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Four hieroglyph-multiplexes from Indus Script Corpora signify kammaṭa
'coinage, mint, coiner'. In the Vedic tradition of Soma Yaga, this semantic structure signified by the writing system of Indus Script is evidence of the related fire-work of the Bronze Age as mint-, metal-work of coiners in a mintworker guild (kamata 'partnership of owner cultivation, tillage'). This signifier indicates an emerging organization of society into professional guilds during the Bronze Age.
1. Kalibangan terracotta cake with a horned archer (hunter) PLUS a tiger tied to a rope and dragged.
2. Binjor SomaYaga Kunda (fire-altar) with an octagonal Yupa or stake (in the context of a seal with Indus Script inscription signifying mint-, metal-work.
3. Mohenjo-daro copper tablet with a hieroglyph of an archer (paralleled by another copper tablet with a hieroglyph-multiplex of a pair of ficus circumscript on a crab claws) signifying: dula'two' rebus: dul'metal casting'loa'ficus' rebus; loh'copper' PLUS datu'claws' rebus: dhatu'mineral' PLUS kamaṭha'crab' rebus: kammaṭa 'mint, coinage, coiner'.
4. Frogs as hieroglyphs on Dong Son Bronze Drums also signify kamaTha 'frog' rebus: rebus: kammaṭa 'mint, coinage, coiner'.
A deterministic affirmation of the entire Indus Script Corpora as catalogus catalogorum of metalwork comes from data mining of a Mohenjo-daro copper tablet with hieroglyph writing. A hieroglyph 'archer' signifies 'mint, coiner'. The archer is horned. koḍ 'horn' rebus: koḍ 'workshop'.Thus, the catalog entry of this side of the copper tablet signifies a coiner's workshop: kammaṭa koḍ
(Prakritam aka Meluhha, mleccha, Indian sprachbund).
See: http://bharatkalyan97.
Hieroglyph: Gujarati:kāmṭhiyɔ
Rebus: Kannada: kammaṭa '
Pl. XXII B. Terracotta cake with incised figures on obverse and reverse, Harappan. On one side is a human figure wearing a head-dress having two horns and a plant in the centre; on the other side is an animal-headed human figure with another animal figure, the latter being dragged by the former.
Decipherment of hieroglyphs on the Kalibangan terracotta cake:
bhaTa 'warrior' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'; Hieroglyph 1: khamba 'plumage'; Hieroglyph 2: kamaTha 'archer' Rebus: kammaTa 'coiner, mint'
kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'; kUdI 'twig' rebus: kuThi 'smelter'
koD 'horn' rebus: koD 'workshop' or, kampa 'thorn, twig' rebus: (phonetic determinant) kampaṭṭam coinage, coiner, mint.
Hieroglyph: kamba strong rope (tied to the neck of the tiger shown being dragged on the terracotta cake) Ta. kampākam, kampāṉ ship's cable. Ma. kampa cable, strong rope. / Cf. Sgh. kam̆ba strong rope. (DEDR 1240) Rebus: kampaṭṭam coinage, coiner, mint. Evokes the phonetics of a bull tied in a treading team: खांब्या (p. 205) [ khāmbyā ] a (खांब ) Epithet of that bullock of a treading team which is next to the post of the treading floor.
kola 'tiger' rebus: kolle 'blacksmith', kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron'
Thus, the terracotta cake inscription signifies a iron workshop smelter/furnace and smithy in a coiner's mint.
The recording of an inscription on a terracotta cake used in a fire-altar continues as a tradition with inscriptions recorded on Yupa, 'pillars' of Rajasthan indicating the type of yajna's performed using those Yupa.
Binjor seal with Indus Script deciphered. Binjor attests Vedic River Sarasvati as a Himalayan navigable channel en route to Persian Gulf
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The fire altar, with a yasti made of an octagonal brick. Photo:Subhash Chandel, ASI Binjor seal. खांबट [ khāmbaṭa ] 'small post' Rebus: kampaṭṭam, kammaṭa 'coinage, coiner, mint.' Thus, the octagonal yupa is a signifier of a smelting/furnace process in a coiner's mint, a continuum of the Vedic tradition of Soma Yaga to produce soma 'electrum, synonym: ancu, ams'u 'iron' -- products of exchange value as wealth.
