Seal m0296. A pair of heifers (with one horn each) flanking a 'standard device' and nine leaves emerging from a stylized tree.
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lo 'nine' (phonetic determinant: loa 'ficus religiosa') rebus: loh 'copper, metal' PLUS खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon. Thus, together: लोखंडकाम [ lōkhaṇḍakāma ] n Iron work; that portion (of a building, machine &c.) which consists of iron. 2 The business of an ironsmith. An alternative reading is possible to read the hieroglyph: chain, link (a loop emanating out of the notched vessel ending in rings): dama ʻchain, ropeʼ; dhamaka 'blacksmith' (Samskritam) Hence, lōkhaṇḍa PLUS dhamaka 'iron work blacksmith or iron smith'.
Rings on neck, one horn on young bull reinforce the phonetics of:
कोंद kōnda ‘young bull' Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)
The standard held on a post over which the entire hieroglyhph multiplex is superscripted may be a stylized rendering of the 'lathe-cum-portable furnace' device that frequently occurs in front of the one-horned young bull: saghaḍī, śaghaḍi = a pot for holding fire (G.) sãghāṛɔ m. ‘lathe’ (G.)
Variant rebus readings are suggested in the context of the metalwork:
Rebus: san:gatarāśū = stone cutter (Sindhi.) jangaḍ iyo ‘military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’; san:ghāḍiyo, a worker on a lathe (Gujarati.) sanghar 'fortification' (Pashto) sanghAta 'collection' (Pali) sanghAta 'adamantine glue' (Samskritam). The last semantics indicates that the blacksmith had competence in working with cementite or metal alloys.
The text of the inscription includes 'fish' hieroglyph:
The first hieroglyph on the text read from r:
kole.l 'temple' rebus: kole.l 'smithy'
kaNDa 'arrow' rebus: khaNDa 'excellent iron'
aya 'fish' rebus: aya, ayas 'iron, metal' (Gujarati.Rigveda)
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon.(Kashmiri) खांडा (p. 202) [ khāṇḍā ] m A kind of sword, straight, broad-bladed, two-edged, and round-ended. (Marathi) Thus, Panini: ayaskANDa 'excellent iron'. khāṇḍā derived from lōkhaṇḍakāma can thus be translated as 'metalware, tools, pots and pans'.
kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bronze' PLUS vaTTa 'circle' Ara 'spoke' Together vaThAra 'quarter of town'
Thus, the pictorial motif consisting of hieroglyph multiplex PLUS text inscription:
Pictorial: lōkhaṇḍa PLUS dhamaka 'iron work blacksmith or iron smith' PLUS कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’
Text: kolel kaNDa ayaskANDa kancu vaThAra 'quarter of town for smithy, excellent iron, metalware, bronze'.
Thus, the message of the Mohenjo-daro seal m0296 is a reference to a quarter of town for metalwork and metalcrafts by blacksmith and engraver-lapidary setting or infixing gems.
lo 'nine' (Santali); no 'nine' (Bengali); on-patu (Tamil). loa 'species of fig tree, ficus glomerata, the fruit of ficus glomerata (Santali) Rebus: lo 'iron' (Assamese, Bengali); loa 'iron' (Gypsy); lauha 'made of copper or iron', metal, iron (Skt.); lohakaara 'coppersmith, ironsmith' (Pali); lohaara 'blacksmith' (Pt.); lohaLa id. (Oriya); loha 'metal, esp. copper or bronze' (Pali); copper (VS); loho, lo 'metal, ore, iron' (Si.); loha luTi 'iron utensils and implements' (Santali) loa 'iron' (Mu.)Re(B),,(B) {N} ``^iron''. Pl. <-le>(Munda etyma)
dol 'likeness, picture, form' (Santali). Rebus: dul 'cast iron' (Santali) dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali) dul meṛeḍ cast iron (Mundari. Santali)
san:ghāḍo, saghaḍī (G.) = firepan; saghaḍī, śaghaḍi = a pot for holding fire (G.)sãghāṛɔ m. ‘lathe’ (G.) Rebus: san:gatarāśū = stone cutter (S.) jangaḍ iyo ‘military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’; san:ghāḍiyo, a worker on a lathe (G.)
