This is a report on the transition from lapidary to bronze-age metalware in ancient Near East. This is a proto-historical 4th millennium BCE narrative on how ancient near East lapidary guilds graduate into bronze-age metalware artisan/merchant guilds.
This graduation is supported by ancient near East art evolving into Indus writing --jāṅgaḍa accounting for metalware, in a transition from stone-cutting or bead-making to bronze-age metals alloying in a wide interaction area for metalware trade and metals technologies.
This report discusses how ancient near East art (as on Warka vase or Tell Tabraq axe) evolved into Indus writing accounting for metalware transactions from smelter to smithy/forge. This process of accounting is elucidated by the semantics of the mercantile, technical term, jāṅgaḍa -- goods taken on approval basis. This jāṅgaḍa system is recogized in law related to corporations and trade transactions and is practised even today in the Indian sprachbund. The lexeme jāṅgaḍa is denoted, rebus, by the sangaḍa (gimlet + portable furnace) hieroglyph 1 of the device in front of the hieroglyph 2 of one-horned young bull calf. The hieroglyphs 1 and 2 recur on over 1000 inscriptions of Indus writing attesting to the dominant role played by this method of metalware accounting which is the principal message conveyed by almost all the Indus inscriptions which now number over 5000 in the corpora presented in http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/04/indus-writing-in-ancient-near-east.html .
The message conveyed by the procession of hieroglyphs -- carried as banners -- constituting a bronze-age standard of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization is interpreted (read rebus) as mineral (stones) and metal alloys transacted on जांगड [jāṅgaḍa] 'goods on approval' basis. The procession is a celebration of the graduation from stone-cutting or making of stone-beads -- sanghāḍo -- community (or artisan guild) to a bronze-age guild of metal (mineral and alloy)-turners in smithy/forge or mint, kammaṭa.
m0490
m0491 This can be viewed as the standard of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization. This tablet Mohenjo-daro m0491 shows a person of three persons (There is another standard-bearer in front of the scarf-standard bearer; maybe, he is carrying a banner of a stone-bead) R. to L: one carries a post with a scarf hanging like a flag; the second carries a pedestal on which one-horned young bull calf is shown; the third carries a 'standard device' (lathe + furnace). Read rebus:
1. kandi (pl. –l) necklace, beads (Pa.) Ga. (P.) kandi (pl. –l) bead, (pl.) necklace; (S.2) kandiṭ bead (DEDR 1215). kandil, kandīl = a globe of glass, a lantern (Ka.lex.) Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar'.
2. dhàṭṭu m. ʻwoman's headgear, kerchiefʼ; dhaṭu m. (also dhaṭhu) m. ‘scarf’ (WPah.); rebus: dhātu‘mineral’ (Skt.), dhatu id. (Santali).
3. kōḍu horn (Kannada. Tulu. Tamil) खोंड [khōṇḍa] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) Rebus: 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 (Marathi).
4. सांगड [sāṅgaḍa] That member of a turner's apparatus by which the piece to be turned is confined and steadied (Marathi) sanghāḍo (G.) cutting stone, gilding (G.) Rebus: जांगड [jāṅgaḍa] f ( Hindi) Goods taken from a shop, to be retained or returned as may suit: also articles of apparel taken from a tailor or clothier to sell for him. 2 or जांगड वही The account or account-book of goods so taken.(Marathi)
A glyph which occurs as frequently as the one-horned heifer is the 'standard device' in front of the heifer. saṅgaḍa 'gimlet, portable furnace'. Rebus: jāṅgaḍa जांगड 'goods on approval basis'.
The standard device is also a hieroglyph, saṅgaḍa 'lathe'; rebus: furnace. The word saṅgaḍa can also be denoted by a glyph of combined animals. The bottom portion of the 'standard device' is sometimes depicted with 'dotted circles'. khangar ghongor 'full of holes'; (Santali) rebus: kangar 'portable furnace' (Kashmiri). This device also occurs by itself and as variants on 19 additional epigraphs, in one case held aloft like a banner in a procession which also includes the glyph of the one-horned heifer as one of the banners carried.
ಗಣಿಯಿಂದ ತೆಗದು ಕರಗದೆ ಇರುವ ಅದುರು (Kannada) = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to smelting in a furnace. This precise explanation of a lexeme of Indian sprachbund yields a clue to understanding how ancient near East art evolved into Indus writing in the context of bronze-age.