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Binjor (4MSR) seal.![]()
Binjor Seal Text.
Fish + scales, aya ã̄s (amśu) ‘metallic stalks of stone ore’. Vikalpa: badhoṛ ‘a species of fish with many bones’ (Santali) Rebus: baḍhoe ‘a carpenter, worker in wood’; badhoria ‘expert in working in wood’(Santali)
khambhaṛā m. ʻ fin ʼ; khambh ʻwing'*skambha2 ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, plumage ʼ. [Cf. *skapa -- s.v. *khavaka -- ]S. khambhu, °bho m. ʻ plumage ʼ, khambhuṛi f. ʻ wing ʼ; L. khabbh m., mult. khambh m. ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, feather ʼ, khet. khamb ʻ wing ʼ, mult. khambhaṛā m. ʻ fin ʼ; P. khambh m. ʻ wing, feather ʼ; G. khā̆m f., khabhɔ m. ʻ shoulder ʼ.(CDIAL 13640). Rebus: Rebus: kammaṭa 'coinage, coiner, mint.'
gaNDa 'four' Rebus: khaNDa 'metal implements' Together with cognate ancu 'iron' the message is: native metal implements.
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Thus, the hieroglyph multiplex reads: aya ancu khaNDa 'metallic iron alloy implements'. or, aya kammaṭa'metal (alloy) mint, coiner' PLUS khaNDa 'metal implements'.
koḍi ‘flag’ (Ta.)(DEDR 2049). Rebus 1: koḍ ‘workshop’ (Kuwi) Rebus 2: khŏḍ m. ‘pit’, khŏḍu ‘small pit’ (Kashmiri. CDIAL 3947)
The bird hieroglyph: karaḍa
करण्ड m. a sort of duck L. కారండవము (p. 0274) [ kāraṇḍavamu ] kāraṇḍavamu. [Skt.] n. A sort of duck. (Telugu) karaṭa1 m. ʻ crow ʼ BhP., °aka -- m. lex. [Cf. karaṭu -- , karkaṭu -- m. ʻ Numidian crane ʼ, karēṭu -- , °ēṭavya -- , °ēḍuka -- m. lex., karaṇḍa2 -- m. ʻ duck ʼ lex: see kāraṇḍava -- ]Pk. karaḍa -- m. ʻ crow ʼ, °ḍā -- f. ʻ a partic. kind of bird ʼ; S. karaṛa -- ḍhī˜gu m. ʻ a very large aquatic bird ʼ; L. karṛā m., °ṛī f. ʻ the common teal ʼ.(CDIAL 2787) Rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy'
Thus, the text of Indus Script inscription on the Binjor Seal reads: 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop' PLUSthe hieroglyphs of one-horned young bull PLUS standard device in front read rebus:
kõda 'young bull, bull-calf' rebus: kõdā 'to turn in a lathe'; kōnda 'engraver, lapidary'; kundār 'turner'.
Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe'.(Gujarati) Rebus: sangara 'proclamation.Together, the message of the Binjor Seal with inscribed text is a proclamation, a metalwork catalogue (of) 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop'
khambhaṛā m. ʻ fin ʼ; khambh ʻwing'
*skambha2 ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, plumage ʼ. [Cf. *skapa -- s.v. *khavaka -- ]S. khambhu, °bho m. ʻ plumage ʼ, khambhuṛi f. ʻ wing ʼ; L. khabbh m., mult. khambh m. ʻ shoulder -- blade, wing, feather ʼ, khet. khamb ʻ wing ʼ, mult. khambhaṛā m. ʻ fin ʼ; P. khambh m. ʻ wing, feather ʼ; G. khā̆m f., khabhɔ m. ʻ shoulder ʼ.(CDIAL 13640). Rebus: Rebus: kammaṭa 'coinage, coiner, mint.'
