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"Cylinder Seal with King or God and Vanquished Lion" (Old Akkadian) Greenstone. Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm) The Walters Art Museum. Accession Number: 42.674 The scene on this seal features a central motif of a leaf stylized as a tree. On one side, a bearded hero is holding an inverted bovid; on the other, a bull man is holding an inverted lion. There are cuneiform inscriptions running through the scene in two places.
With Naram-Sin, the king not only being called "Lord of the Four Quarters (of the Earth)", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (= gods). There is a Meluhha cognate: ṭhākur with variants ḍhangar 'blacksmith'. On this seal, the bull is the hero (hieroglyph ḍangar bull is rebus: ḍhangar 'blacksmith') subduing lion. (hieroglyph aryeh‘lion’ rebus: arā ‘brass’).
The centerpiece hieroglyph is: kuṭi ‘tree’ rebus: kuṭhi‘smelter furnace’ (Santali) kamaṛkom = fig leaf (Santali.) kamarmaṛā (Has.), kamaṛkom (Nag.); the petiole or stalk of a leaf (Mundari) kamaḍha 'ficus religiosa' (Sanskrit) Rebus: kammaṭa‘coiner, mint, a portable furnace for melting precious metals (Telugu) kampaṭṭa ‘mint’ (Ma.) kampaṭṭamcoinage, coin (Tamil); kammaṭṭam, kammiṭṭam coinage, mint (Malayalam); kammatia coiner (Kannada)(DEDR 1236) kammaṭa = coinage, mint (Ka.M.) kampaṭṭa-k-kūṭam mint; kampaṭṭa-k-kāraṉ-coiner; kampaṭṭa- muḷai die, coining stamp (Tamil)
See: Meluhha hieroglyphs. 4,000 year-old seal and weight unearthed in Rajasthan -- VN Prabhakar, ASI (February 2014 report) of the find. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/02/4000-year-old-seal-and-weight-unearthed.html for the locus of Meluhha metallurgists on Sarasvati River Basin. The above cylinder seals are two examples of takṣat vāk 'incised speech'.
Clik here to view.
"Cylinder Seal with King or God and Vanquished Lion" (Old Akkadian) Greenstone. Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm) The Walters Art Museum. Accession Number: 42.674 The scene on this seal features a central motif of a leaf stylized as a tree. On one side, a bearded hero is holding an inverted bovid; on the other, a bull man is holding an inverted lion. There are cuneiform inscriptions running through the scene in two places.
With Naram-Sin, the king not only being called "Lord of the Four Quarters (of the Earth)", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (= gods). There is a Meluhha cognate: ṭhākur with variants ḍhangar 'blacksmith'. On this seal, the bull is the hero (hieroglyph ḍangar bull is rebus: ḍhangar 'blacksmith') subduing lion. (hieroglyph aryeh‘lion’ rebus: arā ‘brass’).
The centerpiece hieroglyph is: kuṭi ‘tree’ rebus: kuṭhi‘smelter furnace’ (Santali) kamaṛkom = fig leaf (Santali.) kamarmaṛā (Has.), kamaṛkom (Nag.); the petiole or stalk of a leaf (Mundari) kamaḍha 'ficus religiosa' (Sanskrit) Rebus: kammaṭa‘coiner, mint, a portable furnace for melting precious metals (Telugu) kampaṭṭa ‘mint’ (Ma.) kampaṭṭamcoinage, coin (Tamil); kammaṭṭam, kammiṭṭam coinage, mint (Malayalam); kammatia coiner (Kannada)(DEDR 1236) kammaṭa = coinage, mint (Ka.M.) kampaṭṭa-k-kūṭam mint; kampaṭṭa-k-kāraṉ-coiner; kampaṭṭa- muḷai die, coining stamp (Tamil)
Cylinder seal impression, Mesopotamia. The bulls/bullmen flank a mountain topped by a leaf. British Museum No. 89308 ḍāngā = hill, dry upland (B.); ḍã̄g mountain-ridge (H.)(CDIAL 5476). Rebus: dhangar‘blacksmith’ (Maithili) ḍangar‘blacksmith’(Hindi) loa ‘ficus religiosa’ Rebus: lo ‘copper’. dula‘pair’ Rebus: dul ‘cast (metal)’. Thus, a cast (metal) coppersmith.
See: Meluhha hieroglyphs. 4,000 year-old seal and weight unearthed in Rajasthan -- VN Prabhakar, ASI (February 2014 report) of the find. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/02/4000-year-old-seal-and-weight-unearthed.html for the locus of Meluhha metallurgists on Sarasvati River Basin. The above cylinder seals are two examples of takṣat vāk 'incised speech'.
I suggest that the writing system using Meluhha hieroglyphs read rebus was a celebration of the bronze age with Meluhha artisans revolutionizing the interaction area of two doabs -- Mesopotamia and Sarasvati-Sindhu doab -- with alloying and lost-wax casting techniques in metallurgy.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
February 7, 2014