The discovery for hieroglyphic depiction of lexeme ಅದುರು aduru, starts from an exquisite art-work on Warka vase.
Tabernae montana on a register on Warka vase (Late Uruk period 3600 to 3200 BCE). If a Meluhha artisan had rendered the art-work, he would have conveyed in writing: tagaraka, tabernae montana. Rebus: tagara ‘tin’ (Ka.); tamara id. (Skt.) Allograph: ṭagara ‘ram’.Tabernae montana hieroglyph is shown together with zebu and a thorny object, on a Mesopotamian cylinder seal.
Susa pot hieroglyph: fish + scales. The pot contained metalware Hieroglyph: fish+scales. Allograph: aDara 'scales of a fish' (Munda) Rebus: aduru native metal; ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo 'metal' (G.) ayas, ayah 'metal' (Sanskrit)
Two Harappa fish-shaped miniature tablets with incised hieroglyphs. ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo 'metal' (G.) ayas, ayah 'metal' (Sanskrit)
h1139 Harappa tablet.The choice of a fish-shape was a dramatic advancement over the shapes which had evolved on tokens to account for products. Such tokens were put into bullae and sealed with seal impressions. Some of the seal impressions denoted Indus writing hieroglyphs. Thus, we have a combination of two types of writing: one -- the token shapes -- categorized the products; the other -- seal impressions of hieroglyphs -- provided a technical specification of or professional title of owner of the products.
The invention of new shapes which denoted sounds of words of the underlying words used by the artisans constituted a breakthrough in the evolution of writing systems.
One such shape was the fish-shape which denoted ayo 'fish' <ayu?>(A) {N} ``^fish’’. #1370. <yO>\\<AyO>(L) {N} ``^fish’’. #3612. Rebus: ayo 'metal' (G.) ayas, ayah 'metal' (Sanskrit). kāṇḍa 'an arrow' (Marathi)
kāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’ (Marathi).The ‘fish-eye’ is a reinforcement of the gloss kāṇḍ‘stone/nodule (metal)’. The dotted circle (eye) is decoded rebus as kaṇ‘aperture’ (Tamil); kāṇũ hole (Gujarati) (i.e. glyph showing dotted-circle); kāṇa‘one eye’. kaṇi ‘stone’ (Kannada) கன்¹ kaṉCopper (Tamil) கன்² kaṉ, n. < கல். stone (Tamil) खडा khaḍā (Marathi) is ‘metal, nodule, stone, lump’. kaṇi‘stone’ (Kannada) with Tadbhava khaḍu. khaḍu, kaṇ‘stone/nodule (metal)’.Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (DEDR 1298).
The lexeme kāṇḍā could be denoted by the hieroglyph kāṇḍa 'arrow'.
Hieroglyphs fish + arrow read rebus ayas + kāṇḍa thus connoted metal tools, pots and pans, metalware of the type shown in the Susa pot.
These hieroglyphs -- kāṇa‘one eye’; rebus: kaṇi‘stone’ (Kannada) -- ayo 'fish'; rebus: ayas 'metal' (Sanskrit) -- may have been translated and interpreted as the ‘fish-eyes’ or ‘eye stones’ (Akkadian IGI-HA, IGI-KU6) mentioned in Mesopotamian texts.
Shaft-hole axe head. Early-middle bronze age. Lae 3rd or early 2nd millennium BCE. Iran. 10.31 x 16.41 cm. Accession Number: 1980:307 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Hieroglyphs on the axe:
Hieroglyph 1: tagara 'tabernae montana' Rebus: tagara 'tin'. Hieroglyph 2: eṛaka ‘upraised arm’ (Ta.) Rebus: eraka = copper (Ka.)
The hieroglyph indicates that the broad axe is made of copper + tin alloy: eraka + tagara.
tabar 'a broad axe' (Punjabi) Rebus: tam(b)ra = copper (Pkt.)
Dilmun seal show on http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/see-httpbharatkalyan97.html.