करण्ड m. a sort of duck L. కారండవము (p. 0274) [ kāraṇḍavamu ] kāraṇḍavamu. [Skt.] n. A sort of duck. (Telugu) karaṭa
m1540A archer hieroglyph: kamāṭhiyo 'archer' rebus: kammaṭa 'coiner, mint'.Hieroglyph: kamāṭhiyo 'archer' rebus: kammaṭa 'coiner, mint'. The hieroglyph is evidenced by terracotta cake of Kalibangan and copper plate inscrption of Mohenjo-daro. Another hieroglyph: kola 'tiger' rebus: kolhe 'smelter', kol 'working in iron' is evidenced by terracotta cake of Kalibangan and copper plate inscriptions of Mohenjo-daro. Kalibangan terracotta cake also shows hieroglyph-multiplex of a 'tiger' dragged by a rope by a person to be tied to yupa 'pillar' synonym: mēḍha मेढ Stake or post rebus: मृदु mṛdu, mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Samskritam. Ho.Mu.Santali) med 'copper' (Slavic languages) 
For a color image of 'archer' see m1540A image of copper tablet, Mohenjodaro. Two copper tablets. Mohenjo-daro. Showing two allographs: archer hieroglyph; ficus + crab hieroglyph. ḍato = claws of crab (Santali); dhātu = mineral (Skt.) loa ‘ficus religiosa’ (Santali) rebus: loh ‘metal’ (Skt.) kamaṛkom ‘fig’.kamaḍha Indian sprachbund: select lexis to signify hieroglyphs and related rebus readings
kamaṭha m. ʻ bamboo ʼ lex. 2. *kāmaṭha -- . 3. *kāmāṭṭha -- . 4. *kammaṭha -- . 5. *kammaṭṭha -- . 6. *kambāṭha -- . 7. *kambiṭṭha -- . [Cf. kambi-- ʻ shoot of bamboo ʼ, kārmuka -- 2 n. ʻ bow ʼ Mn., ʻ bamboo ʼ lex. which may therefore belong here rather than to kr̥múka -- . Certainly ← Austro -- as. PMWS 33 with lit. -- See kāca -- 3]1. Pk. kamaḍha -- , °aya -- m. ʻ bamboo ʼ; Bhoj. kōro ʻ bamboo poles ʼ.2. N. kāmro ʻ bamboo, lath, piece of wood ʼ, OAw. kāṁvari ʻ bamboo pole with slings at each end for carrying things ʼ, H. kã̄waṛ, °ar, kāwaṛ, °ar f., G. kāvaṛ f., M. kāvaḍf.; -- deriv. Pk. kāvaḍia -- , kavvāḍia -- m. ʻ one who carries a yoke ʼ, H. kã̄waṛī, °ṛiyā m., G. kāvaṛiyɔ m.3. S. kāvāṭhī f. ʻ carrying pole ʼ, kāvāṭhyo m. ʻ the man who carries it ʼ.4. Or. kāmaṛā, °muṛā ʻ rafters of a thatched house ʼ;G. kāmṛũ n., °ṛī f. ʻ chip of bamboo ʼ, kāmaṛ -- koṭiyũ n. ʻ bamboo hut ʼ.5. B. kāmṭhā ʻ bow ʼ, G. kāmṭhũ n., °ṭhī f. ʻ bow ʼ; M. kamṭhā, °ṭā m. ʻ bow of bamboo or horn ʼ; -- deriv. G. kāmṭhiyɔ m. ʻ archer ʼ.6. A. kabāri ʻ flat piece of bamboo used in smoothing an earthen image ʼ.7. M. kã̄bīṭ, °baṭ, °bṭī, kāmīṭ,
Rebus 1: కమ్మటము (p. 0247) [ kammaṭamu ] Same as కమటము. కమ్మటీడు kammaṭīḍu. [Telugu] A man of the goldsmith caste. కామాటము (p. 0272) [ kāmāṭamu ] kāmāṭamu. [Tel.] n. Rough work. మోటుపని. R. viii. కామాటి kāmāṭi. n. A labourer, a pioneer. adj. Rustic. Ta. kampaṭṭam coinage, coin. Ma. kammaṭṭam, kammiṭṭam coinage, mint.Ka. kammaṭa id.; kammaṭi a coiner(DEDR 1236)
Rebus 2: కమటము (p. 0246) [ kamaṭamu ] kamaṭamu. [Tel.] n. A portable furnace for melting the precious metals. అగసాలెవాని కుంపటి.
