Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/ncrpffg
Ancient etyma: yupa, skambha, yaṣṭi (octagonal brick), vajra refer to a stele implanted in yajna-fire-altars.
Skambha as mukhalinga as orthographic variants of linga, are semantic determinatives of metalwork. An ancient text notes that Skambha shed forth gold, hiraNya,
The ram held in the right hand of the 'hunter' on the Gudimallam Sivalinga yields the significance of the linga as Skambha implanted for metalwork in a fire-altar. Ram is a hieroglyph, miṇḍ ‘ram’ rebus: mẽṛhet iron (metal), meD 'iron' (Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic languages)
Indus Script Corpora and early aniconic forms with mukha, mũh 'face' miṇḍ
‘ram’ hieroglyphs associate Siva linga with mẽṛhet iron (metal) a fiery pillar of light to prop-up/yield muhã 'smelted metal'.
‘ram’ hieroglyphs associate Siva linga with mẽṛhet iron (metal) a fiery pillar of light to prop-up/yield muhã 'smelted metal'.
This monograph presents six sivalingams from Harappa, two sivalingams from Dholavira, a sivalingam from Mohenjodaro together with a trefoil decrated base, Bhutesvar sculptural friezes of mukhalingas, Bhita and Gudimallam mukhalingas, fiery pillars of light from Amaravati, examples of mukhalingas from ancient Bharatam and Peninsular Siam.
Rigveda ricas document the enquiry about the nature of Skambha as the prop of earth support for heaven. This enquiry is signified on Lingodbhava iconography of Airavatesvara tempe of Darasuram emerging out of the Skambha, fiery pillar of light and both Brahma and Vishnu searching for the end and the beginning of the Cosmic pillar as a metaphor for the process from Being to Becoming, explaining all phenomena of the Universe.
The sense of awe and wonder of the smith trasmuting mere earth and stone in dagoba (dhatu garbha or hiraNyagarbha) and producing metal is a metaphor of t\he Cosmic dance.
Thus kole.l 'smithy, forge' also signifies kole.l ''temple'. The metallurgical process in a smelter/furnace yields the metaphor for the temple venerating the Supreme Divine, Paramesvara or Mahesvara.
![Harappa]()
In 1940, archaeologist M.S. Vats discovered three Shiva Lingas at Harappa, dating more than 5,000 years old. This rare archival photo shows that ancient Shiva Linga as it was being excavated from the Harappa site. Lingam, grey sandstone in situ, Harappa, Trench Ai, Mound F, Pl. X (c) (After Vats). "In an earthenware jar, No. 12414, recovered from Mound F, Trench IV, Square I... in this jar, six lingams were found along with some tiny pieces of shell, a unicorn seal, an oblong grey sandstone block with polished surface, five stone pestles, a stone palette, and a block of chalcedony..." (Vats,MS, Excavations at Harappa, p. 370)
Tre-foil inlay decorated base (for linga icon?); smoothed, polished pedestal of dark red stone; National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi; After Mackay 1938: I, 411; II, pl. 107:35; Parpola, 1994, p. 218.
Two decorated bases and a lingam, Mohenjodaro. 
After Fig. 8.305 RS Bisht. Dholavira. Details of free standing columns.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/09/skambha-sivalinga-temple-in-dholavira.html
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Naga worshippers of fiery pillar, Amaravati stupa Smithy is the temple of Bronze Age: stambha, thãbharā fiery pillar of light, Sivalinga. Rebus-metonymy layered Indus script cipher signifies: tamba, tã̄bṛā, tambira 'copper'
![Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a symbol of the Buddha, , Great Stupa of Amaravati]()
http://bharatkalyan97.
Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a symbol of the Buddha.
Naga worshippers of fiery pillar, Amaravati stupa Smithy is the temple of Bronze Age: stambha, thãbharā fiery pillar of light, Sivalinga. Rebus-metonymy layered Indus script cipher signifies: tamba, tã̄bṛā, tambira 'copper' 
http://bharatkalyan97.
Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a symbol of the Buddha.
Atharva Veda Skambha Sukta predates archaeology of Sarasvati Sindhu civilization. The civilization dates from ca. 8th millennium BCE (pace BR Mani's article) https://friendsofasi.
“The Dhruvaberas in all Siva temples is the Linga surmounted upon the Yoni or the piNDikA (pedestal)...Int he praise of Skambha, we meet with the following passages, namely, 'Where Skambha, generating brought PurANapurusha into existence' and 'Skambha in the beginning shed forth that gold (hiraNya, out of which HiraNyagarbha arose) in the midst of the world' and lastly 'He who knows the golden reed standing in the waters is the mysterious PrajApati.' From the first two of the three passages quoted above, we see that one of the functions of Skambha is to beget HiraNyagarbha, or PurANapurusha, the god of reproduction. He pours forth his golden seed in begetting PrajApati. The original of the third passage runs thus: Yo vetasam hiraNyayam tishThantam salile veda sa vai guhyah PrajApatih.”(pp.56-57)
“...a brief account contributed by Mr. RD Banerji to the Annual of the Director General of Archaeology for 1909-1910. About the linga of Bhita Mr. Banerji writes, 'The top of it is shaped as the bust of a male holding a vase in his left hand, while the right is raised in the abhaya mudrA posture. Below this bust, where the waist of the figure should have been, are four human heads, one at each corner. From the mode of dressing the hair and the large rings worn in the lobes of the ears, it appears that these are the busts of females. They are more or less defaced, but still retain sufficient detail to admit of identification. The upper part of the hed of the male is broken, only the portion below the nose being extant. The male figure wears a loth which is thrown over the left shoulder, the folds being shown by a double line running over the breast. The vase held in the left hand resembles to some extent, the ointment vessel found in the figures of Bodhisatvas of the Gandhara school. The left ear of the male figure bears the circular pendants, which may be earrings. In front, immediately below the heads of two females, the phallus is marked by deeply drawn lines. To the upper left of this is the inscription...The lower part of the tsone is shaped as a tenon to be fitted in a mortice. The inscription is in a good state of preservation, and with the exception of the last three letters, can be deciphered very easily.' The translation of the inscription is given by Mr. Banerji as follows: 'The lings of the sons of Khajahuti, was dedicated by Nagasiri, the son of VaseThi. May the deity be pleased.' (The text of this inscription reads as follows: Khajahuti putanam l[im]go patiThApito vAseThi-putena NagasirinA piyayta[m] d[e]vatA.). From the description given by Mr. Banerji it is evident that it is a Mukhalinga having five faces corresponding to the Is'Ana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata aspects of Siva. In the description of Mukhalingas given...the face representing Is'Ana should be on the top, while the other four should face the east, south, west and north respectively. The four faces of the four cornes which Mr. Banerji believes may be of females are really those of male figures...With the help of the (inscription) characters, Mr. RD Banerji has correctly guessed the age of the Linga to be the first century BCE. The second most ancient Linga is the one discovered by me (T Gopinatha Rao) at Gudimallam.”(pp.63-65)
Three views of the Bhita lingam: stone. ca. 1st cent. BCE
Five-headed Mukhalinga embedded in a yoni;Budanilkantha, Nepal
Peninsular Siam lingas ca. 7th century CE
Photograph from Malleret, L., L'archaeologie du delta du Mekong, Paris, 1959;
Ekamukhalinga from JaiyA, National Museum, Bangkok
Ekamukhalinga from Vat Sak Sampou
“The JaiyA ekamukhalinga is divided into three parts in accordance with the prescriptions in the Siva Agamas. The base, BrahmabhAga, is cubic in form and is 47.8 cms. High. The middle section, the ViSNubhAga, is octagonal in shape and is approximately 43 cm. High. The topmost section, the RudrabhAga, is cylindrical and is approximately 51 cms high, while the superimposed face measures 29.5 cms from the bottom of the chin to the top of the jaTA. The two lower sections of the linga would not normally be visible, since they would be enclosed in the pedestal (pIThikA)...One of the singular features of these pre-Angkorian mukhalingas is the fusing of the jaTA with the filet on the gland of the RudrabhAga (fig.2)...There is, however, an ekamukhalinga from Vat Sak Sampou (fig. 3) which displays a coiffure which is very muh like that worn on the JaiyA linga.” (O'Connor, SJ, 1961, An ekamukhalinga from Peninsular Siam, The Journal of the Siam Society. The Siam Society. pp. 43-49).
