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 | A warrior, ca. 2500 B.C. with helmet, battle-axe and sickle-sword; a small plaque of engraved shell from the ancient city of Mari on the Euphrates (Musee National de Louvre, Paris) |
 | Bas relief, Tello: long haired person carrying on his shoulder a hooked sceptre; a fillet is held in his left hand and is presenting it to the warrior standing in front of him with a lance in hand. (Musee du Louvre, Cat., pp. 87,89 No. 5) |
 | A. bronze scimitar, over 21 in.; length of the blade 16 in. and of the hilt about 5 in., width varies from over one to just under 2 in.; the hilt was jewelled and inlaid with ivory; bears an inscription of Adad-nirari I, king of Assyria ca. 1325 B.C.B. Straight sword found at Ashur C. Bronze axe (A: Boscawen, 1876, Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, Vol. IV, Pl. 2, p. 347; B: cf. Andrae, Der Anu-Adad Tempel, p. 53; C: Andrae, ibid.) |
 | Bronze dish found by Layard at Nimrud: circular objects are decorated by consecutive chains of animals following each other round in a circle. A similar theme occurs on the famous silver vase of Entemena. In the innermost circle, a troop of gazelles (similar to the ones depicted on cylinder seals) march along in file; the middle register has a variety of animals, all marching in the same direction as the gazelles. A one-horned bull, a winged griffin, an ibex and a gazelle, are followed by two bulls who are being attacked by lions, and a griffin, a one-horned bull, and a gazelle, who are all respectively being attacked by leopards. In the outermost zone there is a stately procession of realistically conceived one-horned bulls marching in the opposite direction to the animals parading in the two inner circles. The dish has a handle. (Percy S.P.Handcock, 1912, Mesopotamian Archaeology, London, Macmillan and Co., p. 256). |
 | Vulture-stele (upright monument carved with reliefs and inscriptions) of Eannatum, Patesi of Shirpurla, Lagash leading his troops inbattle and on the march (ca. 2500 B.C.); abandoned bodies are shown being picked by vultures. [Louvre Museum; Dec. en Chald., pl. 3 (bis)]; inscription records his victory over Ummaites and treaty of peace forced upon them; upper register: Ur-Nina, king is of colossal size and is standing; he balances a basket (perhaps containing clay and foundation brick for the temple of Ningirsu) with his right hand; the inscription written alongside mentions the temple of Ningirsu; lower register: the king is raising his cup offering a libation; all figures are clad in Sumerian short woollen skirt, called 'kaunake'.The light infantry wear no protective armour and carry no shields; each holds a long spear in the left hand and a battle-axe in the right. Massed ranks of helmeted spearment are behind a front rank of men bearing sheilds; these soldiers were trained, uniformed and equipped to fight as corps. The vulture-stele shows that the long lance or spear is grasped by both hands and is the principal weapon of offence. Axe, dart, club or mace, a curved weapon and a short lance were also in use. Eannatum is bearing the curved weapon, a number of double-pointed darts and a long lance; he is in the act of piercing the head of a vanquished foe with his lance, which he holds horizontally over his head at the extreme end. Baked clay balls, copper arrows, spears, axes and stone clubs were discovered in the pre-Sargonic strata at Nippur. |