"చ కమటము కట్లెసంచియొరగల్లును గత్తెర సుత్తె చీర్ణముల్ ధమనియుస్రావణంబు మొలత్రాసును బట్టెడ నీరుకారు సా నము పటుకారు మూస బలునాణె పరీక్షల మచ్చులాదిగా నమరగభద్రకారక సమాహ్వయు డొక్కరుడుండు నప్పురిన్" హంస. ii.Rebus 3: కమతము (p. 0246) [ kamatamu ] or కమ్మతము kamatamu. [Tel. n. Partnership. అనేకులు చేరిచేయుసేద్యము. The cultivation which an owner carries on with his own farming stock. Labour, tillage. కృషి, వ్యవసాయము. కమతకాడు or కమతీడు or కమతగాడు a labourer, or slave employed in tillage.కమ్మతము (p. 0247) [ kammatamu ] Same as కమతము. కమ్మతీడు Same as కమతకాడు.
Ta. kampalai agricultural tract; kampaḷar inhabitants of an agricultural tract. Ka. kampaṇa a district. Te. (Inscr.) kampaṇamu an administrative division. / Cf. Mayrhofer, s.v. kampanaḥ. (DEDR1237)
Ko. kabaḷm communal work in one man's garden. Ka. kambaḷa daily hire or wages. Koḍ. kambaḷa feast given in field at transplantation time; picnic.(DEDR 1238)
खांबट [ khāmbaṭa ] n (Dim. or deprec. of खांब ) A small post: also a weak, slight, flimsy post. खांब [ khāmba ] m (स्तंभ S) A post. 2 fig. The trunk or stem of the Plantain. 3 fig. The staff, stay, or sup- porting member (of a household or community.) खांबाला डोक पाहणें (To look for gum from a post.) अग्निखांब (p. 009) [ agnikhāmba ] m A heated iron pillar. One of the materials of the Fiery ordeal or instruments of Savage persecution. Ex. तप्त भूमीवरी चालविती पायीं ॥ अग्निखांबास ही कवळविती ॥ खांबणी (p. 205) [ khāmbaṇī ] f खांबला or खांबुला m C खांबली f खांबा m R (Dim. of खांब ) A small stake bifurcated or having a tenon that it may support a cross-piece; a short supporting post, a stanchion. 2 A short stake (fixed) or post gen. खांबोटी (p. 205) [ khāmbōṭī ] f (Dim. of खांब ) A short post, a stanchion.खांबोळ (p. 205) [ khāmbōḷa ] n ळी f ळें n (खांब & ओळ ) The place left in a wall whilst building it, to receive a post. 2 The arrangement of two cross-pieces (+) on the head of a post underneath the beam.घुसळखांब (p. 262) [ ghusaḷakhāmba ] m The fixed post of a churning apparatus. डोलकाठी (p. 356) [ ḍōlakāṭhī ] f डोलखांब m A mast of a ship or boat. 2 The flagstaff at a जजत्रा . ढालकाठी (p. 356) [ ḍhālakāṭhī ] f ढालखांब m A flagstaff; esp.the pole for a grand flag or standard. 2 fig. The leading and sustaining member of a household or other commonwealth.ढोलखांब (p. 360) [ ḍhōlakhāmba ] m A pillar planted in a cornfield, supporting a ढोल or drum (or सूप &c.) which is beaten to scare away birds.