe (beast), hintha (bird) or duck design. Thai weights commonly employ an elephant, and the Thai weight illustrated is very unusual as it rearing up on its hind legs. Thai weights are often accompanied by inscribed decoration to the metal, including cross-hatching, or bands containing a series of circles.

Amongst the most striking of the elephant weights are the multi-headed elephants, known in Thailand as Erawan (or Airavata). These are three large and rare decorated examples, likely from the 19th Century. The left weight (588 g) corresponds to about 40 tical, the middle weight (791 g) to a 1/2 viss, and the right weight (1476 g) to 1 viss. It is uncertain as to whether these served primarily as weights or as icons, although the middle weight has had its mass adjusted with lead on the underside. The right example was possibly left unfinished and a bit underweight as an icon, as the base is hollow

Weights from Burma or Myanmar are most commonly based on the hintha (a mythical chicken-like bird) or the chinthe (a mythical lion-like beast). The most elaborate designs come from the Shan regions, and with hintha designs, the birds often bear an elongated beak with "lips", several crests, and feathers accentuated with curls. Illustrated here are a 1 viss (=100 ticals or about 1.6 kg) and a 2 1/2 viss Shan weight.

It is possible that this is actually an opium weight, that is, a weight for weighing opium. This strange object has been crafted in steel, and bears a portrait ostensibly of John Perkins Cushing, an American trader active in China from about 1806-1830, and thereafter based in Boston. He was a known opium smuggler, and indeed one Perkins & Co. vessel was recorded as smuggling 10 tons of opium. The object is a cylinder of 38.9 mm diameter, and 37.7 mm height. It weighs almost exactly 10 Shanghai tael, where a tael = 33.9 g. This cylinder weighs 338.7 g. While the object looks like a die or punch for creating other metal objects, the rim seems to defeat this function.

Since coins first appeared, they have likely served also as small weights, for commonly each local coin of a known denomination has roughly the same mass. Thus the earliest weights in Southeast Asia owe their shape to coins, and more or less are coin-like objects that are thicker and bigger. These Burmese examples with animal motifs originate from about the 13th to 14th Century. These are the predecessors of the so-called "pumpkin base" weights, and the weight at the left, in particular, bears vertical lines on its base.

"Pumpkin base" opium weights are named as the base of the weight is rather globular, often with vertical grooves, like a pumpkin. They are amongst the earliest opium weights and likely date from the 15th and 16th centuries. This very rare and large example depicts a pair of wrestlers - human figures are seldom seen in opium weights.

"Pumpkin" base weights also are known from China, and generally are made from stone. These are counterweights for a steelyard balance, as there is a hole for a suspension cord. It seems likely that these were copied from Burmese designs, but the animals are usually zodiacal - here we see a rat and a tortoise. These are likely from the Ming or early Qing Dynasty

This is another very unusual steelyard weight that is zoomorphic. Steelyard weights with human or animal form are well known from Roman times, but are unusual in southeast Asia. This charming example in bronze, depicting a lion, weighs 830 g and stands 16.5 cm tall overall. The weight originates from the southern India region. The weight would have slid along a beam of a steelyard scales, and one can see some associated wear at the top of the ring on the inside. This likely dates from the 18th or early 19th century.

This is a Burmese hardwood "steelyard" balance, likely from the Lake Inle district, c. 1900. A very similar, but larger example is illustrated in Annandlale's article on "Weighing Apparatus from the Southern Shan States", published in 1917. The apparatus would have been hung by the cord, and goods either in a bag, basket or pan would have been suspended from the hook. A weight on a cord or chain would have then hung on the graduated arm of the apparatus, to counterbalance the goods. The arm of this example measures about 50 cm in length overall, and each major graduation, indicated by a circle was likely calibrated at 1 viss.

Before industrialisation, bronze was a relatively expensive substance, and indeed it was worth its weight in coins. Traders began to realise that larger opium weights could be made more cheaply by using a non-bronze material to occupy most of the volume of the weight. In this example, the base consists of a core of the rock pegmatite (a granite-like rock) which has then been covered with a veneer of bronze. In some weights, the core consists of lead, which was a cheaper metal than bronze.

What are termed "opium weights" essentially fall into two distinct groups, that depend on the type of balance used. Conventional weights, such as Burmese and Thai weights, have a wide range of masses, as they were used with a 2-pan balance. However, in China and much of southeast Asia, the common portable balance was a steelyard balance, where a single hanging weight could slide along a beam and thus be used to weigh different masses according to a scale written on the beam.

These latter weights generally have a hole at the top to allow suspension, and they are typically all about the same size for a given shape. Mostly they were made hollow such that the final weight could be adjusted with lead. Some seem transitional in form with a Burmese pumpkin weight (left example, second row). Others suggest regional imagery, such as the middle weight, bottom row, which incorporates a snail.

Most opium weights were cast in bronze (an alloy of copper and tin or lead), although there can be quite wide variation in the composition of the bronze metal. More yellow looking metal tends to be of more recent origin. Occasionally weights were cast in what is known as "silver bronze" and such weights when polished show a bright silver colour. These contain very little actual silver, but owe their colour to metals such as tin, lead, arsenic and antimony. However, despite the silvery colour, the weights are still mainly copper (about two thirds). These weights are relatively rare and seem to date mostly from the 18th century. Some weights were also gilded to alter their colour, and the weight lower left has residual gilding, giving it a subdued gold appearance. The large weights illustrated are 20 ticals and the small weight are 5 and 2 ticals.

The chinthe appears on many Burmese opium weights. A chinthe is a mythical animal that is part lion and part dragon; however in most opium weights the beast looks predominantly leonine. This is an early example of a chinthe weight, weighing 328 g, and in these early weights, the chinthe commonly looks as if it is head on into a hurricane, and being pushed backward. This weight is unusual as it does reveal some dragon characteristics, especially with the scaled tail and crest.