Linga with One Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga), Mon–Dvaravati period, 7th–early 8th century. Thailand (Phetchabun Province, Si Thep) Stone; H. 55 1/8 in.
Octagonal form of ViSNubhAga and the occurrence of pancamukhalinga is consistent with the tradition of pancaloha 'five dhAtu or five mineral alloy' images as utsavaberas.
I suggest that the mukha on the linga is read rebus from the hieroglyph:
mũh 'a face' Rebus: mũh,muhã 'ingot' or muhã 'quantity of metal produced at one time in a native smelting furnace.' This reaffirms the association of the octagonal brick of Binjor fire-altar with the Skambha as linga or vajra which participates in the process of smelting dhAtu, 'ores'.
Face on Bhuteswar sivalinga & face with body of a hunter on Gudimallam sivalinga
Worship of Shiva Linga by Gandharvas - Shunga Period - Bhuteshwar - ACCN 3625 This is worship by kharva 'dwarfs' gaNa of Siva, celebrating Kubera's nidhi also called kharva Rebus: karb 'iron' (Tulu)
Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE
Siva stands on the shoulders of a stumpy dwarf or goblin, gaNa. Ananda Coomaraswamy sees similarity of the goblin figure with 'kupiro yakho' (Kubera yaksha) of Bharhut.
Plate V. “The figure of Siva has two arms, in the right one of which a ram is held by its hind legs and with its hed hanging downwards (fig.4, Pl. V); in the left one is held a water-pot (fig. 3, Pl. V); and a battle-axe (paqras'u) rests upon the left shoulder (fig. 2, Pl.V)”(Gopinatha Rao, TA, 1997, Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol. 2, Pt 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsiddass, p.66).Hieroglyph: Ram on Siva's right hand: Dm. mraṅ m. ‘markhor’ Wkh. merg f. ‘ibex’ (CDIAL 9885) Tor. miṇḍ ‘ram’, miṇḍā́l ‘markhor’ (CDIAL 10310) Rebus: meḍ (Ho.); mẽṛhet ‘iron’ (Munda.Ho.)![]()
Santali glosses.
Origin of the gloss med 'copper' in Uralic languages may be explained by the word meD (Ho.) of Munda family of Meluhha language stream:Sa. <i>mE~R~hE~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mE~RhE~d</i>(M).Ma. <i>mErhE'd</i> `iron'.Mu. <i>mERE'd</i> `iron'. ~ <i>mE~R~E~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mENhEd</i>(M).Ho <i>meD</i> `iron'.Bj. <i>merhd</i>(Hunter) `iron'.KW <i>mENhEd</i>@(V168,M080)— Slavic glosses for 'copper'Мед [Med]BulgarianBakar BosnianМедзь [medz']BelarusianMěď CzechBakar CroatianKòperKashubianБакар [Bakar]MacedonianMiedź PolishМедь [Med']RussianMeď SlovakBakerSlovenianБакар [Bakar]SerbianМідь [mid'] Ukrainian[unquote]Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'. One suggestion is that corruptions from the German "Schmied", "Geschmeide" = jewelry. Schmied, a smith (of tin, gold, silver, or other metal)(German) result in med ‘copper’.Hieroglyph of a worshipper kneeling: Konḍa (BB) meḍa, meṇḍa id. Pe. menḍa id. Manḍ. menḍe id. Kui menḍa id. Kuwi (F.) menda, (S. Su. P.) menḍa, (Isr.) meṇḍa id.Ta. maṇṭi kneeling, kneeling on one knee as an archer. Ma.maṇṭuka to be seated on the heels. Ka. maṇḍi what is bent, the knee. Tu. maṇḍi knee. Te. maṇḍĭ̄ kneeling on one knee. Pa.maḍtel knee; maḍi kuḍtel kneeling position. Go. (L.) meṇḍā, (G. Mu. Ma.) Cf. 4645 Ta.maṭaṅku (maṇi-forms). / ? Cf. Skt. maṇḍūkī- (DEDR 4677)
So, why a dancing girl? Because, depiction of a dance pose is a hieroglyph to represent what was contained in the pot. The glyph encodes the mleccha word for 'iron': med.
