Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/hed9ouq
I suggest that the Shahdad standard with Indus Script hieroglyphs is a continuum of the tradition of yupa signifying the Somayaga. Pas'ubandha related to the yupa are shown and include: tiger, zebu. The twisted strands of rope signify dhAv, dhAtu 'ore'. Soma was NOT a herbal, but a mineral, metal (while Haoma was a substitute herbal). The Shahdad standard is a metalwork catalogue in the Indus Script Corpora tradition, dated to ca 2400 BCE. The eagle or kite atop the yupa of Shahdad is also a signifier of a process comparable to the Somayaga in a Śyenaciti (which has been attested archaeologically).
Syena-citi: A Monument of Uttarkashi Distt.
EXCAVATED SITE -PUROLA
Geo-Coordinates-Lat. 30° 52’54” N Long. 77° 05’33” E
Notification No& Date;2742/-/16-09/1996 The ancient site at Purola is located on the left bank of river Kamal. The excavation yielded the remains of Painted Grey Ware (PGW) from the earliest level along with other associated materials include terracotta figurines, beads, potter-stamp, the dental and femur portions of domesticated horse (Equus CaballusLinn). The most important finding from the site is a brick altar identified as Śyenaciti by the excavator. The structure is in the shape of a flying eagle Garuda, head facing east with outstretched wings. In the center of the structure is the citi is a square chamber yielded remains of pottery assignable to circa first century BCE to second century CE. In addition copper coin of Kuninda and other material i.e. ash, bone pieces etc and a thin gold leaf impressed with a human figure tentatively identified as Agni have also been recovered from the central chamber.
Note: Many ancient metallic coins (called Kuninda copper coins) were discovered at Purola. cf. Devendra Handa, 2007,Tribal coins of ancient India, ISBN: 8173053170, Aryan Books International.
Comparing the allegory of soma and the legend of anzu, the bird which stole the tablets of destiny, I posit a hypothesis that the tablets of destiny are paralleled by the Indus writing corpora which constitute a veritable catalog of stone-, mineral- and metal-ware in the bronze age evolving from the chalcolithic phase of what constituted an 'industrial' revolution of ancient times creating ingots of metal alloys and weapons and tools using metal alloys which transformed the relation of communities with nature and resulted in the life-activities of lapidaries transforming into miners, smiths and traders of metal artefacts.
I suggest that ayas of bronze age created a revolutionary transformation in the lives of people of these bronze age times.
![]()
![]()
Oldest standard in the world. Shahdad standard, 2400 BCE (Prof. Mahmoud Rexa Maheri, Prof. Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shiraz University, dates this to ca. 3000 BCE Oct. 15, 2015 "Following an archeological survey of the South-East Iran in 1930's by Sir Auriel Stein, in 1960's and 1970's a number of archeological expeditions spent a few seasons digging at different locations through the
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/shahdad-standard-meluhha-smithy-catalog.html
Shahdad standard is a Meluhha (mleccha) metalware catalog describing the repertoire of a smithy in Shahdad, Marhashi:
pajhaṛ ‘kite’. Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali)
Three pots are shown of three sizes in the context of kneeling adorants seated in front of the person seated on a stool. meṇḍā 'kneeling position' (Gondi) Rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Munda)
kōla = woman (Nahali) Rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pañcaloha’ (Tamil) kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil)
kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. Kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) Rebus: kaṇḍ = a furnace, altar (Santali)
If the date palm denotes tamar (Hebrew language), ‘palm tree, date palm’ the rebus reading would be: tam(b)ra, ‘copper’ (Pkt.)