This weight, which is quite beautiful and elegant in its simplicity, is probably too good to be true. The subject matter, a dromedary camel is very unusual, and almost Chinese in style. The depiction of the camel is not quite right, as in a dromedary camel, the single hump is generally in the middle of the back. The notion of a dromedary or Arabian camel in Burma or Thailand is also questionable. The weight weighs 1581 g which corresponds well to a 1 viss weight, and indeed it bears an 8-ray star mark on the base. However, close inspection suggests that the lovely patina is applied, the rounded edges have been achieved through careful filing, and the star-mark is part of the cast, and not struck after verifying the mass.

Amongst the rarest of the Burmese opium weights are the marble (or alabaster) weights that were likely made in the Mandalay region. In this group of four weights, the largest measures about 12 cm diameter.

In major centres, opium weights were manufactured in dedicated workshops under government supervision, and these approved weights were stamped with a royal mark, such as a star. In rural areas, local metalworkers commonly made unofficial copies of weights as required by local traders, and these products were often rather crude and lack any official mark. This is an interesting example of a 20 tical weight that was too large when cast, and it has been substantially filed down to yield its designated mass.

Whilst most references emphasise bird and beast bronze weights, there is another form that is relatively uncommon, and that is what is sometimes called monk's bowl shape. These weights generally originate from northern Thailand and Laos regions. They are usually found only in small sizes, and the unit of weight is the tamlung which is about 60 g. The weight at the left is 15 mm diameter. The masses of this series, from left to right, are 9.3 g, 33.5 g, 62.9 g, 105.2 g. The weight at the right is likely a very rare Burmese 10 tical version that weighs 171.2 g; it could also be a rare 3 tamlung weight. These weights seldom bear official marks.

Bronze weights were used throughout the trade routes of Southeast Asia, and thus it is not surprising to find Thai weights in Burma, Burmese weights in Laos, and so forth. However, different units of weight were used in different places; for example Burma uses the tical (approx. 16 g) and Laos uses the tamlung (about 60 g). Illustrated is a former 5 tical (80 g) Burmese hintha (bird) weight from Burma, that found its way to Laos, and was then chiselled down to a 1 tamlung (in this case 58.3 g) weight of chinthe form!

It is little appreciated that some zoomorphic weights originate from the Laos region, and have distinctive forms. An unusual form is the backward looking lion that seems to be derived from Buddhist tradition, e.g. Tibet. These three examples are cast in "silver" bronze. The larger weight is likely a 2 tamlung weight and weighs 131.6 g, the middle one weights 42.8 g but is slightly underweight due to loss of its tail, and the smaller one weighs 14.4 g and may be either one quarter or one fith tamlung.

This is another Lao weight, that at first glance would likely be dismissed as a "fake'. However, it is a 1 tamlung weight, cast in silver bronze and obviously copied from a typical Burmese hintha weight. This weight weighs 66 g.

This is a recently found bronze weight from Laos. It stands 22.5 cm tall and weighs 1722 g. The weight depicts a peacock with a curious bi-coiled mouth appendage, and there is a similar small bird sitting on the apex of the tail of the large bird. This weight was reputedly excavated amongst others in recent years in the Luang Namtha district of Laos. The age is unknown.

Many of the Lao weights are reminiscent of Islamic weights, and may owe their origin to Islamic traders several hundred years ago. Many of the geometric weight, especially the octagonal weights, bear a wavy symbol known as a "luang", which is likely a sacred sign, and symbolises a snake. As can be seen in the image, the lower right weight bears an asymmetric luang symbol that seems to have a head of some sort. The top right weight has two signs on six of the eight of the sides of the weight. According to J. Gabel (2009), the luang was used as a sign of authentication of these weights.

It is apparent that in older cultures, there is an overlap in currency and weights. A good example is northern Thailand and Laos, where so-called "bar money" and "boat money" likely served for both exchange and for weighing goods. Illustrated here is a range of these unusual objects, which are quite crudely cast; thus there is likely a wide range in mass for a particular "denomination". The top group comprises small pieces, the weight being between 15 and 19 g, likely representing a quarter tamlung or one baht (15 g). The middle right group has a mass ranging from 62 g to 81 g, and could represent either one tamlung, or four to five baht. The middle left group has a mass ranging from 99 g to 127 g (two tamlung?). The very large piece at the bottom is 33 cm in length and has a mass of 271.5 g (four to five tamlung?).

Another curious type of weight sometimes called an "opium weight" is a round weight that seems confined to Rajasthan, India. These weights have a strangely organic form reminiscent of either a pumpkin or an echinoderm. One can assume that the grooves were both decorative and allowed for weight adjustment. There are many variations in form: in some, there is a central button on top, some have very fine ribbing, and in others the decoration is fancier, but all are round and more or less oblate. These weights seem to date from the 18th and 19th centuries, but are little documented The organic form is interesting as the Indian weight system is essentially based on seeds, especially the bright red seed ("poison bead") of Abrus precatorius. In the group of weights here, the largest is 83 mm diameter and weighs 562 g. The smallest is 27 mm diameter and weighs 34 g.

This is another grouping of Rajasthani bronze weights, which shows weights with a prominent central button. The heaviest weight here is 212 g and the lightest is 52 g. The weights are made of bronze, but as with other weights of South-east Asia, there can be substantial variation in the metal composition, yielding anything from a reddish copper-rich bronze to a silvery bronze.

This is a group of somewhat more ornate Rajasthani weights. The unit of mass in Indian weights is the tola, which corresponds to about 11.6 g. The heaviest weight here is 115 g (10 tola), and the smallest is 11.5 g (1 tola).

Finally, here is a group of weights with finer ribbing. These weights seem to dominate the smaller size weights. In this group, the smallest weight weighs 5.7 g (or half a tola). As with most sets of weights, it is the largest and the smallest weights that are most scarce. The large weighs had intrinsic value because of their metal content, and may have been scrapped. The smallest weights were easily lost.

The larger Rajasthani weights were likely made of stone, as bronze or brass was too valuable. This is a 100 tola weight carved in a brown marble, again with a radiate design. It would have weighed about 1150 g, but with loss over time it now weighs 1080 g. The weight has a diameter of 11.7 cm and a thickness of 3.8 cm. It is believed to date from the 18th century.