पुरखांब (p. 522) [ purakhāmba ] m (पुरणें & खांब ) A post planted or fixed in the ground. Opp. to उथळ्यावरचा खांब A post fixed in a socket. skabha *skabha ʻ post, peg ʼ. [√skambh ]Kal. Kho. iskow ʻ peg ʼ BelvalkarVol 86 with (?).SKAMBH ʻ make firm ʼ: *skabdha -- , skambhá -- 1 , skámbhana -- ; -√*chambh. (CDIAL 13638) skambhá skambhá1 m. ʻ prop, pillar ʼ RV. 2. ʻ *pit ʼ (semant. cf. kūˊpa -- 1 ). [√skambh ]1. Pa. khambha -- m. ʻ prop ʼ; Pk. khaṁbha -- m. ʻ post, pillar ʼ; Pr. iškyöp, üšköb ʻ bridge ʼ NTS xv 251; L. (Ju.) khabbā m., mult. khambbā m. ʻ stake forming fulcrum for oar ʼ; P. khambh, khambhā, khammhā m. ʻ wooden prop, post ʼ; WPah.bhal. kham m. ʻ a part of the yoke of a plough ʼ, (Joshi) khāmbā m. ʻ beam, pier ʼ; Ku. khāmoʻ a support ʼ, gng. khām ʻ pillar (of wood or bricks) ʼ; N. khã̄bo ʻ pillar, post ʼ, B. khām, khāmbā; Or. khamba ʻ post, stake ʼ; Bi. khāmā ʻ post of brick -- crushing machine ʼ, khāmhī ʻ support of betel -- cage roof ʼ, khamhiyā ʻ wooden pillar supporting roof ʼ; Mth. khāmh, khāmhī ʻ pillar, post ʼ, khamhā ʻ rudder -- post ʼ; Bhoj.khambhā ʻ pillar ʼ, khambhiyā ʻ prop ʼ; OAw. khāṁbhe m. pl. ʻ pillars ʼ, lakh. khambhā; H. khām m. ʻ post, pillar, mast ʼ, khambh f. ʻ pillar, pole ʼ; G. khām m. ʻ pillar ʼ,khã̄bhi , °bi f. ʻ post ʼ, M. khã̄b m., Ko. khāmbho, °bo, Si. kap (< *kab); -- X gambhīra -- , sthāṇú -- , sthūˊṇā -- qq.v.2. K. khambü rü f. ʻ hollow left in a heap of grain when some is removed ʼ; Or. khamā ʻ long pit, hole in the earth ʼ, khamiā ʻ small hole ʼ; Marw. khã̄baṛo ʻ hole ʼ; G.khã̄bhũ n. ʻ pit for sweepings and manure ʼ.*skambhaghara -- , *skambhākara -- , *skambhāgāra -- , *skambhadaṇḍa -- ; *dvāraskambha -- . Addenda: skambhá -- 1 : Garh. khambu ʻ pillar ʼ.(CDIAL 13639) *skambhaghara ʻ house of posts ʼ. [skambhá -- 1 , ghara -- ]B. khāmār ʻ barn ʼ; Or. khamāra ʻ barn, granary ʼ: or < *skambhākara -- ?
†skámbhatē Dhātup. ʻ props ʼ, skambháthuḥ RV. [√skambh ]
Pa. khambhēti ʻ props, obstructs ʼ; -- Md. ken̆bum ʻ punting ʼ, kan̆banī ʻ punts ʼ?
Pa. khambhēti ʻ props, obstructs ʼ; -- Md. ken̆bum ʻ punting ʼ, kan̆banī ʻ punts ʼ?
Ka. kambaḷa a buffalo race. Tu. kambula, kambuḷa a buffalo race in a rice field. (DEDR 1239) (See the Indus Script hieroglyphs of tumblers with buffalo/drummer to signify metlwork).
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 23, 2016