kaṇḍ kan-ka 'rim of jar' (Santali). kanka ‘rim (of jar, kaṇḍ)’ (Santali) kárṇa— m. ‘ear, handle of a vessel’ RV., ‘end, tip (?)’ RV. ii 34, 3. [Cf. *kāra—6] Pa. kaṇṇa— m. ‘ear, angle, tip’ (CDIAL 2830). Rebus: 'scribe'. Pk. kaṁḍa -- m. ʻ piece, fragment ʼ; -- Deriv. Pk. kaṁḍārēi ʻ scrapes, engraves ʼ;M. kãḍārṇẽ, karã̄ḍṇẽ ʻ to gnaw ʼ, kãḍārṇẽ n. ʻ jeweller's hammer, barber's nail -- parer ʼ. (CDIAL 2683) कंडारणें [ kaṇḍāraṇēṃ ] n An instrument of goldsmiths,--the iron spike which is hammered upon plates in reducing them to shape (Marathi) khanaka m. one who digs , digger , excavator MBh. iii , 640 R. ; a miner L. ; a house-breaker , thief L. ; a rat L. ; N. of a friend of Vidura MBh. i , 5798 f. ; (%{I}) f. a female digger or excavator Pāṇ. 3-1 , 145 Pat. ; iv , 1 , 41 Ka1s3.
kaṇḍ 'jar' (Santali) Rebus: kāḍ ‘stone’. Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (DEDR 1298). mayponḍi kanḍ whetstone; (Ga.)(DEDR 4628). (खडा) Pebbles or small stones: also stones broken up (as for a road), metal. खडा [ khaḍā ] m A small stone, a pebble. Rebus: kaṇḍ = a furnace, altar (Santali)
kul ‘tiger’ (Santali); kōlu id. (Te.) kōlupuli = Bengal tiger (Te.)Pk. Kolhuya -- , kulha — m. ʻ jackal ʼ < *kōḍhu -- ; H.kolhā, °lā m. ʻ jackal ʼ, adj. ʻ crafty ʼ; G. kohlũ, °lũ n. ʻ jackal ʼ, M. kolhā, °lā m. krōṣṭŕ̊ ʻ crying ʼ BhP., m. ʻ jackal ʼ RV. = krṓṣṭu — m. Pāṇ. [√kruś] Pa. koṭṭhu -- , °uka — and kotthu -- , °uka — m. ʻ jackal ʼ, Pk. Koṭṭhu — m.; Si. Koṭa ʻ jackal ʼ, koṭiya ʻ leopard ʼ GS 42 (CDIAL 3615). कोल्हा [ kōlhā ] कोल्हें [ kōlhēṃ ] A jackal (Marathi) Rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pañcaloha’ (Ta.)
poLa 'zebu' rebus: poLa 'magnetite'
adar ḍangra ‘zebu or humped bull’; ḍangar ‘bull’ Rebus: adar ḍhangar 'native metal-smith'.
Rebus: ḍangar ‘blacksmith’; aduru native metal (Kannada). Tu. ajirda karba very hard iron (DEDR 192). aduru =gaṇiyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Ka. Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya śastri’s New interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330) aduru ‘native metal’ (Kannada); ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi)
kuṭi ‘tree’. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter’ (Santali). The two trees are shown ligatured to a rectangle with ten square divisions and a dot in each square. The dot may denote an ingot in a furnace mould.
Glyph of rectangle with divisions: baṭai = to divide, share (Santali) [Note the glyphs of nine rectangles divided.] Rebus: bhaṭa = an oven, kiln, furnace (Santali)
Three sets of entwined 'glyphs (like twisted ropes) are shown around the entire narrative of the Shahdad standard.
meṛhao = v.a.m. entwine itself; wind round, wrap round roll up (Santali); maṛhnā cover, encase (Hindi) (Santali.lex.Bodding) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) mẽṛh t iron; ispat m. = steel; dul m. = cast iron (Mu.) meṛed-bica = iron stone ore, in contrast to bali-bica, iron sand ore (Munda) mẽṛhẽt ‘iron’; mẽṛhẽt icena ‘the iron is rusty’; ispat mẽṛhẽt ‘steel’, dul mẽṛhẽt ‘cast iron’;mẽṛhẽt khaṇḍa ‘iron implements’ (Santali) meḍ. (Ho.)(Santali.lex.Bodding) meṛed, mṛed, mṛdiron; enga meṛed soft iron; sanḍi meṛed hard iron; ispāt meṛed steel; dul meṛed cast iron; i meṛed rusty iron, also the iron of which weights are cast; bica meṛed iron extracted from stone ore; bali meṛed iron extracted from sand ore (Mu.lex.)
