Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/odtahf5
Meluhha merchant settlements are attested in cuneiform texts in Elam and in Mesopotamia. Thanks to Eric Olijdam who has provided an insightful monograph brilliantly collating a number of related artifacts from Ancient Near East. Some of these artifacts signify metalwork catalogues using Indus Script cipher and should be added to the Indus Script Corpora which is catalogus catalogorum of Bronze Age documented by seafaring Meluhha merchants along the Maritime Tin Route.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/ant-twisted-rope-and-other-meluhha.html Twisted rope, ant and other Meluhha hieroglyphs on Ancient Near East and Indian sea
In this post, twisted rope and eagle as hieroglyphs were noted, in the context of metalwork:
dhāˊtu *strand of rope ʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.) S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773 ) Rebus: dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn.Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; M. dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ)(CDIAL 6773).
Hieroglyph: मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
eruvai 'eagle, a kind of kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'.
kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. Rebus: koḍ artisan’s workshop (Kuwi) kunda ‘turner’ kundār turner (Assamese) Alternative: damkom = a bull calf (Santali) Rebus: damha = a fireplace; dumhe = to heap, to collect together (Santali)
எருவை eruvai, n. 1. Blood; உதிரம். (திவா.) 2. Copper; செம்பு. எருவை யுருக்கினா லன்ன குருதி (கம்பரா. கும்பக. 248). 3. A kind of kite, a kite whose head is white and whose body is brown; தலைவெளுத்து உடல்சிவந்திருக்கும் பருந்து. விசும்பா டெருவை பசுந்தடி தடுப்ப (புறநா. 64, 4). 4. Eagle; கழுகு. எருவை குருதி பிணங்க வருந் தோற்றம் (களவழி. 20). 5. European bamboo reed. See கொறுக்கச்சி. (குறிஞ்சிப். 68, உரை.) (Tamil) ఎరుపు [ erupu ] erupu. [Tel.] n. Redness, red. ఎర్రదనము.
Thanks to Eric Olijdam who has provided an insightful monograph brilliantly collating a number of related artifacts from Ancient Near East. (Eric Olijdam, 2008, A possible central Asian origin for seal-impressed jar from the 'Temple Tower' at Failaka, in: Eric Olijdam and Richard H. Spoor, eds., 2008, Intercultural relations between south and southwest Asia, Studies in commemoration of ECL During Caspers (1934-1996), Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 7 [eds. D. Kennet & St J. Simpson], BAR International Series 1826 pp. 268-287).
https://www.academia.edu/403945/A_Possible_Central_Asian_Origin_for_the_Seal-Impressed_Jar_from_the_Temple_Tower_at_Failaka In this monograph, Eric Olijdam has provided remarkable evidences for mercantile and intercultural connections in a remarkably interactive civilizational area of the Bronze Age covering the Persian (Arab) Gulf, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) and in my view, also Meluhha since some artifacts cited seem to signify Indus Script hieroglyphs since the links of Persian Gulf sites with Meluhha are well attested by a cylinder seal impression signifying hieroglyphs: elephant, rhinoceros, crocodile (gharial):
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.
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/pie-and-vedic-studies-multi-layered.html
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Tell AsmarCylinder seal modern impression [elephant, rhinoceros and gharial (alligator) on the upper register] bibliography and image source: Frankfort, Henri: Stratified Cylinder Seals from the Diyala Region. Oriental Institute Publications 72. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, no. 642. Museum Number: IM14674 3.4 cm. high. Glazed steatite. ca. 2250 - 2200 BCE. ibha 'elephant' Rebus: ib 'iron' (Santali). karibha 'trunk of elephant' (Pali) Rebus: karba 'iron' (Tulu) kāṇḍā 'rhinoceros' Rebus: khāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, and metal-ware’. karā 'crocodile'(Telugu) Rebus: khār 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri)![]()
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Cylinder seal-impressed jar from the 'Temple Tower', Failaka (F88.2270, Kuwait National Museum no. 5827)(Photograph by courtesy of Missio Archeologique Francaise au Kuweit; drawing after Calvet 1996: Fig. 3. After Fig. 2 in Eric Olijdam opcit.)