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kod. 'one horn'; kot.iyum [kot., kot.i_ neck] a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal (G.)kamarasa_la = waist-zone, waist-band, belt (Te.)kot.iyum [kot., kot.i_ neck] a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal (G.) [cf. the orthography of rings on the neck of one-horned young bull]. ko_d.iya, ko_d.e = young bull; ko_d.elu = plump young bull; ko_d.e = a. male as in: ko_d.e du_d.a = bull calf; young, youthful (Te.lex.) ko_d.iya, ko_d.e young bull; adj. male (e.g., ko_d.e du_d.a bull calf), young, youthful; ko_d.eka~_d.u a young man (Te.); ko_d.e_ bull (Kol.); khor.e male calf (Nk.); ko_d.i cow; ko_r.e young bullock (Kond.a); ko_d.i cow (Pe.); ku_d.i id. (Mand.); ko_d.i id., ox (Kui); ko_di cow (Kuwi); kajja ko_d.i bull; ko_d.i cow (Kuwi)(DEDR 2199). kor.a a boy, a young man (Santali) go_nde bull, ox (Ka.); go_da ox (Te.); konda_ bull (Kol.); ko_nda bullock (Kol.Nk.); bison (Pa.); ko_nde cow (Ga.); ko_nde_ bullock (Ga.); ko_nda_, ko_nda bullock, ox (Go.)(DEDR 2216). Rebus: kot. 'artisan's workshop'.(Kuwi)kod. = place where artisans work (G.lex.) kō̃da कोँद । कुलालादिकन्दुः f. a kiln; a potter's kiln (Rām. 1446; H. xi, 11); a brick-kiln (Śiv. 133); a lime-kiln. -bal -बल् । कुलालादिकन्दुस्थानम् m. the place where a kiln is erected, a brick or potter's kiln (Gr.Gr. 165)(Kashmiri)
ko_nda bullock (Kol.Nk.); bison (Pa.)(DEDR 2216). Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) Grierson takes the word कन्दुः (Skt.) to be a cognate of kaNDa 'pot' rebus: kaNDa 'fire altar' (Santali)
Thus, the yung bullock or young ox glyph seems to be an allograph of 'rim-of-jar' glyph in Indus Script corpora. When two bullocks are juxtaposed, the semantics of pairing point to dol 'likeness, pair'(Kashmiri); rebus: dul 'cast iron'(Santali) Thus, the pair of young bullocks or oxen are read rebus: dul kō̃da 'two bullocks'; rebus: casting furnace or kiln'.
koḍiyum ‘heifer’ (G.). Rebus: koṭ ‘workshop’ (Kuwi) koṭe = forge (Santali)kōḍiya, kōḍe = young bull (G.)Rebus: ācāri koṭṭya ‘smithy’ (Tu.)
अखोटा [ akhōṭā ] m A groove or channel notched (as around a peg or stick) for a rope; also a sliding or running groove. 2 A projecting point, a snag. vलाग .
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon.(Kashmiri) खांडा (p. 202) [ khāṇḍā ] m A kind of sword, straight, broad-bladed, two-edged, and round-ended. (Marathi) Thus, Panini: ayaskANDa 'excellent iron'.
लोखंडकाम [ lōkhaṇḍakāma ] n Iron work; that portion (of a building, machine &c.) which consists of iron. 2 The business of an ironsmith.