měď (copper)(Czech) mіdʹ (copper, cuprum, orichalc)(Ukrainian) medʹ (copper, cuprum, Cu), mednyy (copper, cupreous, brassy, brazen, brass), omednyatʹ (copper, coppering), sulʹfatmedi (Copper), politseyskiy (policeman, constable, peeler, policemen, redcap), pokryvatʹ medʹyu (copper), payalʹnik (soldering iron, copper, soldering pen, soldering-iron), mednyy kotel (copper), medno-krasnyy (copper), mednaya moneta (copper). медь (copper, cuprum, Cu), медный (copper, cupreous, brassy, brazen, brass), омеднять (copper, coppering), Сульфатмеди (Copper), полицейский (policeman, constable, peeler, policemen, redcap), покрывать медью (copper), паяльник (soldering iron, copper, soldering pen, soldering-iron), медный котел (copper), медно-красный (copper), медная монета (copper).(Russian)
A drummer, in the context of hieroglyphs of tumblers on Seal m1406 has been deciphered: mē
karaḍa 'double-drum' Rebus: karaḍa 'hard alloy'.
dhAtu, dhAv 'strands of rope' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral, metal, ore'
![]()
Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe'.(Gujarati. Desi)) Purport of Indus Script corpora.Rebus: Vajra Sanghāta 'binding together': Mixture of 8 lead, 2 bell-metal, 1 iron rust constitute adamantine glue. sangāṭh संगाठ् । सामग्री m. (sg. dat. sangāṭas संगाटस् ), a collection (of implements, tools, materials, for any object), apparatus, furniture, a collection of the things wanted on a journey, luggage, and so on. -- karun -- करुन् । सामग्रीसंग्रहः m.inf. to collect the ab. (L.V. 17).(Kashmiri).
![]()
![]()
Rebus readings of hieroglyphs: ‘1. arrow, 2. jag/notch, 3. buffalo, 4.acrobatics’:
![]()
Impression of a steatite stamp seal (2300-1700 BCE) with a water-buffalo and acrobats. Buffalo attack or bull-leaping scene, Banawali (after UMESAO 2000:88, cat. no. 335). A figure is impaled on the horns of the buffalo; a woman acrobat wearing bangles on both arms and a long braid flowing from the head, leaps over the buffalo bull. The action narrative is presented in five frames of the acrobat getting tossed by the horns, jumping and falling down.Two Indus script glyphs are written in front of the buffalo. (ASI BNL 5683).
Hieroglyph: धातु [p= 513,3] m. layer , stratum Ka1tyS3r. Kaus3. constituent part , ingredient (esp. [ and in RV. only] ifc. , where often = " fold " e.g. त्रि-ध्/आतु , threefold &c ; cf.त्रिविष्टि- , सप्त- , सु-) RV. TS. S3Br. &c (Monier-Williams) 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) tántu m. ʻ thread, warp ʼ RV. [√tan ] Pa. tantu -- m. ʻ thread, cord ʼ, Pk. taṁtu -- m.; Kho. (Lor.) ton ʻ warp ʼ < *tand (whence tandeni ʻ thread between wings of spinning wheel ʼ); S. tandu f. ʻ gold or silver thread ʼ; L. tand (pl. °dũ) f. ʻ yarn, thread being spun, string of the tongue ʼ; P. tand m. ʻ thread ʼ, tanduā, °dūā m. ʻ string of the tongue, frenum of glans penis ʼ; A. tã̄t ʻ warp in the loom, cloth being woven ʼ; B. tã̄t ʻ cord ʼ; M. tã̄tū m. ʻ thread ʼ; Si. tatu, °ta ʻ string of a lute ʼ; -- with -- o, -- ā to retain orig. gender: S. tando m. ʻ cord, twine, strand of rope ʼ; N. tã̄do ʻ bowstring ʼ; H. tã̄tā m. ʻ series, line ʼ; G. tã̄tɔ m. ʻ thread ʼ; -- OG. tāṁtaṇaü m. ʻ thread ʼ < *tāṁtaḍaü, G.tã̄tṇɔ m.(CDIAL 5661)
Rebus: 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); dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ; 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; (CDIAL 6773) धातु primary element of the earth i.e. metal , mineral, ore (esp. a mineral of a red colour) Mn. MBh. &c element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem Nir. Pra1t. MBh. &c (with the southern Buddhists धातु means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv ; or the 18 elementary spheres [धातु-लोक] ib. lviii ; or the ashes of the body , relics L. [cf. -गर्भ]) (Monier-Williams. Samskritam).