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Santali glosses
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Hieroglyph components on the head-gear of the person on cylinder seal impression are: twig, crucible, buffalo horns: kuThI 'badari ziziphus jojoba' twig Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'; koThAri 'crucible' Rebus: koThAri 'treasurer'; tattAru 'buffalo horn' Rebus: ṭhã̄ṭhāro 'brassworker'.
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This hieroglyph multiplex ligatures head of an antelope to a snake: nAga 'snake' Rebus: nAga 'lead' ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin'. tuttināgamu is a Prakritam gloss meaning 'pewter, zinc'. A comparable alloy may be indicated by the hieroglyph-multiplex of antelope-snake: rankunAga, perhaps a type of zinc or lead alloy.
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This mkultiplx is flanked by 1. kolom 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'; 2. kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smeter'. Thus the message is that the warehouse of cast metal alloy metal implements is complemented by a smelter and a smithy/forge -- part of the metalwork repertoire.
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Dilmun seal. Afghanistan (Sarianidi 1986a: drawing on . 231). After Fig. 14 in Eric Olijdam opcit. barad, balad 'bull' Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi) dula ‘pair’ Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’. kolom 'three' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' Hieroglyph: dotted circles: pottal 'hole' Rebus: pota 'metal casting. పోత (p. 0823) [ pōta ] pōta. [Tel. from పోయు.] n. Pouring, పోయుట. Casting, as of melted metal. పోత pōta. adj. Molten, cast in metal. పోతచెంబు a metal bottle or jug, which has been cast not hammered.(Telugu)
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BMAC copper/bronze cosmetic vial (after Sarianidi 1994b: Fig. 7) After Fig. 15 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
kuThAru 'monkey' Rebus: kuThAru 'armourer' (Samskritam)
tAmarasa 'lotus flower' Rebus: tAmra 'copper' (Samskritam)
Seated person, bull: barad, balad 'bull' Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi)
Meluhha merchant settlements are attested in cuneiform texts in Elam and in Mesopotamia. (Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975). "On the relationship of the Sumerian Toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit Mleccha". Studia Orientalia 46: 205–238.)
Thousands of seals found in Persian (Arab) Gulf sites and seal impressions on tablets of Kultepe (on the Maritime Tin Route) signify Indus Script hieroglyphs.
The presence of Indus Script hieroglyph-multiplexes are reasonably read in Indus Script cipher as metalwork catalogues documented in Proto-Prakritam (Meluhha/mleccha which was the speech form in Indian sprachbund) -- as distinct from literary Samskritam exemlified in the earlier form of Vedic chandas. That Meluhha was the underlying language (speech form) to signify metalwork objects and resources (ingots, furnaces, smelters, castings) is reinforced by the phrased by Vatsyayana to denote cipher writing: Mlecchita vikalpa ('Meluhha cipher'). This Meluhha speech form is Proto-Prakritam. The metalwork and related hieroglyph-multiplex readings provide a lexis to decipher catalogus catalogorum of Indus Script Corpora.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
September 14, 2015
Sarianidi, V. 1981. Seal-amulets of the Murghab style. Pp. 221-225 in Ph.L. Kohl (ed) The Bronze Age Civilization of Central Asia.Recent Soviet Discoveries.
New York.
―――
. 1986a.Die Kunst des alten Afghanistan.Leipzig.
―――
. 1986b. The Bactrian Pantheon.Information BulletinIASCCA10: 5-20.
―――
. 1993a. Excavations at Southern Gonur.Iran XXXI: 25-37,Pl. IV-X.
―――
. 1993b. Recent archaeological discoveries and the Aryanproblem. Pp. 251-264 in A.J. Gail & G.J.R. Mevissen (eds) South Asian Archaeology 1991. Stuttgart.
―――
. 1993c. Margiana in the ancient Orient.Information Bulle-tin IASCCA19: 5-28.
―――
. 1994a. Margiana and the Indo-Iranian world. Pp. 667-680in A. Parpola & P. Koskikallio (eds) South Asian Archaeology1993 . (Annales Academicae cientiarum Fennicae, Series B, vol.271). Helsinki.
―――
. 1994b. Aegean-Anatolian Motifs in the Glyptic Art of Bactria and Margiana.