While these looks like common opium weights, both are very rare. They are hintha ("bird") weights on a square base. Almost all hintha weights have six-sided, eight-sided, or more or less round bases. Square bases are associated with chinthe ("lion") weights. These are evidently unofficial provincial weights and do not bear any standard marks. The smaller weight is 10 ticals and weighs 167.4 ; the larger weight is 20 ticals and weighs 322.8 g

Opium weights are cast using a mould and model, which can either be wax ("lost wax" technique) or more commonly terracotta. One rarely encounters the model used in casting as it is frequently destroyed in preparing the mould. This is quite possibly a rare surviving example of a terracotta model for a small Thai opium weight, indicated by the circles on the base. As one would expect, extremities such as ears are easily broken during removal of the model from the mould.

Some weights are quite beautiful and elegant objects, and may have been esteemed more for their appearance and symbolism than their function.

Some weights are just plain ugly. This is an example of an "unofficial" weight, likely made in the provinces, and copied from an official weight certified with an official sign. This weight lacks any such sign, is crudely made, and furthermore has had the mass adjusted by shortening the bird's beak.

Animal-shaped or zoomorphic weights are known from ancient societies, especially Egypt and the Near East. These two bronze weights are from Egypt, c. 500 BC. The scorpion weight measures about 37 mm in length and the frog about 42 mm in length.

This is a nice bronze weight evidently derived from the Mesopotamian "sleeping duck" style stone weights. This weight measures 6.7 cm in length and weighs 83.7 g which is equivalent to 10 shekels. There is a recess in the underside, perhaps to allow weight adjustment. The weight likely originates from Afghanistan, and dates from about 300 BC.

Zoomorphic weights produced in definite series of masses are known from only two regions - Mesopotamia and Burma. Mesopotamia produced weights both in the shapes of recumbent lions and sleeping ducks (an interesting parallel with the chinthe and hintha Burmese weights). The lion weights were fashioned in bronze and seem to have been made for royalty. Most surviving examples are now in the British Museum or the Louvre. The example illustrated here is a very small lion weight in silver, and it weighs about 16.4 g, likely representing 2 shekels.

This image illustrates the likely influence of trade routes on weight shape and design. These weights all are based on an unusual radiate design. From left to right: an Egyptian blue faience weight 2nd Millennium BC; a Roman bronze weight 1st C; a Celtic bronze weight 1st C; a Rajasthani brass weight 18th C; and a Burmese marble weight 18th C. The largest weight has a diameter of about 7 cm.

A large opium weight probably meant for use within royal quarters in northern Burma. This dates likely from the 16th or 17th Century. The design incorporates a peacock and young, and the base is of lotus form.

All sorts of things can happen to opium weights. They are sometimes modified to become amulets. Sometimes the weight is adjusted by the addition of metal. In this case, it seems as if a weight likely weighing originally about 320 g (20 kyat) has been hacked in half and had the base removed to create a much smaller weight (about 70 g)

Some "opium weights" were likely not weights at all, but were made for decorative or votive purposes. The animals depicted in the weights have special meaning to the Burmese, and even genuine weights are often retained in the home. These two pieces are hollow cast and have been highly decorated with toolwork. Each piece is about 12.5 cm in height and is probably from the late 19th Century.

Other counterweights that are unusual are the ceramic weights from China, chiefly Ming and Qing Dynasties. These are usually painted with some auspicious symbol such as a frog, dragon, carp, bamboo, etc., and various characters emphasising "fair trade". Many of these weights bear a seal on the underside. The mass of these weights is not standardised, as the steelyard or rod itself was calibrated according to the weight used. Medium size weights are about 9-10 cm in height.

http://eclecticmuseum.com/opium-weights.html

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Gold, silver lizards, large bronze cauldron, uruli, (with Indus inscriptions deciphered) are donated by agasāla tāmra arana 'copper-gold-smithy' to pana kāmtara kuññan 'palmyra forest child of god'

December 17, 2019, 10:54 pm

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https://tinyurl.com/rzr42w8

Kanchipuram, Varadarajar Temple. Silver, gold lizard PLUS Indus Script hieroglyphs (unprovenanced). The silver and gold arana 'lizards' with inscription are a donation by agasāla tāmra arana 'copper-/gold- smithy' to the temple.

arká1 m. ʻ flash, ray, sun ʼ RV. [√arc]Pa. Pk. akka -- m. ʻ sun ʼ, Mth. āk; Si. aka ʻ lightning ʼ, inscr. vid -- äki ʻ lightning flash ʼ.(CDIAL 624) Rebus: arka 'copper, gold' eraka 'metal infusion'

tāmarasá n. ʻ red lotus ʼ MBh., ʻ copper ʼ lex. [Cf. tāmrá -- ] Pk. tāmarasa -- n. ʻ lotus ʼ; Si. tam̆bara ʻ red lotus ʼ, Md. taburu.(CDIAL 5774) Western Pahari arṇi f. ʻ furnace, smithyʼ;