I suggest that the Shahdad standard with Indus Script hieroglyphs is a continuum of the tradition of yupa signifying the Somayaga. Pas'ubandha related to the yupa are shown and include: tiger, zebu. The twisted strands of rope signify dhAv, dhAtu 'ore'. Soma was NOT a herbal, but a mineral, metal (while Haoma was a substitute herbal). The Shahdad standard is a metalwork catalogue in the Indus Script Corpora tradition, dated to ca 2400 BCE. The eagle or kite atop the yupa of Shahdad is also a signifier of a process comparable to the Somayaga in a Śyenaciti (which has been attested archaeologically).

EXCAVATED SITE -PUROLA
Geo-Coordinates-Lat. 30° 52’54” N Long. 77° 05’33” E
Notification No& Date;2742/-/16-09/1996 The ancient site at Purola is located on the left bank of river Kamal. The excavation yielded the remains of Painted Grey Ware (PGW) from the earliest level along with other associated materials include terracotta figurines, beads, potter-stamp, the dental and femur portions of domesticated horse (Equus CaballusLinn). The most important finding from the site is a brick altar identified as Śyenaciti by the excavator. The structure is in the shape of a flying eagle Garuda, head facing east with outstretched wings. In the center of the structure is the citi is a square chamber yielded remains of pottery assignable to circa first century BCE to second century CE. In addition copper coin of Kuninda and other material i.e. ash, bone pieces etc and a thin gold leaf impressed with a human figure tentatively identified as Agni have also been recovered from the central chamber.
Note: Many ancient metallic coins (called Kuninda copper coins) were discovered at Purola. cf. Devendra Handa, 2007,Tribal coins of ancient India, ISBN: 8173053170, Aryan Books International.
Comparing the allegory of soma and the legend of anzu, the bird which stole the tablets of destiny, I posit a hypothesis that the tablets of destiny are paralleled by the Indus writing corpora which constitute a veritable catalog of stone-, mineral- and metal-ware in the bronze age evolving from the chalcolithic phase of what constituted an 'industrial' revolution of ancient times creating ingots of metal alloys and weapons and tools using metal alloys which transformed the relation of communities with nature and resulted in the life-activities of lapidaries transforming into miners, smiths and traders of metal artefacts.
I suggest that ayas of bronze age created a revolutionary transformation in the lives of people of these bronze age times.
Meluhhans were the artisans, metalworkers, using fire-altars or performing yajña-s to produce alloy metal castings. Their wanderings as explorers of mineral resources explain the presence of Meluhhan hieroglyphs on hundreds of cylinder seals of Ancient Near East.


Oldest standard in the world. Shahdad standard, 2400 BCE (Prof. Mahmoud Rexa Maheri, Prof. Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shiraz University, dates this to ca. 3000 BCE Oct. 15, 2015 "Following an archeological survey of the South-East Iran in 1930's by Sir Auriel Stein, in 1960's and 1970's a number of archeological expeditions spent a few seasons digging at different locations through the Kerman province. Of these, three teams are worthy of mention; one team from Harvard University lead by Professor Lamberg-Karlovsky focused on different layers of the 7000 years old Tape-Yahya at Sogan valley; another team from Illinois University lead by Professor Joseph Caldwell worked on the remains of Tal-i-Iblis, another 7000 years old settlement and a third team by Iranian Department of Archaeology, lead by Mr Hakemi, dug the rich graveyards of the 6000 years old Shahdad near the great Lut desert. The wealth of discoveries though great, went almost unnoticed by the public in the pursuant academic research in the form of Doctorate theses and expedition reports and scientific journal papers. Little attempt was also made to correlate the findings at different sites." http://www.mrmaheri.com/page.php?id=1-5-1)
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/shahdad-standard-meluhha-smithy-catalog.htmlShahdad standard is a Meluhha (mleccha) metalware catalog describing the repertoire of a smithy in Shahdad, Marhashi:
pajhaṛ ‘kite’. Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali)
Three pots are shown of three sizes in the context of kneeling adorants seated in front of the person seated on a stool. meṇḍā 'kneeling position' (Gondi) Rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Munda)
kōla = woman (Nahali) Rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pañcaloha’ (Tamil) kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil)
kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. Kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) Rebus: kaṇḍ = a furnace, altar (Santali)
If the date palm denotes tamar (Hebrew language), ‘palm tree, date palm’ the rebus reading would be: tam(b)ra, ‘copper’ (Pkt.)