Failaka seal shown on http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/06/indus-writing-on-dilmun-type-seals.html The hieroglyphs are: palm tree, two persons with upraised arms, two antelopes, an ingot shape, a circle. The palm tree is read rebus: tamar 'palm tree' Rebus: tam(b)ra 'copper'. tagara 'antelope' Rebus: damgar 'merchant'. eraka 'upraised arm' Rebus: eraka 'copper'. ḍāḷ= a branch of a tree (G.) Rebus: ḍhāḷako = a large ingot (G.) ḍhāḷakī = a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (G.) A pair of 'empty circle hieroglyphs': Tu. toḷu hole; empty; ḍoḷḷu, ṭoḷḷu, toḷḷè void, hollow. Te. toli, tolika hole; tol(u)cu to bore, perforate, hollow, dig, scoop, carve; doṇḍi hole; (K.) dol(u)cu to make a hole; ḍolla hollow, concave. (DEDR 3528) Rebus: dul ‘casting’ (Santali)
Allograph: dol ‘likeness, pair’ Rebus: dul 'cast metal' (Santali)
tebṛa, tebor.‘three times, thrice’; tebṛage emok hoyoktama you will have to give three times that (Santali)
cf. tamar 'gimlet' (Tamil)
Gharial holding fish. Mohenjo-daro. karā ‘crocodile’ (Telugu). Rebus: khara ‘blacksmith’ (Kashmiri) ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo 'metal' (G.) ayas, ayah 'metal' (Sanskrit)
Writing on pots from Mundigak (eastern Afghanistan).
Two copper tablets. Mohenjo-daro. Showing two allographs: archer hieroglyph; ficus + crab hieroglyph. ḍato = claws of crab (Santali); dhātu = mineral (Skt.) loa‘ficus religiosa’ (Santali) rebus: loh‘metal’ (Skt.) kamaṛkom‘fig’. kamaḍha ‘crab’. kāmaṭhum = a bow; kāmaḍ, kāmaḍum = a chip of bamboo (G.) kāmaṭhiyo a bowman; an archer (Skt.lex.) Rebus: kammaṭi a coiner (Kannada); kampaṭṭam coinage, coin, mint (Tamil) kammaṭa = mint, gold furnace (Telugu)
Inscribed steatite tablet. Harappa.
One example of 21 identical inscriptions on tablets. The inscription on h2218A ends up as part of messageon a seal h1682.
h1682 Harappa seal which includes the first segment of the message from the tablet h2218A. cf. http://harappa.drupalgardens.com/sites/harappa.drupalgardens.com/files/Kenoyer2000_The%20Tiny%20Steatite%20Seals%20of%20Harappa.pdfThe tablet h2218A message incorporated on Seal h1682 is: kolmo 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge'. kanka 'rim of jar' Rebus: gaṇaka 'accounting'. kuṭi 'water carrier' Rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'.
The seal h1682 also includes an additional message:
kolmo 'three' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge'. dol 'likeness, pair' Rebus: dul 'cast (metal). kanḍ 'stone' (Gadba)
Thus the two-part message on Seal h1682 is:
Part1: cast (metal stone) smithy -- dul kanḍ kolami
Part 2: smelter smithy accounting - kuṭi gaṇaka kolami
The other hieroglyphs on the seal are:
1. one-horned young bull calf --
kōḍu horn (Kannada. Tulu. Tamil)
खोंड [khōṇḍa] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) Rebus: 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 (Marathi).
2. gimlet + portable furnace --
सांगड [sāṅgaḍa] That member of a turner's apparatus by which the piece to be turned is confined and steadied. (Marathi) Rebus: जांगड [jāṅgaḍa] f (जांगड वही The account or account-book of goods so taken.(Marathi)
Thus, the seal message completes the accounting of goods taken on approval basis (jāṅgaḍa) of metal cast from smelter and taken into the smithy/forge (kolami).
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urseal11Seal; UPenn; a scorpion and an elipse [an eye (?)]; U. 16397; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 10-11, pl. II, no. 11 [Note: Is the ‘eye’ an oval representation of a bun ingot.) Glyph: bichā ‘scorpion’ (As+samese) Rebus: bica ‘stone ore’ (Munda)
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khũṭ 'zebu' (Gujarati)![]()
Slide 16. harappa.com Circular working platforms.![]()
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Harappa kiln. Drawing.