Bulletin of the Asia Institute8: 27-36.
―――
. 1994c. Temples of Bronze Age Margiana: traditions of ritual architecture.
Antiquity LXVIII: 388-397.
―――
. 1998. Myths of Ancient Bactria and Margiana on its Seals and Amulets.Moscow.
Meluhha merchant settlements are attested in cuneiform texts in Elam and in Mesopotamia. Thanks to Eric Olijdam who has provided an insightful monograph brilliantly collating a number of related artifacts from Ancient Near East. Some of these artifacts signify metalwork catalogues using Indus Script cipher and should be added to the Indus Script Corpora which is catalogus catalogorum of Bronze Age documented by seafaring Meluhha merchants along the Maritime Tin Route.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/ant-twisted-rope-and-other-meluhha.html Twisted rope, ant and other Meluhha hieroglyphs on Ancient Near East and Indian sea
In this post, twisted rope and eagle as hieroglyphs were noted, in the context of metalwork:
dhāˊtu *strand of rope ʼ (cf. tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV., ayugdhātu -- ʻ having an uneven number of strands ʼ KātyŚr.) S. dhāī f. ʻ wisp of fibres added from time to time to a rope that is being twisted ʼ, L. dhāī˜ f.(CDIAL 6773 ) Rebus: dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn.Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; M. dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ)(CDIAL 6773).
Hieroglyph: मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
eruvai 'eagle, a kind of kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'.
kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. Rebus: koḍ artisan’s workshop (Kuwi) kunda ‘turner’ kundār turner (Assamese) Alternative: damkom = a bull calf (Santali) Rebus: damha = a fireplace; dumhe = to heap, to collect together (Santali)
எருவை eruvai, n. 1. Blood; உதிரம். (திவா.) 2. Copper; செம்பு. எருவை யுருக்கினா லன்ன குருதி (கம்பரா. கும்பக. 248). 3. A kind of kite, a kite whose head is white and whose body is brown; தலைவெளுத்து உடல்சிவந்திருக்கும் பருந்து. விசும்பா டெருவை பசுந்தடி தடுப்ப (புறநா. 64, 4). 4. Eagle; கழுகு. எருவை குருதி பிணங்க வருந் தோற்றம் (களவழி. 20). 5. European bamboo reed. See கொறுக்கச்சி. (குறிஞ்சிப். 68, உரை.) (Tamil) ఎరుపు [ erupu ] erupu. [Tel.] n. Redness, red. ఎర్రదనము.
Thanks to Eric Olijdam who has provided an insightful monograph brilliantly collating a number of related artifacts from Ancient Near East. (Eric Olijdam, 2008, A possible central Asian origin for seal-impressed jar from the 'Temple Tower' at Failaka, in: Eric Olijdam and Richard H. Spoor, eds., 2008, Intercultural relations between south and southwest Asia, Studies in commemoration of ECL During Caspers (1934-1996), Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 7 [eds. D. Kennet & St J. Simpson], BAR International Series 1826 pp. 268-287).
https://www.academia.edu/403945/A_Possible_Central_Asian_Origin_for_the_Seal-Impressed_Jar_from_the_Temple_Tower_at_Failaka In this monograph, Eric Olijdam has provided remarkable evidences for mercantile and intercultural connections in a remarkably interactive civilizational area of the Bronze Age covering the Persian (Arab) Gulf, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) and in my view, also Meluhha since some artifacts cited seem to signify Indus Script hieroglyphs since the links of Persian Gulf sites with Meluhha are well attested by a cylinder seal impression signifying hieroglyphs: elephant, rhinoceros, crocodile (gharial):
.See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/pie-and-vedic-studies-multi-layered.html
Map of Mesopotamian archaeological sites (After Oriental Institute, Univ. of Chicago http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/sumerianmyth.htm)
Tell AsmarCylinder seal modern impression [elephant, rhinoceros and gharial (alligator) on the upper register] bibliography and image source: Frankfort, Henri: Stratified Cylinder Seals from the Diyala Region. Oriental Institute Publications 72. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, no. 642. Museum Number: IM14674 3.4 cm. high. Glazed steatite. ca. 2250 - 2200 BCE. ibha 'elephant' Rebus: ib 'iron' (Santali). karibha 'trunk of elephant' (Pali) Rebus: karba 'iron' (Tulu) kāṇḍā 'rhinoceros' Rebus: khāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, and metal-ware’. karā 'crocodile'(Telugu) Rebus: khār 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri)
Cylinder seal-impressed jar from the 'Temple Tower', Failaka (F88.2270, Kuwait National Museum no. 5827)(Photograph by courtesy of Missio Archeologique Francaise au Kuweit; drawing after Calvet 1996: Fig. 3. After Fig. 2 in Eric Olijdam opcit.)Hieroglyphs on this seal impression are: safflower, eagle, bull calf.