kaṇḍ kan-ka 'rim of jar' (Santali). kanka ‘rim (of jar, kaṇḍ)’ (Santali) kárṇa— m. ‘ear, handle of a vessel’ RV., ‘end, tip (?)’ RV. ii 34, 3. [Cf. *kāra—6] Pa. kaṇṇa— m. ‘ear, angle, tip’ (CDIAL 2830). Rebus: 'scribe'. Pk. kaṁḍa -- m. ʻ piece, fragment ʼ; -- Deriv. Pk. kaṁḍārēi ʻ scrapes, engraves ʼ;M. kãḍārṇẽ, karã̄ḍṇẽ ʻ to gnaw ʼ, kãḍārṇẽ n. ʻ jeweller's hammer, barber's nail -- parer ʼ. (CDIAL 2683) कंडारणें [ kaṇḍāraṇēṃ ] n An instrument of goldsmiths,--the iron spike which is hammered upon plates in reducing them to shape (Marathi) khanaka m. one who digs , digger , excavator MBh. iii , 640 R. ; a miner L. ; a house-breaker , thief L. ; a rat L. ; N. of a friend of Vidura MBh. i , 5798 f. ; (%{I}) f. a female digger or excavator Pāṇ. 3-1 , 145 Pat. ; iv , 1 , 41 Ka1s3.
kaṇḍ 'jar' (Santali) Rebus: kāḍ ‘stone’. Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (DEDR 1298). mayponḍi kanḍ whetstone; (Ga.)(DEDR 4628). (खडा) Pebbles or small stones: also stones broken up (as for a road), metal. खडा [ khaḍā ] m A small stone, a pebble. Rebus: kaṇḍ = a furnace, altar (Santali)
kul ‘tiger’ (Santali); kōlu id. (Te.) kōlupuli = Bengal tiger (Te.)Pk. Kolhuya -- , kulha — m. ʻ jackal ʼ < *kōḍhu -- ; H.kolhā, °lā m. ʻ jackal ʼ, adj. ʻ crafty ʼ; G. kohlũ, °lũ n. ʻ jackal ʼ, M. kolhā, °lā m. krōṣṭŕ̊ ʻ crying ʼ BhP., m. ʻ jackal ʼ RV. = krṓṣṭu — m. Pāṇ. [√kruś] Pa. koṭṭhu -- , °uka — and kotthu -- , °uka — m. ʻ jackal ʼ, Pk. Koṭṭhu — m.; Si. Koṭa ʻ jackal ʼ, koṭiya ʻ leopard ʼ GS 42 (CDIAL 3615). कोल्हा [ kōlhā ] कोल्हें [ kōlhēṃ ] A jackal (Marathi) Rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pañcaloha’ (Ta.)
poLa 'zebu' rebus: poLa 'magnetite'
adar ḍangra ‘zebu or humped bull’; ḍangar ‘bull’ Rebus: adar ḍhangar 'native metal-smith'.
Rebus: ḍangar ‘blacksmith’; aduru native metal (Kannada). Tu. ajirda karba very hard iron (DEDR 192). aduru =gaṇiyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Ka. Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya śastri’s New interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330) aduru ‘native metal’ (Kannada); ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi)
kuṭi ‘tree’. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter’ (Santali). The two trees are shown ligatured to a rectangle with ten square divisions and a dot in each square. The dot may denote an ingot in a furnace mould.
Glyph of rectangle with divisions: baṭai = to divide, share (Santali) [Note the glyphs of nine rectangles divided.] Rebus: bhaṭa = an oven, kiln, furnace (Santali)
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.)