múkha n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ RV., ʻ entrance ʼ MBh.Pa. mukha -- m.; Aś.shah. man. gir. mukhato, kāl. dh. jau. ˚te ʻ by word of mouth ʼ; Pk. muha -- n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ, Gy. gr. hung. muy m., boh. muy, span. muí, wel. mūī f., arm. muc̦, pal. mu', mi', pers. mu; Tir. mū ʻ face ʼ; Woṭ. mū m. ʻ face, sight ʼ; Kho. mux ʻ face ʼ; Tor. mū ʻ mouth ʼ, Mai. mũ; K. in cmpds. mu -- ganḍ m. ʻ cheek, upper jaw ʼ, mū -- kāla ʻ having one's face blackened ʼ, rām. mūī˜, pog. mūī, ḍoḍ. mū̃h ʻ mouth ʼ; S. mũhũ m. ʻ face, mouth, opening ʼ; L. mũh m. ʻ face ʼ, awāṇ. mū̃ with descending tone, mult. mũhã m. ʻ head of a canal ʼ; P. mū̃h m. ʻ face, mouth ʼ, mū̃hã̄ m. ʻ head of a canal ʼ; WPah.śeu. ùtilde; ʻ mouth, ʼ cur. mū̃h; A. muh ʻ face ʼ, in cmpds. -- muwā ʻ facing ʼ; B. mu ʻ face ʼ; Or. muhã ʻ face, mouth, head, person ʼ; Bi. mũh ʻ opening or hole (in a stove for stoking, in a handmill for filling, in a grainstore for withdrawing) ʼ; Mth. Bhoj. mũh ʻ mouth, face ʼ, Aw.lakh. muh, H. muh, mũh m.; OG. muha, G. mɔ̃h n. ʻ mouth ʼ, Si. muya, muva. -- Ext. -- l<-> or -- ll -- : Pk. muhala -- , muhulla -- n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ; S. muhuro m. ʻ face ʼ (or < mukhará -- ); Ku. do -- maulo ʻ confluence of two streams ʼ; Si. muhul, muhuna, mūṇa ʻ face ʼ H. Smith JA 1950, 179.; -- -- ḍ -- : S. muhaṛo m. ʻ front, van ʼ; Bi. (Shahabad) mohṛā ʻ feeding channel of handmill ʼ. -- Forms poss. with expressive -- kkh -- : see múkhya -- . -- X gōcchā -- s.v. *mucchā -- Addenda: múkha -- : WPah.kṭg. (kc.) mū̃ (with high level tone) m. (obl. -- a) ʻ mouth, face ʼ; OMarw. muhaṛaü ʻ face ʼ.(CDIAL 10158) Rebus: muh 'ingot'

(Santali)

OP. koṭhārī f. ʻ crucible ʼ, P. kuṭhālī f., H. kuṭhārī f. (CDIAL 3546) Rebus: kōṣṭhāgāra n. ʻ storeroom, store ʼ Mn. [kṓṣṭha -- 2, agāra -- ] Pa. koṭṭhāgāra -- n. ʻ storehouse, granary ʼ; Pk. koṭṭhāgāra -- , koṭṭhāra -- n. ʻ storehouse ʼ; K. kuṭhār m. ʻ wooden granary ʼ, WPah. bhal. kóṭhār m.; A. B. kuṭharī ʻ apartment ʼ, Or. koṭhari; Aw. lakh. koṭhār ʻ zemindar's residence ʼ; H. kuṭhiyār ʻ granary ʼ; G. koṭhār m. ʻ granary, storehouse ʼ, koṭhāriyũ n. ʻ small do. ʼ; M. koṭhār n., koṭhārẽ n. ʻ large granary ʼ, -- ˚rī f. ʻ small one ʼ; Si. koṭāra ʻ granary, store ʼ.

kōṣṭhāgārika -- .Addenda: kōṣṭhāgāra -- : WPah.kṭg. kəṭhāˊr, kc. kuṭhār m. ʻ granary, storeroom ʼ, J. kuṭhār, kṭhār m.; -- Md. kořāru ʻ storehouse ʼ ← Ind.(CDIAL 3550)

Hieroglyph: pericarp of lotus: kárṇikā f. ʻ round protuberance ʼ Suśr., ʻ pericarp of a lotus ʼ MBh., ʻ ear -- ring ʼ Kathās. [kárṇa -- ] Pa. kaṇṇikā -- f. ʻ ear ornament, pericarp of lotus, corner of upper story, sheaf in form of a pinnacle ʼ; Pk. kaṇṇiā -- f. ʻ corner, pericarp of lotus ʼ; Paš. kanīˊ ʻ corner ʼ; S. kanī f. ʻ border ʼ, L. P. kannī f. (→ H. kannī f.); WPah. bhal. kanni f. ʻ yarn used for the border of cloth in weaving ʼ; B. kāṇī ʻ ornamental swelling out in a vessel ʼ, Or. kānī ʻ corner of a cloth ʼ; H. kaniyã̄ f. ʻ lap ʼ; G. kānī f. ʻ border of a garment tucked up ʼ; M. kānī f. ʻ loop of a tie -- rope ʼ; Si. käni, kän ʻ sheaf in the form of a pinnacle, housetop ʼ.(CDIAL 2849)

Rebus: supercargo: kāraṇika m. ʻ teacher ʼ MBh., ʻ judge ʼ Pañcat. [kā- raṇa -- ]Pa. usu -- kāraṇika -- m. ʻ arrow -- maker ʼ; Pk. kāraṇiya -- m. ʻ teacher of Nyāya ʼ; S. kāriṇī m. ʻ guardian, heir ʼ; N. kārani ʻ abettor in crime ʼ; M. kārṇī m. ʻ prime minister, supercargo of a ship ʼ, kul -- karṇī m. ʻ village accountant ʼ. (CDIAL 3058) Helmsman: कर्णिक m. a steersman

Coordinates: 12.82°N 79.71°E Varaqdarajar Temple, Kanchipuram

Chennai Airport Trident Hotel lobby

vārppu or uruł̣i (unprovenanced, dia. approx. 5 ft. over 500 kgs.) with the following cire perdue (lost-wax casting) inscriptions:

Flipped horizontally, the bas-relief inscription reads

Ta. araṇai typical lizard, Lacertidae; smooth streaked lizard, Lacerta interpunctula. Ma. araṇa green house lizard, L. interpunctula. Ka. araṇe, rāṇe, rāṇi greenish kind of lizard which is said to poison by licking, L. interpunctula. Tu. araṇe id.(DEDR 204)