Hieroglyph: karaḍā '
kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. Rebus: koḍ artisan’s workshop (Kuwi) kunda ‘turner’ kundār turner (Assamese)
eruvai 'eagle, a kind of kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'
The cylinder seal impression may be a message about the contents of the storage jar:
copper-iron hard alloy workshop.
Cylinder seal-impressed jar from Gonar 1 South, Turkmenistan. A) Storage jar with 'upside down' impression in situ (by courtesy of Fred Hiebert); B. Design of the cylinder seal (After Sarianidi 1993a: Fig.9). After Fig. 4 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
Hieroglyphs on this seal impression are: Winged-eagle person (called birdman); eagle in flight; markhor (caprid?)
eruvai 'eagle' Rebus: eruvai 'copper (red)' miṇḍāl 'markhor' (Tōrwālī) meḍho a ram, a sheep Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'.
The cylinder seal impression may be a message about the contents of the storage jar:
copper-iron cast metal.
Santali glossesTwisted rope as hieroglyph:
Rebus: dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn.Pk. dhāu -- m. ʻ metal, red chalk ʼ; N. dhāu ʻ ore (esp. of copper) ʼ; Or. ḍhāu ʻ red chalk, red ochre ʼ (whence ḍhāuā ʻ reddish ʼ; M. dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ)(CDIAL 6773). Alternative: मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
First cylinder seal-impressed jar from Taip 1, Turkmenistan (Photo: Kohl 1984: Pl. 15c; drawings after Collon 1987: nos. 600, 599. After Fig. 5 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
Hieroglyphs on the cylinder impression of the jar are: zebu, stalk (tree?), one-horned young bull (?), twisted rope, birds in flight, mountain-range
dhāī wisp of fibers added to a rope (Sindhi) Rebus: dhātu 'mineral ore' (Samskritam) dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻa partic. soft red stoneʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ(Marathi)
poLa 'zebu' Rebus: poLa 'magnetite ore'
kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. Rebus: koḍ artisan’s workshop (Kuwi) kunda ‘turner’ kundār turner (Assamese)
kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
eruvai 'eagle' Rebus: eruvai 'copper (red)'
dAng 'mountain-range' Rebus: dhangar 'blacksmith'
Thus, the storage jar contents are the message conveyed by the hieroglyph-multiplex: copper smithy workshop magnetite ore, iron castings.
Unprovenanced Harappan-style cylinder seal impression; Museedu Louvre; cf. Corbiau, 1936, An Indo-Sumerian cylinder, Iraq 3, 100-3, p. 101, Fig.1; De ClercqColl.; burnt white agate; De Clercqand Menant, 1888, No. 26; Collon, 1987, Fig. 614. A hero grasping two tigers and a buffalo-and-leaf-horned person, seated on a stool with hoofed legs, surrounded by a snake and a fish on either side, a pair of water buffaloes. Another person stands and fights two tigers and is surrounded by trees, a markhorgoat and a vulture above a rhinoceros. Text 9905
Hieroglyphs on the cylinder seal impression are: buffalo, tiger, rice-plant, eagle, ram, hooded snake, fish pair, round object (circle), crucible, twigs as part of hair-style of the seated person.