Glyph: meD 'to dance' (F.)[reduplicated from me-]; me id. (M.) in Remo (Munda)(Source: D. Stampe's Munda etyma) meṭṭu to tread, trample, crush under foot, tread or place the foot upon (Te.); meṭṭu step (Ga.); mettunga steps (Ga.). maḍye to trample, tread (Malt.)(DEDR 5057) మెట్టు (p. 1027) [ meṭṭu ] meṭṭu. [Tel.] v. a. &n. To step, walk, tread. అడుగుపెట్టు, నడుచు, త్రొక్కు . "మెల్ల మెల్లన మెట్టుచుదొలగి అల్లనల్లనతలుపులండకు జేరి ." BD iv. 1523. To tread on, to trample on. To kick, to thrust with the foot.మెట్టిక meṭṭika. n. A step , మెట్టు, సోపానము (Telugu) Rebus: meD 'iron' (Mundari. Remo
) It is possible that there were earlier versions of this iconography on utsava bera in bronze or other copper alloys in the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization tradition of making cire perdue sculptures and taking them on processions.
Siva as Nataraja is associated with two characteristic orthographic components: flowing expanding jaTa (hair-locks) and flames emanating from Sivalinga.
Santali glosses.Origin of the gloss med 'copper' in Uralic languages may be explained by the word meD (Ho.) of Munda family of Meluhha language stream:
Sa. <i>mE~R~hE~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mE~RhE~d</i>(M).
Ma. <i>mErhE'd</i> `iron'.
Mu. <i>mERE'd</i> `iron'.
~ <i>mE~R~E~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mENhEd</i>(M).
Ho <i>meD</i> `iron'.
Bj. <i>merhd</i>(Hunter) `iron'.
KW <i>mENhEd</i>
@(V168,M080)
— Slavic glosses for 'copper'
Мед [Med]Bulgarian
Bakar Bosnian
Медзь [medz']Belarusian
Měď Czech
Bakar Croatian
KòperKashubian
Бакар [Bakar]Macedonian
Miedź Polish
Медь [Med']Russian
Meď Slovak
BakerSlovenian
Бакар [Bakar]Serbian
Мідь [mid'] Ukrainian[unquote]
Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'.
One suggestion is that corruptions from the German "Schmied", "Geschmeide" = jewelry. Schmied, a smith (of tin, gold, silver, or other metal)(German) result in med ‘copper’.
Hieroglyph of a worshipper kneeling: Konḍa (BB) meḍa, meṇḍa id. Pe. menḍa
id. Manḍ. menḍe id. Kui menḍa id. Kuwi (F.) menda, (S. Su. P.) menḍa, (Isr.) meṇḍa id.Ta. maṇṭi kneeling, kneeling on one knee as an archer. Ma.maṇṭuka to be seated on the heels. Ka. maṇḍi what is bent, the knee. Tu. maṇḍi knee. Te. maṇḍĭ̄ kneeling on one knee. Pa.maḍtel knee; maḍi kuḍtel kneeling position. Go. (L.) meṇḍā, (G. Mu. Ma.) Cf. 4645 Ta.maṭaṅku (maṇi-forms). / ? Cf. Skt. maṇḍūkī- (DEDR 4677)
So, why a dancing girl? Because, depiction of a dance pose is a hieroglyph to represent what was contained in the pot. The glyph encodes the mleccha word for 'iron': med.