Western Pahari arṇi f. ʻ furnace, smithy ʼ is cognate: adhikaraṇīˊ f. ʻ *anvil ʼ, adhikaraṇa -- n. ʻ receptacle, support ʼ TUp. [√kr̥1] Pa. adhikaraṇī -- f. ʻ smith's anvil ʼ; Pk. ahigaraṇī -- f. ʻ a piece of apparatus for a smith ʼ; K. yīran, dat. yṳ̄rüñ f. ʻ anvil ʼ, S. aharaṇi, araṇi f., L. (Jukes) ariṇ f., P. aihran, airaṇ, ā̆hraṇ f., WPah. bhal. arhini; roh. erṇe ʻ smithy ʼ, N. āran; H. aheran, ā̆hran m. ʻ anvil ʼ; -- H. Smith BSL 101, 115. Addenda: adhikaraṇīˊ -- : S.kcch. eṇ f. ʻ anvil ʼ; WPah.kṭg. n/arəṇ, n/arṇi f. ʻ furnace, smithy ʼ; āˊrəṇ m. prob. ← P. Him.I 4; jaun. āraṇ, airaṇ; G. eraṇi f. ʻ anvil ʼ, M. aheraṇ, ahiraṇ, airaṇ, airṇī, haraṇ f.(CDIAL 252)

കാന്താരം kāndāram S. Thick forest = കാന നം, കാനം. காந்தாரம் kāntāram , n. < kāntāra. Jungle, forest, wood; காடு. (திவா.) (Herman Gundert Dictionary)

Ta. paṉai, (in cpds.) paṉam- palmyra palm, Borassus flabellifer. Ma. pana a palmtree, esp. palmyra, B. flabelliformis. Ka. pane the bastard sago tree, Caryota urens Lin., from which toddy is made. Koḍ. pane-mara toddy palm. Tu. paṇe-kāyi the fruit of palmyra; paṇoli a kind of palmyra. [B.flabellifer Linn. = B. flabelliformis Murr.](DEDR 4037) പനങ്കായി the fruit, പനന്തേങ്ങ Trav.പനക്കലം prov. vessel for palm-wine (പന ങ്കള്ളു). പനങ്കണ്ടന്‍ No. = പനന്തത്ത a parrot, പ. ന ല്ല കിളിയും TP. പനങ്കുല
CG. the bunch. പനങ്കൂന്പു edible sprout of the palmyra, prepared during the monsoon by covering up the stones with earth (കുരണ്ടി മടയിടുക Palg.)പനഞ്ചക്കര palmyra sugar. (അച്ച് വട്ട്, ചി രട്ടവട്ട്, മണ്ടവട്ട് Palg.) പനനാര്‍ fibres of a palmyra branch. പന paǹa T. M. (Te. a sheaf, S. താളി the "oozing" tree, see പനി). A palm-tree, esp. palmyra, Borassus flabelliformis, [ആര്യപ്പ. with larger leaves; കരിന്പ. & നീലക്കരി — TP., എഴുത്തോ ലപ്പന are difft. names]. നെടുന്പന പോയാല്‍ കുറുന്പന നെടുന്പന prov. (നീലക്കുറുന്പനവില്ലു TP.). പന ചെത്തുക (പനയേററം) to tap it.
Stages of growth: തൈപ്പന, കുട്ടിക്കന്പ, കന്പ പ്പന, വലിയ പന. — ആണ്പ. m., പെ ണ്പ. the f. tree (കരിങ്കലച്ചി with black, വെള്ളച്ചി white, ചെന്പന

red fruits; മുട്ടിച്ച ക്കന്പ & ചട്ടിക്കന്പ with large but nearly worthless fruits). കയററുപ. which is climbed, കുട്ടിക്കന്പ very young, yet yielding toddy, നല്ലകന്പ giving much toddy, പണ്ടപ്പന a bunch being tapped when the fruits on it have become പണ്ടക്കായി (it may flow for a whole year; the toddy is very strong), വിരിപ്പന്‍ പ. tapping is begun in Kanni & Tulā, വെക്കപ്പ. tapped during the hot season also, വാട്ടപ്പ. requiring careful tapping, വെട്ടപ്പ. kept only fur cutting leaves, തി രിയന്‍പ. having twisted leaves, പാററ or ചീളിപ്പ. with a slender stem, ആനപ്പ. with a broad base, so നെട്ടപ്പ., വളയപ്പ., ഇര ട്ടപ്പ., കൂനന്‍പ., ആലന്പന grown together with an ആല്‍, മൂച്ചിക്കല്‍ etc. പ. standing near, കാളിപ്പ. planted by K. etc. Palg. Kinds: ആനപ്പ. Corypha taliera (also കാരപ്പ.). ൦രംറന്പ. Caryota urens (= കണ്ണിപ്പ., ചൂണ്ടപ്പ., ആനപ്പ. & loc. ആര്യപ്പ.) താളിപ്പ., കുടപ്പ. Coryphaumb.

തുടപ്പന (= ൦രംന്തു), നിലപ്പന. Rheede calls also Ferns പന, modern പന്ന q. v.
The Kota etymon is: kunj children as given by god, men as children of god and may be cognate with: Ta. kuñci anything small; young bird, chicken; kuñcu young of birds and various animals. Ma. kuññu, kuñci young, small, infant; kuññan boy; also endearingly of gïrls; kuññi = kuññu, kuññan; girl. Ko. kunj children as given by god, men as children of god; kun small. Ka. kunni young of an animal, esp. a young dog; gunna smallness; (Hav.) kuññi a young one. Koḍ. kuññi child; ma·ŋuññi n. pr. bull in mythology (see 4780); (Shanmugam) kuññappë uncle, father's younger brother; kuññavvë aunt, father's younger sister. Tu. kundu a child of Pariahs; (B-K.) kuññi, kuṇṇi small. Te. gunna young of an animal; kunna, kūna infant, young of an animal; kunnãḍu boy, lad; (Inscr.) kunnulu (pl.) sucklings, children. Kol. ku·na puppy. Kur. cuṛkuńju, (Hahn) curxunjū the last-born of a family (for cuṛ/cur, cf. cuḍḍa end, last).(DEDR 1646) കുഞ്ഞു kuńńụ (= കുഞ്ചു; C. Te. ഗുന്ന short, young) pl. കുഞ്ഞങ്ങള്‍ A young, infant ആണ്കു ഞ്ഞും പെണ്കുഞ്ഞും Arb. (of birds). కున్న kunna [Tel. another form of కూన.] n. The young of an animal: a cub: a child: a sapling, suckling, or young tree. కూన, బిడ్డ. కున్నడు a boy. బాలుడు.(Telugu)