  Naramsin with horns of divinity and fully-armed | Stele of victory of Naram-Sin, King of Agade (2291--2255 B.C.) found at Susa, whither it had been brought by the Elamite king Shutruk-nakhkhunte as part of the 'booty of Sippar'; Height 198 cm.; this celebrates a victory over the Lullubi. In mountainous and wooded country the Akkadian monarch is depicted at the head of his troops protected by the symbols of his deities. Wearing a horned headdress to signify his own divinity and carrying a bow, he tramples the enemy beneath his feetBow and arrow appear to be the principal weapons, apart from the spear and the axe (note the absence of any type of shield). |
  | From Tello: Lancehead, copper blade 31 1/2 in. long, belonging to a lance; the title 'King of Kish' is legible with the sign 'Sharru'; tang is pierced with 4 holes and a flat surface of the blade is engraved with the figure of a lion; found six inches above the stratum in which the remains of Ur-Nina (founder of the first dynasty of Lagash) were buried (Cat., p. 367; Dec. en Chald., Pl. 5 ter, No.1. Musee du Louvre).Hollow pipe of beaten copper, over ten feet long and dia. of 4 in.; the tube was fastened to a wooden pole with copper nails; the pipe tapers upwards and the top is crowned with a hollow ball of hardened bitumen, a little below which there is a large semicircular handle which is also a hollow tube made of copper; it appears to be part of a standard as it is found reproduced on the famous vase of Gudea. [Weapons of copper have been discovered at Nippur, Fara, Tell Sifr: hammers, knives, daggers, hatchets, fetters, fish-hooks, spear-heads; some weapons have rivets for wooden handles; also found were: mirrors, net-weights, vases, dishes and cauldrons] (cf. King, Sumer and Akkad, p. 26; and Hilprecht,Explorations, p. 156] |
 | Builders' tools carried by Ur-Nammu of Ur (Harriett Crawford, 1991, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, Fig. 4.6) |
 | Assyrian weapons found represented on bas-reliefs:A,B,C,D show different kinds of pike wielded by the warriors of Ashur (they vary in length, handles differ; but all have a diamond-shaped blade). E shows arrow-heads shaped like the pike. F shows two extremities of the bow, often terminating in the head of a bird. G to L are quivers in which the arrows reposed. L is the largest and could accommodate five arrows; the normal number seems to have been four. The quiver was slung over the back by means of cords (cf. G,J,L). M,N depict swords. O depicts a curved sword. The sword-hilt was often adorned with several lions' heads, while the scabbard itself was often decorated with lions. P is a sceptre, a ceremonial weapon symbolic of royalty. Q is a dirk brandished alarmingly as shown by the composite monstrosities portrayed on the palace walls of Ashur-nas.ir-pal. |
 Gadd Seal 1 | -- Sag kusida, 'chief money-lender' for bharata, 'metalcasters' -- cuneiform text on an Indus seal of Ur including kusida as a borrowed word from Meluhha PLUS hieroglyph 'ox' read rebus in Meluhha as bharata, 'metal alloy of copper, pewter, tin'. Seal impression and reverse of seal (with pierced lug handle) from Ur (U.7683; BM 120573); image of bison and cuneiform inscription; length 2.7, width 2.4, ht. 1.1 cm. cf. Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 5-6, pl. I, no.1; Mitchell 1986: 280-1 no.7 and fig. 111; Parpola, 1994, p. 131: signs may be read as (1) sag(k) or ka, (2)ku or lu or ma, and (3) zi or ba (4)?. SAG.KU(?).IGI.X or SAG.KU(?).P(AD)(?) The commonest value: sag-ku-zi |
 | Seal; BM 122187; dia. 2.55; ht. 1.55 cm. Gadd PBA 18 (1932), pp. 6-7, pl. 1, no. 2 |
 | Seal; BM 122946; Dia. 2.6; ht. 1.2cm.; Gadd PBA 18 (1932), p. 7, pl. I, no.3; Legrain, Ur Excavations, X (1951), no. 629. |
 | Cylinder seal; BM 122947; U. 16220; humped bull stands before a palm-tree, feeding froun a round manger or a bundle of fodder; behind the bull is a scorpion and two snakes; above the whole a human figure, placed horizontally, with fantastically long arms and legs, and rays about his head. |