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h1085
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h1083
Hypothesis 4: It is reasonable to infer that the center of the circular platform could have held a storage pot of the type unearthed in Susa with metal objects (and with a ‘fish’ Indus script glyph written below the rim of the pot) — evidenced by Maurizio Tosi as a link with Meluhha (aka Indus valley).
Hypothesis 5: It is reasonable to infer that the pots with inscriptions (either embossed using a seal or inscribed as on the Susa pot) were used as containers for despatch to traders, while other storage pots (without inscriptions) might have been kept in the center of the circular platforms.
The ‘procession’ tablet which is noted as the standard of the civilization has other hieroglyphs deployed on a text (1605) which is repeated on both tablets m0490 and m0491.
The procession of four banners has been read rebus as mineral (stones) and metal alloys transacted on जांगड [jāṅgaḍa] 'goods on approval' basis.
Text 1605 on m0490 and m0491 tablets. The hieroglyphs read rebus denote the following specialist functions of the artisan guild: workshop (for) casting metals, gemstones, smithy working with alloys, kiln, guild.
1. dula ‘pair’ (i.e., two long linear strokes). Rebus: dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali)
2. karã̄ n. pl. ‘wristlets, bangles’ (Gujarati) Rebus: खडा [khaḍā] the gem or stone of a ring or trinket: a lump of hardened fæces or scybala: a nodule or lump gen. (Marathi)
3. sal stake, spike, splinter, thorn, difficulty (Hindi) Rebus: sal‘workshop’ (Santali)
4. kolmo ‘seeding, rice-plant’(Munda) Rebus: kolami ‘smithy’ (Telugu) खोट [khōṭa] ‘ingot, wedge’. Rebus: alloy (Marathi) That is, a smithy working with alloys.
5. bhaṭa -- m. ʻsoldier’ (Pali) Rebus: baṭa = kiln (Santali); baṭa = a kind of iron (Gujarati) bhaṭṭhī f. ‘kiln, distillery’ (Gujarati)
6. khũṭf. ʻcorner, sideʼ) (Punjabi) Rebus: khū̃ṭ‘community, guild’ (Mu.)
1. dula ‘pair’ (Kashmiri); dula दुल । युग्मम् m. a pair, a couple, esp. of two similar things (Rām. 966) dul ‘cast (metal)’ (Santali). dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali) dul meṛeḍ cast iron (Mundari. Santali) Alternative: taṭṭe ‘a thick bamboo or an areca-palm stem, split in two’ (Ka.) (DEDR 3042)Rebus: toṭxin, toṭ.xn goldsmith (To.); taṭṭāṉ ‘gold- or silver-smith’ (Ta.); taṭṭaravāḍu ‘gold- or silver-smith’ (Te.); *ṭhaṭṭakāra ‘brass-worker’ (Skt.)(CDIAL 5493). Thus, the glyph is decoded: taṭṭara ‘worker in gold, brass’. Alternative: S. jāṛo m. ʻ twin ʼ, L. P. jāṛā m.; M. j̈āḍī f. ʻ a double yoke ʼ. (CDIAL 5091) Rebus: *jaḍati ʻ joins, sets ʼ. 1. Pk. jaḍia -- ʻ set (of jewels), joined ʼ; K. jarun ʻ to set jewels ʼ (← Ind.); S. jaṛaṇu ʻ to join, rivet, set ʼ, jaṛa f. ʻ rivet, boundary between two fields ʼ; P.jaṛāuṇā ʻ to have fastened or set ʼ; A. zarāiba ʻ to collect ʼ; B. jaṛāna ʻ to set jewels, wrap round, entangle ʼ, jaṛ ʻ heaped together ʼ; Or. jaṛibā ʻ to unite ʼ; OAw.jaraï ʻ sets jewels, bedecks ʼ; H. jaṛnā ʻ to join, stick in, set ʼ (→ N. jaṛnu ʻ to set, be set ʼ); OMarw. jaṛāū ʻ inlaid ʼ; G. jaṛvũ ʻ to join, meet with, set jewels ʼ; M.j̈aḍṇẽ ʻ to join, connect, inlay, be firmly established ʼ, j̈aṭṇẽ ʻ to combine, confederate ʼ. (CDIAL 5091)