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cb42/075b7e2c9326aeed1dd8a950c3261480df36.pdf

https://www.indiavideo.org/kerala/heritage/craft/bronze-artifacts-from-mannar-258.php (1:07)

Bronze artifacts being made at Mannar

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Celebration of pola festival, celebration of wealth of cattle, poṅkalō-poṅkal, celebration of Indus Script hieroglyphs

December 18, 2019, 5:36 pm

≫ Next: Itihāsa. Ancient India’s Northern Lands -- Subhash Kak

≪ Previous: Gold, silver lizards, large bronze cauldron, uruli, (with Indus inscriptions deciphered) are donated by agasāla tāmra arana 'copper-gold-smithy' to pana kāmtara kuññan 'palmyra forest child of god'

https://tinyurl.com/udsostu

Field symbol: पोळ pōḷa, 'zebu, bos indicus taurus' rebus pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrous-ferric oxide Fe3O4' Text: kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi, kole.l 'smithy, forge' PLUS kolmo 'rice-plant' rebus: kole.l 'temple'.Sign 387 which includes 'rice-plant' hieroglyph reads: muh 'bun ingot shape' rebus: muh 'ingot'. muha 'quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace'.Thus, Sign 387 is a hypertext which reads ingot smithy, muh kole.l When a black drongo is added to zebu, perching on the back of the bull, the reading is pōlaḍu 'black drongo''rebus: पोलाद pōlāda, pōḷad, 'crucible steel' bolad 'steel' (Russian) folad 'steel' (Old Persian). This is also called the famous wootz, ukku, utsa steel used for the Damascus swords. See image of crucible steel button ingot which is forged to make a sword. See image of Rajasthan sword made of Damascus steel or Indian ukku steel. The bull is so famous that an annual festival is held called pola festival celebrating the wealth of cattle. See images of toys used during the festival in Maharashtra -- comparable to the Daimabad bronze animals on wheels and Daimabad chariot. The pola festival is called மாட்டுப்பொங்கல் māṭṭu-p-poṅkal , n. < மாடு¹ +. Festival of ceremonial boiling of rice performed on the second day of the month of Tai in order to ensure prosperity of cattle; this is a Pan-Indian celebration of the wealth of cattle (i.e. Indus Script hieroglyphs animals).poṅkalō-poṅkal , n. < id. +. Loud exclamation of joy on the occasion ofstarting a bull in māṭṭu-p-poṅkal;

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Itihāsa. Ancient India’s Northern Lands -- Subhash Kak

December 18, 2019, 7:43 pm

≫ Next: Dotted circle 1) पोत pōta 'gold bead', rebus 'metal casting' of dhatu 'mineral ores'; ear of young bull 2) karā 'ear' rebus khār 'blacksmith'

≪ Previous: Celebration of pola festival, celebration of wealth of cattle, poṅkalō-poṅkal, celebration of Indus Script hieroglyphs

Tajikistan / Pixabay

In Sanskrit texts, ancient India’s northern lands beyond the Himalayas are called Uttarakuru (in the east) and Uttaramadra (in the west). These lands do not figure in the earliest Vedic books. The name “Kuru” is found just once in Ṛgveda 10.33.4 where there is a reference to Kuruśravaṇa Trasadasyu, who is a king of the Pūrus. The Kurus are mentioned in late books such as the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa and the Mahābhārata. Later another name Śākadvīpa is used for this entire region.

The Purāṇas speak of four regions of Jambudvīpa, Ketumāla, Bhadrāśva and Uttarakuru. Jambudvīpa is India proper, Ketumāla represents the Oxus region, Bhadrāśva is the Jaxartes region and Uttarakuru denotes the country beyond it. In the Mahābhārata, Uttarakuru is paired with Dakṣiṇakuru to the south of the Himalayas. The distance between these regions can be estimated from the military campaign of Arjuna described in the Sabhāparvan सभापर्व. After crossing the White Mountain (Śvetaparvata), Arjuna marches through Haimavata and reaches the Mānasarovara Lake in the country of the Hāṭakas, dominated by the Gandharvas. From there he enters the region called Harivarṣa, beyond which lies Uttarakuru. Clearly, by this time the name Uttarakuru had subsumed Uttaramadra.

As described in the Ṛgveda, the region of Dṛṣadvatī, Sarasvatī and Āpayā was where the Bharata kings ruled. In the Āprī hymns, Sarasvatī River is Bhāratī, the glory of the Bhāratas. This region became known as Kurukṣetra later, when the Kurus became its rulers.

In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (8. 14), it is stated that the Uttarakurus consecrate their kings by Vedic rites. Later, in the same text (8. 23), Vāsiṣṭha Sātyahavya anoints Jānaṃtapi Atyarāti according to the ritual of Aindra Mahābhiṣeka, who, in consequence goes out to conquer the world.

Some scholars see the Kurus sweep further into Persia and later into Sogdia, Anatolia and beyond. Another section of the Kurus, called Prātipeyas, are known as Bāhlikas since one of the sons of Pratīpa was called Bāhlika, indicating association with Bactria.

A passage in the Bhīṣmaparvan of the Mahābhārata, explains that Śākadvīpa, a land that includes Uttarakuru and Uttaramadra, is organized in classes just like India: “In that region are four countries, Maga, Maśaka, Mānasa and Mandaga. Maga is mainly inhabited by Brahmins who love their tasks; in Maśaka there are virtuous Kṣatriyas who are generous; in Mānasa the Vaiśyas are brave, devoted to the wishes of all, bent on dharma and artha; and the Śūdras in Mandaga, for their part, are constantly pious.”

According to the Sāmba Purāṇa, the Maga Brahmins, also called Bhojaka or Śākadvīpīya, came to India from Śākadvīpa.

Expansion of the Vedic people westwards

The languages and the vocabularies of the Śākadvīpa tell us some about their connections with India, and they also illuminate the history of Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. For this one must check material in Avestan, Pahlavi, Gandhari, Sogdian, and Saka languages.