kula 'hooded snake' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'; kolle 'blacksmith' kolhe 'smelter'
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'
The bunch of twigs = kūdī,kūṭī (Samskritam)kūdī (also written as kūṭī in manuscripts) occurs in the Atharvaveda (AV 5.19.12) and KauśikaSūtra (Bloomsfield'sed.n, xliv. cf. Bloomsfield, American Journal of Philology, 11, 355; 12,416; Roth, Festgrussan Bohtlingk, 98) denotes it as a twig. This is identified as that of Badarī, the jujube tied to the body of the dead to efface their traces. (See Vedic Index, I, p. 177). Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'
Hieroglyph multiplexes of the hypertext of the cylinder seal from a Near Eastern Source can be identified: aquatic bird, rhinoceros, buffalo, buffalo horn, crucible, markhor, antelope, hoofed stool, fish, tree, tree branch, twig, roundish stone, tiger, rice plant.
Hieroglyph components on the head-gear of the person on cylinder seal impression are: twig, crucible, buffalo horns: kuThI 'badari ziziphus jojoba' twig Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'; koThAri 'crucible' Rebus: koThAri 'treasurer'; tattAru 'buffalo horn' Rebus: ṭhã̄ṭhāro 'brassworker'.
This hieroglyph multiplex ligatures head of an antelope to a snake: nAga 'snake' Rebus: nAga 'lead' ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin'. tuttināgamu is a Prakritam gloss meaning 'pewter, zinc'. A comparable alloy may be indicated by the hieroglyph-multiplex of antelope-snake: rankunAga, perhaps a type of zinc or lead alloy.
Two fish hieroglyphs flank the hoofed legs of the stool or platform signify: warehouse of cast metal alloy metal implements:
Hieroglyph: kaṇḍō a stool Rebus: kanda 'implements'
Hieroglyph: maṇḍā 'raised platform, stool' Rebus: maṇḍā 'warehouse'.
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'
ayo 'fish' Rebus: aya 'iron' (Gujarati) ayas 'metal' (Rigveda)
barad, barat 'ox' Rebus: भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c.(Marathi).
This mkultiplx is flanked by 1. kolom 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'; 2. kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smeter'. Thus the message is that the warehouse of cast metal alloy metal implements is complemented by a smelter and a smithy/forge -- part of the metalwork repertoire.The hieroglyph-multiplex of a woman thwarting two rearing tigers is also signified on other seals and tablets to signify:
Hieroglyph: kola 'woman' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' PLUS kola 'tiger' Rebus: kolle 'blacksmith'; kolhe 'smeter'; kole.l 'smithy, forge'. The kolmo 'rice-plant' Rebus kolimi 'smithy, forge' is a semantic determinant of the cipher: smithy with smelter.
The bottom register of the cylinder seal impression lists the products: smithy/forge forged iron, alloy castings (laterite PLUS spelter), hard alloy implements.
goTa 'roundish stone' Rebus: gota 'laterite'
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' PLUS rã̄go 'buffalo' Rebus: rāṅgā 'zinc alloy, spelter, pewter'. Thus, cast spelter PLUS laterite.
markhor PLUS tail
miṇḍāl 'markhor' (Tōrwālī) meḍho a ram, a sheep (Gujarati)(CDIAL 10120) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Munda.Ho.) koṭe meṛed = forged iron, in contrast to dul meṛed, cast iron (Mundari) PLUS Kur. xolā tail. Malt. qoli id. (DEDR 2135) Rebus: kol 'working in iron' Ta. kol working in iron, blacksmith; kollaṉ blacksmith. Ma. kollan blacksmith, artificer. Ko. kole·l smithy, temple in Kota village.
Rhinoceros PLUS aquatic bird or eagle
Hieroglyhph: kāṇṭā 'rhinoceros. gaṇḍá m. ʻ rhinoceros ʼ Rebus: kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans and metal-ware' (Gujarati)
karaṛa 'large aquatic bird' (Sindhi) Rebus: karaḍā 'hardalloy of metals' (Marathi) Alternative: eruvai 'kite, eagle' Rebus: eruvai 'copper (red)'
Two water-buffalos flanks a hieroglyph: something round, like a seed. Hieroglyph: rã̄go 'buffalo' Rebus: rāṅgā 'zinc alloy, spelter, pewter'. What does the hieroglyph 'something round' signify? I suggest that it signifies goTa 'laterite (ferrous ore)'.