 | Cylinder (white shell) seal impression; Ur, Mesopotamia (IM 8028); white shell. height 1.7 cm., dia. 0.9 cm.; cf. Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 7-8, pl. I, no.7; Mitchell 1986: 280-1, no.8 and fig. 112; Parpola, 1994, p. 181; fish vertically in front of and horizontally above a unicorn; trefoil design |
 | Seal; BM 118704; U. 6020; Gadd PBA 18 (1932), pp. 9-10, pl. II, no.8; two figures carry between them a vase, and one presents a goat-like animal (not an antelope) which he holds by the neck. Human figures wear early Sumerian garments of fleece. |
 | Seal; BM 122945; U. 16181; dia. 2.25, ht. 1.05 cm; Gadd PBA 18 (1932), p. 10, pl. II, no. o; each of four quadrants terminates at the edge of the seal in a vase; each quadrant is occupied by a naked figure, sitting so that, following round the circle, the head of one is placed nearest to the feet of the preceding; two figures clasp their hands upon their breasts; the other two spread out the arms, beckoning with one hand. |
 | Seal; BM 120576; U. 9265; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), p. 10, pl. II, no. 10; bull with long horns below an uncertain object, possibly a quadruped and rider, at right angles to the ox (counter clockwise) |
  | Seal; UPenn; a scorpion and an elipse [an eye (?)]; U. 16397; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 10-11, pl. II, no. 11Rectangular stamp seal of dark steatite; U. 11181; B.IM. 7854; ht. 1.4, width 1.1 cm.; Woolley, Ur Excavations, IV (1956), p. 50, n.3 |
 | kuTi ‘water-carrier’ rebus: kuThi ‘smelter’ meDha ‘polar star’ rebus: meD ‘iron’ dula ‘pair’ rebus: dul ‘metal casting’Seal impression, Ur (Upenn; U.16747); dia. 2.6, ht. 0.9 cm.; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 11-12, pl. II, no. 12; Porada 1971: pl.9, fig.5; Parpola, 1994, p. 183; water carrier with a skin (or pot?) hung on each end of the yoke across his shoulders and another one below the crook of his left arm; the vessel on the right end of his yoke is over a receptacle for the water; a star on either side of the head (denoting supernatural?). The whole object is enclosed by 'parenthesis' marks. The parenthesis is perhaps a way of splitting of the ellipse (Hunter, G.R., JRAS, 1932, 476). An unmistakable example of an 'hieroglyphic' seal. |
 | Seal; BM 122841; dia. 2.35; ht. 1 cm.; Gadd PBA 18 (1932), p. 12, pl. II, no. 13; circle with centre-spot in each of four spaces formed by four forked branches springing from the angles of a small square. Alt. four stylised bulls' heads (bucrania) in the quadrants of an elaborate quartering device which has a cross-hatched rectangle in the centre. |
 | Seal; UPenn; cf. Philadelphia Museum Journal, 1929; ithyphallic bull-men; the so-called 'Enkidu' figure common upon Babylonian cylinders of the early period; all have horned head-dresses; moon-symbols upon poles seem to represent the door-posts that the pair of 'twin' genii are commonly seen supporting on either side of a god; material and shape make it the 'Indus' type while the device is Babylonian. |
 | Seal impression; UPenn; steatite; bull below a scorpion; dia. 2.4cm.; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), p. 13, Pl. III, no. 15; Legrain, MJ (1929), p. 306, pl. XLI, no. 119; found at Ur in the cemetery area, in a ruined grave .9 metres from the surface, together with a pair of gold ear-rings of the double-crescent type and long beads of steatite and carnelian, two of gilt copper, and others of lapis-lazuli, carnelian, and banded sard. The first sign to the left has the form of a flower or perhaps an animal's skin with curly tail; there is a round spot upon the bull's back. |
 | Seal impression; BM 123208; found in the filling of a tomb-shaft (Second Dynasty of Ur). Dia. 2.3; ht. 1.5 cm.; Gadd, PBA 18 (1932), pp. 13-14, pl. III, no. 16; Buchanan, JAOS 74 (1954), p. 149. |