Three sets of entwined 'glyphs (like twisted ropes) are shown around the entire narrative of the Shahdad standard.
meṛhao = v.a.m. entwine itself; wind round, wrap round roll up (Santali); maṛhnā cover, encase (Hindi) (Santali.lex.Bodding) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) mẽṛh t iron; ispat m. = steel; dul m. = cast iron (Mu.) meṛed-bica = iron stone ore, in contrast to bali-bica, iron sand ore (Munda) mẽṛhẽt ‘iron’; mẽṛhẽt icena ‘the iron is rusty’; ispat mẽṛhẽt ‘steel’, dul mẽṛhẽt ‘cast iron’;mẽṛhẽt khaṇḍa ‘iron implements’ (Santali) meḍ. (Ho.)(Santali.lex.Bodding) meṛed, mṛed, mṛdiron; enga meṛed soft iron; sanḍi meṛed hard iron; ispāt meṛed steel; dul meṛed cast iron; i meṛed rusty iron, also the iron of which weights are cast; bica meṛed iron extracted from stone ore; bali meṛed iron extracted from sand ore (Mu.lex.)
měď (copper)(Czech) mіdʹ (copper, cuprum, orichalc)(Ukrainian) medʹ (copper, cuprum, Cu), mednyy (copper, cupreous, brassy, brazen, brass), omednyatʹ (copper, coppering), sulʹfatmedi (Copper), politseyskiy (policeman, constable, peeler, policemen, redcap), pokryvatʹ medʹyu (copper), payalʹnik (soldering iron, copper, soldering pen, soldering-iron), mednyy kotel (copper), medno-krasnyy (copper), mednaya moneta (copper). медь (copper, cuprum, Cu), медный (copper, cupreous, brassy, brazen, brass), омеднять (copper, coppering), Сульфатмеди (Copper), полицейский (policeman, constable, peeler, policemen, redcap), покрывать медью (copper), паяльник (soldering iron, copper, soldering pen, soldering-iron), медный котел (copper), медно-красный (copper), медная монета (copper).(Russian)
A drummer, in the context of hieroglyphs of tumblers on Seal m1406 has been deciphered: mēd, 'b oatman, one who plays drums at ceremonies' Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron (metal)’ Alternative: dhollu ‘drummer’ (Western Pahari) dolutsu 'tumble' Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’.
mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron (metal)’ and a cognate word,मृदु mṛdu 'iron' (Samskritam) is signified by a number of hieroglyphs मेढा [ mēḍhā ] curls of hair on cylinder seals; मेढा [ mēḍhā ]twist (rope) on a Bogazkoy seal; मेढ (p. 662) [ mēḍha ] The polar star.on Water-carrier seal impression, Ur (Upenn; U.16747.
![]()
![]()
m1406 Hieroglyphs: thread of three stands + drummer + tumblers
dhollu ‘drummer’ (Western Pahari) dolutsu 'tumble' Rebus: dul ‘cast metal’
dhAtu, dhAv 'strands of rope' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral, metal, ore'

Kalibangan seal. k020 Hieroglyphs: thread of three strands + water-carrier + one-horned young bull. kuTi 'water-carrier' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter'. dhAv 'strands of rope' rebus: dhAv 'element, ore'; dhAtu id.
kõdā खोंड [ khōṇḍa ] m A young bull, a bullcalf. (Marathi) Rebus 1: kọ̆nḍu or konḍu । कुण्डम् m. a hole dug in the ground for receiving consecrated fire (Kashmiri) Rebus 2: A. kundār, B. kũdār, °ri, Or. kundāru; H. kũderā m. ʻ one who works a lathe, one who scrapes ʼ, °rī f., kũdernā ʻ to scrape, plane, round on a lathe ʼ.(CDIAL 3297).
The broken portion of the seal should have shown a 'standard device'.
Examples of acrobats as hieroglyphs:
A set of tumblers (sometimes accompanied by a drummer as on m1406), or persons tossed by the horns of a buffalo is a definitive hieroglyph-multiplex on Indus Script Corpora as seen from the following examples:
Mehrgarh. Terracotta circular button seal. (Shah, SGM & Parpola, A., 1991, Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions 2: Collections in Pakistan, Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, MR-17. A humped bull (water buffalo?) and abstract forms (one of which is like a human body) around the bull. The human body is tossed from the horns of the bovine.