All these hieroglyhphs/hieroglyph-multiplexes are read as metalwork catalogue items in Prakritam which had tadbhava, tatsama identified in Samskritam in Indian sprachbund (speech union).
Tree shown on a tablet from Harappa. kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'
The cylinder seal impression is thus a catalogue of metalwork using rāṅgā 'zinc alloy, spelter, pewter'; goTa 'laterite (ferrous ore)' iron, copper hard alloy, cast metal, implements; compound alloy of copper, pewter, tin; (out of) kuThi 'smelter' (in a) kolimi 'smithy, forge' workshop.
Eagles. A. snake (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1762.1); B. tortoise(?) (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1779.2; Fig. 3); C. Long-legged person (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1234; Fig. 3) D. long leg? + bird (Sarianidi 1998: no. 914.2; Fig. 3) After Fig. 11 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
kamaṭha 'tortoise' Rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner' (Telugu)
nAga 'snake' Rebus: nAga 'lead' Alternative: kula 'hooded snake' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'
d.han:ga = tall, long shanked; maran: d.han:gi aimai kanae = she is a big tall woman (Santali.lex.)
Rebus: d.han:gar ‘blacksmith’ (WPah.): d.a_n:ro = a term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.)(CDIAL 5524) t.ha_kur = blacksmith (Mth.); t.ha_kar = landholder (P.); t.hakkura – Rajput, chief man of a village (Pkt.); t.hakuri = a clan of Chetris (N.); t.ha_kura – term of address to a Brahman, god, idol (Or.)(CDIAL 5488). dha~_gar., dha_~gar = a non-Aryan tribe in the Vindhyas, digger of wells and tanks (H.); dha_n:gar = young servant, herdsman, name of a Santal tribe (Or.); dhan:gar = herdsman (H.)(CDIAL 5524).
Compartmented seal with two coiled snakes. crescents (crucibles?)(Baghestani 1997: no. 156) After Fig. 12 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
koThAri 'crucible' Rebus: koThAri 'treasurer, storehouse'
nAga 'serpent' Rebus: nAga 'lead' kula 'hooded serpent' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter' kolle 'blacksmith' dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' Thus, the message if of metalwork (iron,crucible (steel? ingots?) castings.
Chlorite bowl. Incised snaake, stars (Pottier 1984. Pl. XXVIII no. 225) After Fig. 13 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
kula 'hooded serpent' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter' kolle 'blacksmith'
मेढा [ mēḍhā ] polar star (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
DAng 'mountain range' Rebus: dhangar 'blacksmith'. Thus, the message signifies a
blacksmith, iron smelter.
BMAC copper/bronze cosmetic vial (after Sarianidi 1994b: Fig. 7) After Fig. 15 in Eric Olijdam opcit.
kuThAru 'monkey' Rebus: kuThAru 'armourer' (Samskritam)
tAmarasa 'lotus flower' Rebus: tAmra 'copper' (Samskritam)
Seated person, bull: barad, balad 'bull' Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi)
Meluhha merchant settlements are attested in cuneiform texts in Elam and in Mesopotamia. (Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975). "On the relationship of the Sumerian Toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit Mleccha". Studia Orientalia 46: 205–238.)
Thousands of seals found in Persian (Arab) Gulf sites and seal impressions on tablets of Kultepe (on the Maritime Tin Route) signify Indus Script hieroglyphs.
The presence of Indus Script hieroglyph-multiplexes are reasonably read in Indus Script cipher as metalwork catalogues documented in Proto-Prakritam (Meluhha/mleccha which was the speech form in Indian sprachbund) -- as distinct from literary Samskritam exemlified in the earlier form of Vedic chandas. That Meluhha was the underlying language (speech form) to signify metalwork objects and resources (ingots, furnaces, smelters, castings) is reinforced by the phrased by Vatsyayana to denote cipher writing: Mlecchita vikalpa ('Meluhha cipher'). This Meluhha speech form is Proto-Prakritam. The metalwork and related hieroglyph-multiplex readings provide a lexis to decipher catalogus catalogorum of Indus Script Corpora.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
September 14, 2015
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