Hieroglyph: dama ʻ chain, rope ʼ (Si.): dāˊman1 ʻ rope ʼ RV. 2. *dāmana -- , dāmanī -- f. ʻ long rope to which calves are tethered ʼ Hariv. 3. *dāmara -- . [*dāmara -- is der. fr. n/r n. stem. -- √dā 2 ]1. Pa. dāma -- , inst. °mēna n. ʻ rope, fetter, garland ʼ, Pk. dāma -- n.; Wg. dām ʻ rope, thread, bandage ʼ; Tir. dām ʻ rope ʼ; Paš.lauṛ. dām ʻ thick thread ʼ, gul. dūm ʻ net snare ʼ (IIFL iii 3, 54 ← Ind. or Pers.); Shum. dām ʻ rope ʼ; Sh.gil. (Lor.) dōmo ʻ twine, short bit of goat's hair cord ʼ, gur. dōm m. ʻ thread ʼ (→ Ḍ. dōṅ ʻ thread ʼ); K. gu -- dômu m. ʻ cow's tethering rope ʼ; P. dã̄u, dāvã̄ m. ʻ hobble for a horse ʼ; WPah.bhad. daũ n. ʻ rope to tie cattle ʼ, bhal. daõ m., jaun. dã̄w; A. dāmā ʻ peg to tie a buffalo -- calf to ʼ; B. dām, dāmā ʻ cord ʼ; Or. duã̄ ʻ tether ʼ, dāĩ ʻ long tether to which many beasts are tied ʼ; H. dām m.f. ʻ rope, string, fetter ʼ, dāmā m. ʻ id., garland ʼ; G. dām n. ʻ tether ʼ, M. dāvẽ n.; Si. dama ʻ chain, rope ʼ, (SigGr) dam ʻ garland ʼ. -- Ext. in Paš.dar. damaṭāˊ, °ṭīˊ, nir. weg. damaṭék ʻ rope ʼ, Shum.ḍamaṭik, Woṭ. damṓṛ m., Sv. dåmoṛīˊ; -- with -- ll -- : N. dāmlo ʻ tether for cow ʼ, dã̄wali, dāũli, dāmli ʻ bird -- trap of string ʼ, dã̄wal, dāmal ʻ coeval ʼ (< ʻ tied together ʼ?); M. dã̄vlī f. ʻ small tie -- rope ʼ.2. Pk. dāvaṇa -- n., dāmaṇī -- f. ʻ tethering rope ʼ; S. ḍ̠āvaṇu, ḍ̠āṇu m. ʻ forefeet shackles ʼ, ḍ̠āviṇī, ḍ̠āṇī f. ʻ guard to support nose -- ring ʼ; L. ḍã̄vaṇ m., ḍã̄vaṇī,ḍāuṇī (Ju. ḍ̠ -- ) f. ʻ hobble ʼ, dāuṇī f. ʻ strip at foot of bed, triple cord of silk worn by women on head ʼ, awāṇ. dāvuṇ ʻ picket rope ʼ; P. dāuṇ, dauṇ, ludh. daun f. m. ʻ string for bedstead, hobble for horse ʼ, dāuṇī f. ʻ gold ornament worn on woman's forehead ʼ; Ku. dauṇo m., °ṇī f. ʻ peg for tying cattle to ʼ, gng. dɔ̃ṛ ʻ place for keeping cattle, bedding for cattle ʼ; A. dan ʻ long cord on which a net or screen is stretched, thong ʼ, danā ʻ bridle ʼ; B. dāmni ʻ rope ʼ; Or. daaṇa ʻ string at the fringe of a casting net on which pebbles are strung ʼ, dāuṇi ʻ rope for tying bullocks together when threshing ʼ; H. dāwan m. ʻ girdle ʼ, dāwanī f. ʻ rope ʼ, dã̄wanī f. ʻ a woman's orna<-> ment ʼ; G. dāmaṇ, ḍā° n. ʻ tether, hobble ʼ, dāmṇũ n. ʻ thin rope, string ʼ, dāmṇī f. ʻ rope, woman's head -- ornament ʼ; M. dāvaṇ f. ʻ picket -- rope ʼ. -- Words denoting the act of driving animals to tread out corn are poss. nomina actionis from *dāmayati 2 .3. L. ḍãvarāvaṇ, (Ju.) ḍ̠ã̄v° ʻ to hobble ʼ; A. dāmri ʻ long rope for tying several buffalo -- calves together ʼ, Or. daũ̈rā, daürā ʻ rope ʼ; Bi. daũrī ʻ rope to which threshing bullocks are tied, the act of treading out the grain ʼ, Mth. dã̄mar, daũraṛ ʻ rope to which the bullocks are tied ʼ; H. dã̄wrī f. ʻ id., rope, string ʼ, dãwrī f. ʻ the act of driving bullocks round to tread out the corn ʼ. -- X *dhāgga <-> q.v.. Brj. dã̄u m. ʻ tying ʼ.*dāmara -- : Brj. dã̄wrī f. ʻ rope ʼ.(CDIAL 6283)
Rebus: dam 'blast of furnace' (Kashmiri): dhamá in cmpds. ʻ blowing ʼ Pāṇ., dhamaka -- m. ʻ blacksmith ʼ Uṇ.com. [√dham ]Pa. dhama -- , °aka -- m. ʻ one who blows ʼ, Pk. dhamaga<-> m.; K. dam m. ʻ blast of furnace or oven, steam of stewing ʼ; -- Kho. Sh.(Lor.) dam ʻ breath, magical spell ʼ ← Pers. dam. dhamana n. ʻ blowing with bellows ʼ lex. [√dham ]