A Puranic legend provides another important clue. It tells us that Vaivasvata Manu had nine sons, including Ikṣvāku, and a daughter, Iḷā or Ilā. The descendants of Ikṣvāku are members of the Sūryavaṃśī solar dynasty and Rāma of Rāmāyaṇa fame was born in this line.

Buddha, the son of Candra, and Ilā had a son named Purūravas (also in Ṛgveda 10.95.18). Subsequently, thanks to a boon Ilā became a man named Sudyumna. The descendants of Ilā/Sudyumna are thus called Aila or Candravaṃśī (lunar dynasty). According to Puranic accounts, Purūravas ruled Uttarakuru as part of the Kuru Empire. The famous story of Purūravas falling in love with Urvaśī is found in the Ṛgveda (10.95.1–18) and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (11.5.1).

Purūravas’s great-grandson was Yayāti who had five sons: Yadu and Turvasu/Turvaṣa, sons by his wife Devayānī, and Druhyu, Anu and Pūru, sons by his wife Śarmiṣṭhā. The Pūrus ruled around Kurukṣetra, the Anus to their north, the Druhyus to the west, the Yadus to their south, and the Turvasus to the east of the Yadus.

At the end of the Ten-kings (dāśarājña) battle of the Ṛgveda, the Pūrus expand westwards and some Anus push outwards into Afghanistan leading to a further northwards push to the Druhyus who went out into Central Asia. Shrikant Talageri has proposed that the Druhyu are the ancestors of the Iranian, Greek or European peoples, or of the Druids.

Ptolemy’s Geography refers to Ottorokorai (Uttarakuru) tribe, Ottorokora as a city, and Ottorokoras as a river. Other scholars believe that the Tokhari (Tukharas) are the same as the Rishikas (Ṛṣika), who are mentioned in Sanskrit texts.

Vocabulary from the Northern Lands

Using ancient texts from Central Asia, I am in the middle of compiling a dictionary of Sogdian words. Here’re some randomly chosen words from the list:

[Sogdian] : [Sanskrit]

1=ēw: one ईव,एक

ēw-žwānē: one life ईव-जीवनी

3 ǝѳrē: three त्रि

12 = δǝwātǝs: dawātas, twelve द्वादस, द्वादश

100 stu: a hundred शत

āγǝt: āgat, to bring आगत

āγund- āγust: to cover, आगुन्द, Hindi गूंधना

āstǝnē: initial, first आस्तीन

ātar-: fire आतर, आथर्व

āwart-: to turn hither आवर्त

ǝβžirēnē: made of diamonds; अवज्रिनि from वज्र

ǝδu (ǝδǝw): two द्वि

āfrīn- āfrīt: bless आप्री

ǝftǝmi: first, first of all, prathami, प्रथमी

ǝftǝmīk: first, 1st prathamik, प्रथमिक

ēžǝndē: worthy एजंदे. यजत yajanta, यजन्त

ǝktānē: sin akartva अकर्त्व

ǝktǝspās: obliging अक्त

ǝktē, ǝktč: done कर्त्य

ǝkǝtyā: act, deed कर्त्य

ǝkut, plur. ǝkutīšt: dog अकुत (कुत्ता)

ambēr-: to fill अम्भर

anwēž: to gather अन्वेष

anxǝr: star, constellation नक्षत्र

anxǝrkǝsē: astrologer अंखरकसी

anxǝstē: goaded ankushta, अंकुश

aryān wēžǝn: the Aryan Expanse आर्यन विशान

ǝstǝkanǰǝl: of bone अष्टिकञ्जर

ǝškamb: world (~ loka) अस्कम्भ

šm’r-(ǝ)šmārt: to think स्मर स्मृति

ǝšmārā: thought अस्मार

ōsuγd: to be purified ओषधि

xšēѳ: ruler क्षत्र

ēžǝn: worthy यजन

βǝγpǝšē: son of gods bhagapashi भगपुत्र

βǝγistān: place of gods भगिस्थान

čǝxr: wheel चक्र

δβǝr: door, gate दबर द्वार

δβyš δβēš: harm दबीश द्वेश

δβyšny δβēšenē: harmful द्वेशनी

δrjy’wr žyāwǝr: heart ह्रदयवार

friy: dear प्रिय

frītāt: love, charity प्रियतात

frī-rǝwān: soul-loving, प्रिय उर्वन

fǝsāč-: to teach प्रशास्ति

γandāk: bad, foul गन्द

γandā(k)kǝrē: evil-doer गन्दकरी

γǝr: mountain गर. गिरि

γǝrāmē: wealth गरामि, गरिमा

γǝrān: heavy गराम, गुरु

žǝnā: knowledge जेना, ज्ञान

žǝw-: to live जिव

žǝwān fem.: life जीवन

žūkyā: (good) health सुख्य. सुख

žwandē: living जीवन्त

kōtǝr: family कोतर (Skt gotra) गोत्र

kutsār: where(to)

kōtī: (zillion) कोटि

nǝnǝ-δβāmbǝn: Goddess Nana नाना देवी अम्बा

More interesting words

Given that the Sogdian words have much connections with Sanskrit and Prakrit, here are the hidden histories of a few other words.

Hindi सुनसान (sunsān) means desolate, lonely, empty, and lifeless. Scholars have traced the history of this word to Sauraseni Prakrit (suṇṇasāṇa), from Sanskrit (śūnyasthāna, “empty place”), from (śūnya, “empty”) + (sthāna, “place”).

Gujarati ઘમસાણ (ghamsāṇ), Marathi घमशान (ghamśān). I see these words derived from Sanskrit gharmasthāna, a place of fierce fighting. Cognate to these is Hindi घमासान • ghamāsān, a fierce fight or battle; slaughter. 2. fierce, murderous.

Farsi Khorasan (or Khurasan) خراسان‎ (Xorâsân), which we know from earlier usages in the area to be from earlier خوراسان‎ (xwarâsân), from Middle Persian hwlʾsʾn’ (xwarāsān, literally “sunrise; east”). The Sassanian and post-Islamic Persian name for the region of Parthia located in north east of Iran, sometimes covering also parts of Central Asia and Afghanistan; the Greater Khorasan.