 | Seal impression, Mesopotamia (?) (BM 120228); cf. Gadd 1932: no.17; cf. Parpola, 1994, p. 132. Note the doubling of the common sign, 'jar'. |
 | Seal and impression (BM 123059), from an antique dealer, Baghdad; script and motif of a bull mating with a cow; the tuft at the end of the tail of the cow is summarily shaped like an arrow-head; inscription is of five characters, most prominent among them the two 'men' standing side by side. To the right of these is a damaged 'fish' sign.cf. Gadd 1932: no.18; Parpola, 1994, p.219. |
 Yale tablet. Bull's head (bucranium) between two seated figures drinking from two vessels through straws. YBC. 5447; dia. c. 2.5 cm. Possibly from Ur. Buchanan, studies Landsberger, 1965, p. 204; A seal impression was found on an inscribed tablet (called Yale tablet) dated to the tenth year of Gungunum, King of Larsa, in southern Babylonia--that is, 1923 B.C. according to the most commonly accepted ('middle') chronology of the period. The design in the impression closely matches that in a stamp seal found on the Failaka island in the Persian Gulf, west of the delta of the Shatt al Arab, which is formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. |  Failaka seal. The Yale tablet is dated to ca. the second half of the twentieth century B.C.... Trade3 on the Persian gulf was in existence well before that time-- about 2350 B.C.-- when Sargon, the first Akkadian king referred to ships from or destined for Melukhkha, Magan and Tilmun (Dilmun) at his wharves. in the Third Dynasty of Ur (around 2000), when trade apparently was centred at Magan. It is even better documented on other tablets from Ur (from about 1900 and from about 1800), belonging to various kings of Larsa. At this time the trade was centered at Tilmun... Cuneiform inscriptions naming Inzak, the god of Tilmun, were found on Failaka and, a long time ago, one on Bahrein... Failaka can be equated with Tilmun, or at least was an important part of it. (Briggs Buchanan, A dated seal impression connecting Babylonia and ancient India, Archaeology, Vol. 20, No.2, 1967, pp. 104-107). |
 | Cylinder seal impression [elephant, rhinoceros and gharial (alligator) on the upper register] |
 Cylinder seal impression, Mesopotamia [Scene representing Gilgamesh and Ea-bani in conflict with bulls in a wooded and mountainous country; British Museum No. 89308] | Image parallels: Sign 232 m308 Seal |
 | Cylinder seal impression; scene representing mythological beings, bullls and lions in conflict (British Museum No. 89538). |
  | Mcmohan cylinder seal with six signs,found in 'Swat and Seistan', unrolled photographically and the unbroken stamp-end of the seal; positive impression of the cylinder showing Harappan inscriptions (Robert Knox, 1994, A new Indus Valley Cylinder Seal, pp. 375-378 in: South Asian Archaeology 1993, Vol. I,Helsinki)The triangle motif is similar to the motif shown on M-443B. Possible connection with Sibri cylinder seals (which show (i) a zebu and a lion and image of a scorpion on the flat end (Shah and Parpola 1991: 413); and (ii) a zebu bull with a geometric pattern of triangles and a circle at the stamp end). "The Seistan findspot of this seal is of great interest. Evidence exists for the movement of Indus commodities, and, therefore, Indus commercial activities in the direction of western Asia and, in return, from there to the Indus world.. Evidence for the Harappan penetration of Seistan and farther to southeastern Iran is scanty but includes at least one other Indus inscription from an impression of a sherd discovered at Tepe Yahya, period IV A (c. 2200 BC) (Lamberg- Karlovsky and Tosi 1973: pl. 137)" (Knox, p. 377). |