K. damun m. ʻ bellows ʼ. -- Ash. domótilde; ʻ wind ʼ (→ Pr. dumūˊ), Kt. dyīmi, Wg. damútildemacr;, Bashg. damu; Paš.lauṛ. dāmāˊn, kuṛ. domón, uzb. damūn ʻ rain ʼ (< ʻ *storm ʼ → Par. dhamāˊn ʻ wind ʼ IIFL i 248): these Kaf. and Dard. forms altern. <dhmāna -- ?(CDIAL 6732) dam 1 दम् । क्षणमात्रकालः, प्राणनिरोधः, अतिधर्मबाधा, योगक्षेमनिर्वाहः, निमज्जनम् m. (sg. abl. dama 1 दम ; pl. dat. daman 1 दमन् , spelt damn in K.Pr. 46; for daman 2 see s.v.; for 3, 4 see damun 1, 2; with suff. of indef. art. damāh दमाह् q.v., s.v.), breath, vital air, life, the breath of life (K.Pr. 67, Rām. 15, 17); breath or blast (of a furnace or oven); stewing or simmering over a slow fire, braising; a moment, an instant (YZ. 1, 216, Śiv. 133, Rām. 898, 113)(Kashmiri) धमनी (p. 433) [ dhamanī ] f S A small tube through which to puff the fire. 2 Any tubular vessel of the body, as an artery, a vein, a nerve.(Marathi).
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
June 30, 2015
lo 'nine' (phonetic determinant: loa 'ficus religiosa') rebus: loh 'copper, metal' PLUS खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon. Thus, together: लोखंडकाम [ lōkhaṇḍakāma ] n Iron work; that portion (of a building, machine &c.) which consists of iron. 2 The business of an ironsmith. An alternative reading is possible to read the hieroglyph: chain, link (a loop emanating out of the notched vessel ending in rings): dama ʻchain, ropeʼ; dhamaka 'blacksmith' (Samskritam) Hence, lōkhaṇḍa PLUS dhamaka 'iron work blacksmith or iron smith'.
Rings on neck, one horn on young bull reinforce the phonetics of:
कोंद kōnda ‘young bull' Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)
The standard held on a post over which the entire hieroglyhph multiplex is superscripted may be a stylized rendering of the 'lathe-cum-portable furnace' device that frequently occurs in front of the one-horned young bull: saghaḍī, śaghaḍi = a pot for holding fire (G.) sãghāṛɔ m. ‘lathe’ (G.)
Variant rebus readings are suggested in the context of the metalwork:
Rebus: san:gatarāśū = stone cutter (Sindhi.) jangaḍ iyo ‘military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’; san:ghāḍiyo, a worker on a lathe (Gujarati.) sanghar 'fortification' (Pashto) sanghAta 'collection' (Pali) sanghAta 'adamantine glue' (Samskritam). The last semantics indicates that the blacksmith had competence in working with cementite or metal alloys.
The text of the inscription includes 'fish' hieroglyph:
The first hieroglyph on the text read from r:
kole.l 'temple' rebus: kole.l 'smithy'
kaNDa 'arrow' rebus: khaNDa 'excellent iron'
aya 'fish' rebus: aya, ayas 'iron, metal' (Gujarati.Rigveda)
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon.(Kashmiri) खांडा (p. 202) [ khāṇḍā ] m A kind of sword, straight, broad-bladed, two-edged, and round-ended. (Marathi) Thus, Panini: ayaskANDa 'excellent iron'. khāṇḍā derived from lōkhaṇḍakāma can thus be translated as 'metalware, tools, pots and pans'.
kanac 'corner' rebus: kancu 'bronze' PLUS vaTTa 'circle' Ara 'spoke' Together vaThAra 'quarter of town'
Thus, the pictorial motif consisting of hieroglyph multiplex PLUS text inscription:
Pictorial: lōkhaṇḍa PLUS dhamaka 'iron work blacksmith or iron smith' PLUS कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’
Text: kolel kaNDa ayaskANDa kancu vaThAra 'quarter of town for smithy, excellent iron, metalware, bronze'.