If we go back to Avesta that arose in a region next to Northwest India, we know that Sanskrit svar स्वर् means the “sun” and the “heaven of light” as early as in the Ṛgveda.The word svara स्वर literally means “going” and it normally stands for sound or voice and it also means a vowel, the number seven, an accent and so on.

In Avesta, the Sanskrit svar became modified by sound change to xwara or even khar, as we see in that last name. Thus svar-sthāna, स्वरस्थान, the place of the sun (or sunrise) became in the Avestan pronunciation of the word as खोरसान and खुरासान.

The word हिम hima means cold and we see hemaka stands for gold. We have another word for beings called यक्ष Yakṣa who live in cold climates. The chief Yakṣa is Kubera कुबेर, the god of wealth; he is represented as having three legs and eight teeth.

There are two tadbhava forms of yakṣa: yakh (cold) and yaccha (Kashmiri for Yakṣa, just like Lakṣmī in its tadbhav forms become either Lakhmi or Lacchmi). From there to Avestan (aēxa-, “frost, ice”), Persian یخ‎ (yakh).

Farsi Khurshed = Sun . History of its derivation: Sanskrit svara स्वर (Sun) => hvare (Avestan) kṣaita क्षैत(m. radiant, prince) => xshaeta hvarexshaêtahe [hvare-xshaêta]= radiant sun in Avestan => Khwarshēd (in Middle Persian) => Khurshēd/Khorshīd in Modern Persian.

सुभाष काक. Author, scientist. Quantum information, AI, history of science. https://subhask.okstate.edu/sites/default/files/HistoryVedaArt_SubhashKak.pdf

https://medium.com/@subhashkak1/ancient-indias-northern-lands-bae903c19cb8?

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ayo 'fish' PLUS aDaren 'lid' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' PLUS aduru 'native metal'. Thus, native metal alloy.

kuṭi 'curve; rebus: कुटिल kuṭila, katthīl (8 parts copper, 2 parts tin) kuṭi 'warehouse'

Section B: Spiny horn, projecting-forward horns, high-horns, ram's curling horns

Decipherment of Ur Indus Script hypertexts, metalwork wealth accounting ledgers. Ur excavationx Full texts of reports. https://tinyurl.com/y7fryz3x

Akkadian Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *raʾš-.

Noun

𒊕 (rēšu, qaqqadu) [SAG]head (of a person, animal)top, upper partbeginningtop quality, the bestSumerian: (SAG)head

Derived terms[edit]

Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays https://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2019/12/bronze-vessel-offering-for-with.html Flipped horizontally

See: A temple at Sanchi for Dhamma by a kāraṇikā sanghin 'guild of scribes' in Indus writing cipher continuum http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/x.html

Ancient cave art may depict the world's oldest hunting scene

The spectacular scene in Indonesia reinforces the notion that the origins of art are more global than once thought.

Finding the time

Going abstract

Protecting the past

āre ‘potter's wheel’ rebus: āra ‘brass’; څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, 'potter's wheel'; eraka 'knave of wheel' rebus: arka, aka 'gold, copper'; eraka 'metal infusion'.

āre ‘potter's wheel’ rebus: āra ‘brass’; څرخ ṯs̱arḵẖ, 'potter's wheel'; eraka 'knave of wheel' rebus: arka, aka 'gold, copper'; eraka 'metal infusion'.

The Bodhi Tree

The Seat of Buddha

The Railings and their significance

The Grand Buddha

Sujata Garhi-Stupa

Conclusion

https://tinyurl.com/yx2tzycnThis is an addendum to:1. Antique vessel of c. 5th cent. BCE is an offering in Indus Script tradition to Kaṇḥa temple by erṇe arka karṇaka Supercargo smithy, helmsman, goldsmith

2. Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays

Team of researchers discovers new species of lizards in Western Ghats.

Tiger cub shown on Gardez Vināyaka is rebus पेटा pēṭā smelter guild region of a town

Jeanny Vorys Canby has demonstrated the depiction of 'overflowing pots' hieroglyphs on the Ur-Nammu stela. This insight reinforces the purport of the stela: to record the Bronze Age metals and materials used in the building activity directed by Ur-Nammu.

The chronology of Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed as follows, starting with Utu-hengal:Utu-hengal: 2119-2113Ur-Nammu: 2112-c. 2095Shulgi: 2094-2047Amar-Sin: 2046-2038Shu-Sin: 2037-2029Ibbi-Sin: 2028-2004

1.An advance over invention of writing. Printing technology of Sarasvati Civiliization demonstrated by Rick Willis

vārppu or uruł̣i (unprovenanced, dia. approx. 5 ft. over 500 kgs.) with the following cire perdue (lost-wax casting) inscriptions:

Bronze artifacts being made at Mannar

सुभाष काक. Author, scientist. Quantum information, AI, history of science. https://subhask.okstate.edu/sites/default/files/HistoryVedaArt_SubhashKak.pdf

𒊕 (rēšu, qaqqadu) [SAG]
head (of a person, animal)
top, upper part
beginning
top quality, the best
Sumerian:
(SAG)
head

Antique bronze vessel offering forஅரவணை with Malayalam inscription, & Indus Script hieroglyphs of lizard & sun's rays https://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2019/12/bronze-vessel-offering-for-with.html
Flipped horizontally

https://tinyurl.com/yx2tzycn

This is an addendum to:

1. Antique vessel of c. 5th cent. BCE is an offering in Indus Script tradition to Kaṇḥa temple by erṇe arka karṇaka Supercargo smithy, helmsman, goldsmith

The chronology of Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed as follows, starting with Utu-hengal:
Utu-hengal: 2119-2113
Ur-Nammu: 2112-c. 2095
Shulgi: 2094-2047
Amar-Sin: 2046-2038
Shu-Sin: 2037-2029
Ibbi-Sin: 2028-2004