Meluhha lexis. Deciphered 5 Indus Script inscriptions with drummer-tumbler hieroglyphs: मृदु mṛdu, mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'metal' sangāṭas संगाटस् 'collection of implements, tools'
Five inscriptions from Indus Script Corpora with hieroglyphs of drummer-tumbler are deciphered as metal-work/-implements from smelter/smithy/forge.
Together, the five selected inscriptions from Indus Script Corpora signify mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron or copper (metal)' sangāṭas संगाटस् 'collection of implements, tools' from smeter/smithy/forge. The context is definitive: affirming Indus Script Corpora as catalogus catalogorum of metalwork.
The deciphered words which signify hieroglyphs and rebus metalwork are from Meluhha lexis.
The decipherment validates the identification of the lingua franca of the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization as Meluhha (mleccha or spoken form of Prakritam) of Indian sprachbund. This is consistent with the identification in an Akkadian cuneiform text on a cylinder seal of Shu-ilishu who is described as a translator of 'Meluhha language'.![]()
Shu-ilishu’s cylinder seal, Expedition, Vol. 48, No. 1http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/481/What%20in%20the%20World.pdf]
m0312 Persons vaulting over a water buffalo. The water buffalo tosses a person on its horns. Four or five bodies surround the animal. Rounded edges indicate frequent use to create clay seal impressions.

Rebus readings of hieroglyphs: ‘1. arrow, 2. jag/notch, 3. buffalo, 4.acrobatics’:
1. kaṇḍa ‘arrow’ (Skt.) H. kãḍerā m. ʻ a caste of bow -- and arrow -- makers (CDIAL 3024). Or. kāṇḍa, kã̄ṛ ʻstalk, arrow ʼ(CDIAL 3023). ayaskāṇḍa ‘a quantity of iron, excellent iron’ (Pāṇ.gaṇ)
2. खांडा [ khāṇḍā ] m A jag, notch, or indentation (as upon the edge of a tool or weapon). (Marathi) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
3. rāngo ‘water buffalo bull’ (Ku.N.)(CDIAL 10559)
Rebus: rango ‘pewter’. ranga, rang pewter is an alloy of tin, lead, and antimony (anjana) (Santali).
4. ḍullu to fall off; ḍollu to roll over (DEDR 2698) Te. ḍul(u)cu, ḍulupu to cause to fall; ḍollu to fall; ḍolligillu to fall or tumble over (DEDR 2988) డొలుచు [ḍolucu] or ḍoluṭsu. [Tel.] v. n. To tumble head over heels as dancing girls do (Telugu) Rebus 1: dul ‘to cast in a mould’; dul mẽṛhẽt, dul meṛeḍ, 'cast iron'; koṭe meṛeḍ ‘forged iron’ (Santali) Bshk. ḍōl ʻ brass pot (CDIAL 6583). Rebus 2: WPah. ḍhōˋḷ m. ʻstoneʼ, ḍhòḷṭɔ m. ʻbig stone or boulderʼ, ḍhòḷṭu ʻsmall id.ʼ Him.I 87(CDIAL 5536). Rebus: K. ḍula m. ʻ rolling stoneʼ(CDIAL 6582).
Rebus: 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); dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ; 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; (CDIAL 6773) धातु primary element of the earth i.e. metal , mineral, ore (esp. a mineral of a red colour) Mn. MBh. &c element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem Nir. Pra1t. MBh. &c (with the southern Buddhists धातु means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv ; or the 18 elementary spheres [धातु-लोक] ib. lviii ; or the ashes of the body , relics L. [cf. -गर्भ]) (Monier-Williams. Samskritam).
मृदु mṛdu: (page 1287) A kind of iron.-कार्ष्णायसम्,-कृष्णायसम् soft-iron, lead. (Apte. Samskritam) This gloss could link with the variant lexis of Indian sprachbund with the semantics 'iron': Bj. <i>merhd</i>(Hunter) `iron'. Sa. <i>mE~R~hE~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mE~RhE~d</i>(M).
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’.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
Sarasvati Research Center
January 4, 2016