Glyph: meD 'to dance' (F.)[reduplicated from me-]; me id. (M.) in Remo (Munda)(Source: D. Stampe's Munda etyma) meṭṭu to tread, trample, crush under foot, tread or place the foot upon (Te.); meṭṭu step (Ga.); mettunga steps (Ga.). maḍye to trample, tread (Malt.)(DEDR 5057) మెట్టు (p. 1027) [ meṭṭu ] meṭṭu. [Tel.] v. a. &n. To step, walk, tread.
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A skambha linking heaven and earth, a fiery pillar of light. The following three ricas of Rigveda also refer to and explain the metaphor of skambha as a prop which upholds heaven and earth; RV 9.89.6 places it in the context of purification of Soma, reinforcing the possibility that the Skambha signified the impeller of the purification process of yajna -- a process which is replicated in the purification of metals in a smelter/funace/fire-altar:![]()
10.111.05 Indra, the counterpart of heaven and earth, is cognizant of all sacrifices, he is the slayer of S'us.n.a; he spread out the spacious heaven with the sun (to light it up); best of proppers, he propped up (the heaven) with a prop. [Propped up the heaven with a prop: Satyata_ta_ = that which is stretched out by the true ones, the gods; or, ta_ti as a suffix, that which is true, i.e., heaven]. ![]()
9.074.02 The supporter of heaven, the prop (of the earth), the Soma-juice who, widely spreading, filling (the vessels), flows in all directions-- may he unite the two great worlds by his own strength; he has upheld them combined; (may he) the sage (bestow) food upon (his worshippers). [The prop of the earth: cf. RV. 9.089.06; may he unite: yaks.at = sam.yojayatu; a_vr.ta = by its own unaided strength].![]()
9.089.06 The prop of heaven, the support of earth-- all beings (are) in his hands; may (Soma) the fountain (of desires) be possessed of horses for you (his) adorer; the filament of the sweet-flavoured (Soma) is purified for (the sake of winning) strength.
A skambha linking heaven and earth, a fiery pillar of light. The following three ricas of Rigveda also refer to and explain the metaphor of skambha as a prop which upholds heaven and earth; RV 9.89.6 places it in the context of purification of Soma, reinforcing the possibility that the Skambha signified the impeller of the purification process of yajna -- a process which is replicated in the purification of metals in a smelter/funace/fire-altar:
10.111.05 Indra, the counterpart of heaven and earth, is cognizant of all sacrifices, he is the slayer of S'us.n.a; he spread out the spacious heaven with the sun (to light it up); best of proppers, he propped up (the heaven) with a prop. [Propped up the heaven with a prop: Satyata_ta_ = that which is stretched out by the true ones, the gods; or, ta_ti as a suffix, that which is true, i.e., heaven]. 
9.074.02 The supporter of heaven, the prop (of the earth), the Soma-juice who, widely spreading, filling (the vessels), flows in all directions-- may he unite the two great worlds by his own strength; he has upheld them combined; (may he) the sage (bestow) food upon (his worshippers). [The prop of the earth: cf. RV. 9.089.06; may he unite: yaks.at = sam.yojayatu; a_vr.ta = by its own unaided strength].
9.089.06 The prop of heaven, the support of earth-- all beings (are) in his hands; may (Soma) the fountain (of desires) be possessed of horses for you (his) adorer; the filament of the sweet-flavoured (Soma) is purified for (the sake of winning) strength.