2. G.karã̄ n. pl. ‘wristlets, bangles’; S. karāī f. ’wrist’ (CDIAL 2779). Rebus: khār खार्‘blacksmith’ (Kashmiri) खडा [khaḍā] the gem or stone of a ring or trinket: a lump of hardened fæces or scybala: a nodule or lump gen. (Marathi)
3. sal stake, spike, splinter, thorn, difficulty (H.); Rebus: sal ‘workshop’ (Santali) Alternative: aḍar = splinter (Santali); rebus: aduru = native metal (Ka.) aduru = gan.iyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Kannada. Siddha_nti Subrahman.ya’ S’astri’s new interpretation of the Amarakos’a, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330)
4. kolmo ‘seeding, rice-plant’(Munda) rebus: kolami ‘smithy’ (Telugu)
Glyph shown together with stong of scorpion on Urseal 1. Rebus: खोट [khōṭa] ‘ingot, wedge’; A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down)(Maratthi) khoṭf ʻalloy (Lahnda) Hence खोटसाळ [khōṭasāḷa] a (खोट & साळ from शाला) Alloyed--a metal. (Marathi) Bshk. khoṭ ʻ embers ʼ, Phal. khūṭo ʻ ashes, burning coal ʼ; L. khoṭā ʻ alloyed ʼ, awāṇ. khoṭā ʻ forged ʼ; P. khoṭ m. ʻ base, alloy ʼ M.khoṭā ʻ alloyed ʼ, (CDIAL 3931)Kor. (O.) The seal thus depicts an ingot made of bica, ‘stone ore’.
Mohenjo-daro seal m417 six heads from a core. A circular seal of Mohenjo-daro. It shows a warrior.
G. bhāthɔ, bhātɔ,bhāthṛɔ m. ʻquiverʼ (whence bhāthī m. ʻwarriorʼ)(CDIAL 9124). Pali. bhaṭa -- m. ʻhireling, servant, soldierʼ; S.kcch. bhaṛ ʻbraveʼ; Garh. (Śrīnagrī dial.) bhɔṛ, (Salānī dial.) bhe ṛ ʻwarriorʼ. S. bhaṛu ʻclever, proficientʼ, m. ʻan adeptʼ; Ku. bhaṛ m. ʻhero, brave manʼ, gng. adj. ʻmightyʼ; B. bhaṛ ʻsoldier, servant, nom. prop.ʼ, bhaṛil ʻservant, heroʼ; Bhoj. bhar ʻname of a partic. low casteʼ;G. bhaṛ m. ʻwarrior, hero, opulent personʼ, adj. ʻstrong, opulentʼ Pk. bhayaga -- m. ʻservantʼ, bhaḍa -- m. ʻsoldierʼ, bhaḍaa -- m. ʻmember of a non -- Aryan tribeʼ;(CDIAL 9588). Rebus: baṭa = kiln (Santali); baṭa = a kind of iron (G.) bhaṭṭhī f. ‘kiln, distillery’, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭh m., °ṭhī f. ‘furnace’, bhaṭṭhā m. ‘kiln’; S. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ‘distil (spirits)’. bhráṣṭra n. ʻfrying pan, gridironʼ MaitrS. [√bhrajj ] Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻgridironʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻlevel surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fireʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻlarge pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fireʼ, baṭhī f. ʻdistilling furnaceʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻgrain -- parcher's ovenʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻkiln, distilleryʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭh m., °ṭhī f. ʻfurnaceʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻkilnʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻoven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washingʼ; A. bhaṭā ʻbrick -- or lime -- kilnʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻbrick -- kiln, furnace, stillʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻkilnʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻkilnʼ, bhaṭ f. ʻkiln, oven, fireplaceʼ; M.bhaṭṭā m. ʻpot of fireʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻforgeʼ. S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻdistil (spirits)ʼ.(CDIAL 9656).