Thus, the message of the Mohenjo-daro seal m0296 is a reference to a quarter of town for metalwork and metalcrafts by blacksmith and engraver-lapidary setting or infixing gems.
lo 'nine' (Santali); no 'nine' (Bengali); on-patu (Tamil). loa 'species of fig tree, ficus glomerata, the fruit of ficus glomerata (Santali) Rebus: lo 'iron' (Assamese, Bengali); loa 'iron' (Gypsy); lauha 'made of copper or iron', metal, iron (Skt.); lohakaara 'coppersmith, ironsmith' (Pali); lohaara 'blacksmith' (Pt.); lohaLa id. (Oriya); loha 'metal, esp. copper or bronze' (Pali); copper (VS); loho, lo 'metal, ore, iron' (Si.); loha luTi 'iron utensils and implements' (Santali) loa 'iron' (Mu.)Re
dol 'likeness, picture, form' (Santali). Rebus: dul 'cast iron' (Santali) dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali) dul meṛeḍ cast iron (Mundari. Santali)
san:ghāḍo, saghaḍī (G.) = firepan; saghaḍī, śaghaḍi = a pot for holding fire (G.)sãghāṛɔ m. ‘lathe’ (G.) Rebus: san:gatarāśū = stone cutter (S.) jangaḍ iyo ‘military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’; san:ghāḍiyo, a worker on a lathe (G.)
ko_nda bullock (Kol.Nk.); bison (Pa.)(DEDR 2216). Rebus: कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi) Grierson takes the word कन्दुः (Skt.) to be a cognate of kaNDa 'pot' rebus: kaNDa 'fire altar' (Santali)
Thus, the yung bullock or young ox glyph seems to be an allograph of 'rim-of-jar' glyph in Indus Script corpora. When two bullocks are juxtaposed, the semantics of pairing point to dol 'likeness, pair'(Kashmiri); rebus: dul 'cast iron'(Santali) Thus, the pair of young bullocks or oxen are read rebus: dul kō̃da 'two bullocks'; rebus: casting furnace or kiln'.
koḍiyum ‘heifer’ (G.). Rebus: koṭ ‘workshop’ (Kuwi) koṭe = forge (Santali)kōḍiya, kōḍe = young bull (G.)Rebus: ācāri koṭṭya ‘smithy’ (Tu.)
अखोटा [ akhōṭā ] m A groove or channel notched (as around a peg or stick) for a rope; also a sliding or running groove. 2 A projecting point, a snag. v
खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon.(Kashmiri) खांडा (p. 202) [ khāṇḍā ] m A kind of sword, straight, broad-bladed, two-edged, and round-ended. (Marathi) Thus, Panini: ayaskANDa 'excellent iron'.
लोखंडकाम [ lōkhaṇḍakāma ] n Iron work; that portion (of a building, machine &c.) which consists of iron. 2 The business of an ironsmith.
Hieroglyph: dama ʻ chain, rope ʼ (Si.): dāˊman
Rebus: dam 'blast of furnace' (Kashmiri): dhamá in cmpds. ʻ blowing ʼ Pāṇ., dhamaka -- m. ʻ blacksmith ʼ Uṇ.com. [√
K. damun m. ʻ bellows ʼ. -- Ash. domótilde; ʻ wind ʼ (→ Pr. dumūˊ), Kt. dyīmi, Wg. damútildemacr;, Bashg. damu; Paš.lauṛ. dāmāˊn, kuṛ. domón, uzb. damūn ʻ rain ʼ (< ʻ *storm ʼ → Par. dhamāˊn ʻ wind ʼ IIFL i 248): these Kaf. and Dard. forms altern. <
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
June 30, 2015