6. kōnṭa corner (Nk.); Tu. kōṇṭu angle, corner (Tu.); Rebus: kõdā‘to turn in a lathe’ (B.) kundār turner (A.); kũdār, kũdāri (B.); kundāru (Or.); kundau to turn on a lathe, to carve, to chase; kundau dhiri = a hewn stone; kundau murhut = a graven image (Santali) kunda a turner's lathe (Skt.)(CDIAL 3295) *khuṇṭa2ʻ corner ʼ. 2. *kuṇṭa --2.[Cf. *khōñca-- ] 1. Phal.khunʻ corner ʼ; H.khū̃ṭm. ʻ corner, direction ʼ (→ P.khũṭf. ʻcorner, sideʼ); G.khū̃ṭṛīf. ʻ angle ʼ. <-> Xkōṇa-- : G.khuṇf.,khū˘ṇɔm. ʻ corner ʼ.2. S.kuṇḍaf. ʻ corner ʼ; P.kū̃ṭf. ʻ corner, side ʼ (← H.). (CDIAL 3898). Rebus: khū̃ṭ ‘community, guild’ (Mu.) Rebus: kūṭa a house, dwelling (Skt.lex.) khũṭ = a community, sect, society, division, clique, schism, stock; khũṭren peṛa kanako = they belong to the same stock (Santali)khūṭ Nag. Khũṭ, kūṭ Has. (Or. Khūṭ) either of the two branches of the village family.
Context of the hieroglyph of ‘warrior’ on a circular seal
The core is a glyphic ‘chain’ or ‘ladder’. Glyph: kaḍī a chain; a hook; a link (G.); kaḍum a bracelet, a ring (G.) Rebus: kaḍiyo [Hem. Des. kaḍaio = Skt. sthapati a mason] a bricklayer; a mason; kaḍiyaṇa, kaḍiyeṇa a woman of the bricklayer caste; a wife of a bricklayer (G.)
Mohenjo-daro Seal m0417 The glyphics are:
1. Glyph: ‘one-horned young bull’: kondh‘heifer’. kũdār ‘turner, brass-worker’.
2. Glyph: ‘bull’: ḍhangra ‘bull’. Rebus: ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’.
3. Glyph: ‘ram’: meḍh‘ram’. Rebus: meḍ‘iron’
4. Glyph: ‘antelope’: mr̤eka‘goat’. Rebus: milakkhu‘copper’. Vikalpa 1: meluhha‘mleccha’ ‘copper worker’. Vikalpa 2: meṛh‘helper of merchant’.
5. Glyph: ‘zebu’: khũṭ‘zebu’. Rebus: khũṭ ‘guild, community’ (Semantic determinant of the ‘jointed animals’ glyphic composition). kūṭa joining, connexion, assembly, crowd, fellowship (DEDR 1882) Pa. gotta‘clan’; Pk. gotta, gōya id. (CDIAL 4279) Semantics of Pkt. lexeme gōya is concordant with Hebrew‘goy’in ha-goy-im (lit. the-nation-s).Pa. gotta -- n. ʻ clan ʼ, Pk. gotta -- , gutta -- , amg. gōya -- n.; Gau. gū ʻ house ʼ (in Kaf. and Dard. several other words for ʻ cowpen ʼ > ʻ house ʼ: gōṣṭhá -- , Pr. gūˊṭu ʻ cow ʼ; S. g̠oṭru m. ʻ parentage ʼ, L. got f. ʻ clan ʼ, P. gotar, got f.; Ku. N. got ʻ family ʼ; A. got -- nāti ʻ relatives ʼ; B. got ʻ clan ʼ; Or. gota ʻ family, relative ʼ; Bhoj. H. got m. ʻ family, clan ʼ, G. got n.; M. got ʻ clan, relatives ʼ; -- Si. gota ʻ clan, family ʼ ← Pa. (CDIAL 4279).
6. The sixth animal can only be guessed. Perhaps, a tiger (A reasonable inference, because the glyph ’tiger’ appears in a procession on some Indus script. inscriptions. Glyph: ‘tiger?’: kol‘tiger’. Rebus: kol’worker in iron’. Vikalpa (alternative): perhaps, rhinoceros. gaṇḍa‘rhinoceros’; rebus: khaṇḍ ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’. Thus, the entire glyphic composition of six animals on the Mohenjodaro seal m417 is semantically a representation of a śrḗṇi, ’guild’, a khũṭ , ‘community’ of smiths and masons.
khũṭ 'zebu' (Gujarati)This guild, community of smiths and masons evolves into Harosheth Hagoyim, ‘a smithy of nations’.
Archaeological context (as seen in Harappa)
Slide 16. harappa.com Circular working platforms.Connected with the circular working platforms is the kiln discovered close-by.
Large updraft kiln of the Harappan period (ca. 2400 BCE) found during excavations on Mound E Harappa, 1989 (After Fig. 8.8, Kenoyer, 2000) After Figure 9. Harappa 1999, Mound F, Trench 43: Period 5 kiln, plan and section views. http://www.harappa.com/indus4/e6.html
Harappa kiln. Drawing.Hypothesis 1: It is reasonable to infer that the kiln of the type used a smelting furnace is also relatable both to the circular working platforms and the copper tablets with Indus script glyphs. The shape of the kiln shown in this Figure 9 diagram is comparable to another kiln which was unearthed. “During excavations of the circular platform area on Mound F numerous Cemetery H-type sherds and some complete vessels were recovered in association with pointed base goblets and large storage vessels that are usually associated with Harappa Period 3C. A large kiln was also found just below the surface of the mound to the south of the circular platforms. The upper portion of the kiln had been eroded, but the floor of the firing chamber was found preserved along with the fire-box. Upon excavation it became clear that this was a new form of kiln with a barrel vault and internal flues (Figure 8). This unique installation shows a clear discontinuity with the form of Harappan pottery kilns, which were constructed with a central column to support the floor (Dales and Kenoyer 1991). Radiocarbon samples taken from Harappa Phase hearths in the domestic areas and from the bottom of the Late Harappan kiln will help to determine if these installations were in use at the same time or if the kiln was built in an abandoned area after the Harappa Phase occupation. It is possible that people using Late Harappan style pottery were living together with people using Harappan style pottery during the Period 4 transition between Periods 3C and 5.” http://www.harappa.com/indus4/e6.html
h1085 Hypothesis 2: It is reasonable to infer a close link between the functions served by the circular platform and the copper tablet with raised Indus script glyphs. “During his excavations, Vats identified 17 circular brick platforms (Vats 1940:19ff) and in 1946 Wheeler excavated an 18th example (Wheeler 1947). Earlier interpretations about the circular platforms suggested that they were used for husking grain and that they may have had a central wooden mortar. In the 1998 excavations one additional circular platform was located and detailed documentation and sampling was conducted to determine its function and chronology.” Contra view: “The new excavations did not reveal any evidence for grain processing and there was no evidence for a wooden mortar in the center. Some straw impressions were found on the floor to the south of the circular platform, but microscopic examination by Dr. Steve Weber confirmed that these impressions were of straw and not of chaff or grain processing byproducts.”
Susa pot (reported by Maurizio Tosi) — containing metal artifacts possibly sent from Meluhha traders or received by merchants with links to Meluhha trading community?)
Hypothesis 3: Considering that the circular platforms were located in close proximity to one another, it is reasonable to infer that the workers who worked on these platforms belonged to a guild or metalworker community.Indus language (Indian linguistic area: mleccha/meluhha): bharatiyo = a caster of metals; a brazier; bharatar, bharatal, bharataḷ = moulded; an article made in a mould; bharata = casting metals in moulds; bharavum = to fill in; to put in; to pour into (G.lex.) bhart = a mixed metal of copper and lead; bhartīyā = a barzier, worker in metal; bhaṭ, bhrāṣṭra = oven, furnace (Skt.)
h1083Hypothesis 4: It is reasonable to infer that the center of the circular platform could have held a storage pot of the type unearthed in Susa with metal objects (and with a ‘fish’ Indus script glyph written below the rim of the pot) — evidenced by Maurizio Tosi as a link with Meluhha (aka Indus valley).
Hypothesis 5: It is reasonable to infer that the pots with inscriptions (either embossed using a seal or inscribed as on the Susa pot) were used as containers for despatch to traders, while other storage pots (without inscriptions) might have been kept in the center of the circular platforms.
More examples of hieroglyphs and functions served in the metalware accounting using Indus writing are discussed in:
A note on jāṅgaḍa (goods on approval basis) transactions:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/88974889/Indus-script-corpora-and-business-transactions-of-jangad-%E2%80%98entrustment-note%E2%80%99-S-Kalyanaraman-2012
Indus Writing in ancient Near East:Corpora and a dictionary and Akkadian Rising Sun: two new books (April 2013)
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/04/indus-writing-in-ancient-near-east.htmlA note on jāṅgaḍa (goods on approval basis) transactions:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/88974889/Indus-script-corpora-and-business-transactions-of-jangad-%E2%80%98entrustment-note%E2%80%99-S-Kalyanaraman-2012