Seal published: The Elamite Cylinder seal corpus: c. 3500-1000 BCE miṇḍāl 'markhor' (Tōrwālī) meḍho a ram, a sheep (Gujarati)(
Hieroglyph on an Elamite cylinder seal (See illustration embedded)Hieroglyph: stalk, thorny
S. kã̄ḍo ʻ thorny ʼ (CDIAL 3022).kāˊṇḍa (kāṇḍá -- TS.) m.n. ʻ single joint of a plant ʼ AV., ʻ arrow ʼ MBh., ʻ cluster, heap ʼ (in tr̥ṇa -- kāṇḍa -- Pāṇ. Kāś.). [Poss. connexion with gaṇḍa -- 2 makes prob. non -- Aryan origin (not with P. Tedesco Language 22, 190 < kr̥ntáti). Prob. ← Drav., cf. Tam. kaṇ ʻ joint of bamboo or sugarcane ʼ EWA i 197] Pa. kaṇḍa -- m.n. ʻ joint of stalk, stalk, arrow, lump ʼ; Pk. kaṁḍa -- , °aya -- m.n. ʻ knot of bough, bough, stick ʼ; Ash. kaṇ ʻ arrow ʼ, Kt. kåṇ, Wg. kāṇ, kŕãdotdot;, Pr.kə̃, Dm. kā̆n; Paš. lauṛ. kāṇḍ, kāṇ, ar. kōṇ, kuṛ. kō̃, dar. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, kã̄ṛī ʻ torch ʼ; Shum. kō̃ṛ, kō̃ ʻ arrow ʼ, Gaw. kāṇḍ, kāṇ; Kho. kan ʻ tree, large bush ʼ; Bshk. kāˋ'nʻ arrow ʼ, Tor. kan m., Sv. kã̄ṛa, Phal. kōṇ, Sh. gil. kōn f. (→ Ḍ. kōn, pl. kāna f.), pales. kōṇ; K. kã̄ḍ m. ʻ stalk of a reed, straw ʼ (kān m. ʻ arrow ʼ ← Sh.?); S. kānu m. ʻ arrow ʼ, °no m. ʻ reed ʼ, °nī f. ʻ topmost joint of the reed Sara, reed pen, stalk, straw, porcupine's quill ʼ; L. kānã̄ m. ʻ stalk of the reed Sara ʼ, °nī˜ f. ʻ pen, small spear ʼ; P. kānnā m. ʻ the reed Saccharum munja, reed in a weaver's warp ʼ, kānī f. ʻ arrow ʼ; WPah. bhal. kān n. ʻ arrow ʼ, jaun. kã̄ḍ; N. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, °ṛo ʻ rafter ʼ; A. kã̄r ʻ arrow ʼ; B. kã̄ṛ ʻ arrow ʼ, °ṛā ʻ oil vessel made of bamboo joint, needle of bamboo for netting ʼ, kẽṛiyā ʻ wooden or earthen vessel for oil &c. ʼ; Or. kāṇḍa, kã̄ṛ ʻ stalk, arrow ʼ; Bi. kã̄ṛā ʻ stem of muñja grass (used for thatching) ʼ; Mth. kã̄ṛ ʻ stack of stalks of large millet ʼ, kã̄ṛī ʻ wooden milkpail ʼ; Bhoj. kaṇḍā ʻ reeds ʼ; H. kã̄ṛī f. ʻ rafter, yoke ʼ, kaṇḍā m. ʻ reed, bush ʼ (← EP.?); G. kã̄ḍ m. ʻ joint, bough, arrow ʼ, °ḍũ n. ʻ wrist ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻ joint, bough, arrow, lucifer match ʼ; M. kã̄ḍ n. ʻ trunk, stem ʼ, °ḍẽ n. ʻ joint, knot, stem, straw ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻ joint of sugarcane, shoot of root (of ginger, &c.) ʼ; Si. kaḍaya ʻ arrow ʼ. -- Deriv. A. kāriyāiba ʻ to shoot with an arrow ʼ. [< IE. *kondo -- , Gk. kondu/lo s ʻ knuckle ʼ, ko/ndo s ʻ ankle ʼ T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 55] S.kcch. kāṇḍī f. ʻ lucifer match ʼ?(CDIAL 3023) *kāṇḍakara ʻ worker with reeds or arrows ʼ. [kāˊṇḍa -- , kará -- 1 ] L. kanērā m. ʻ mat -- maker ʼ; H. kãḍerā m. ʻ a caste of bow -- and arrow -- makers ʼ.(CDIAL 3024). 3026 kāˊṇḍīra ʻ armed with arrows ʼ Pāṇ., m. ʻ archer ʼ lex. [kāˊṇḍa -- ]H. kanīrā m. ʻ a caste (usu. of arrow -- makers) ʼ.(CDIAL 3026).
Barbar temple, Bahrain and Meluhha hieroglyphs
Copper ? Bull's head. c. 20 cm. high After Fig. 3 in: During Caspers, Elizabeth C.L., 1971, The bull's head from Barbar temple II, Bahrain, a contact with early dynastic Sumer, East and West, Vol. 21, No.3/4, September-December 1971, p.217. The curved style of the horns becomes a way of decorating the crowns of eminent persons on Sumerian, Elamite and Mesopotamian cylinder seals.
ḍhangra ‘bull’ Rebus: ṭhakkura m. ʻ idol, deity (cf. ḍhakkārī -- ), ʼ lex., ʻ title ʼ Rājat. [Dis- cussion with lit. by W. Wüst RM 3, 13 ff. Prob. orig. a tribal name EWA i 459, which Wüst considers nonAryan borrowing ofśākvará -- : very doubtful] Pk. ṭhakkura -- m. ʻ Rajput, chief man of a village ʼ; Kho. (Lor.) takur ʻ barber ʼ (= ṭ° ← Ind.?), Sh. ṭhăkŭr m.; K. ṭhôkur m. ʻ idol ʼ ( ← Ind.?); S. ṭhakuru m. ʻ fakir, term of address between fathers of a husband and wife ʼ; P. ṭhākar m. ʻ landholder ʼ, ludh. ṭhaukar m. ʻ lord ʼ; Ku. ṭhākur m. ʻ master, title of a Rajput ʼ; N. ṭhākur ʻ term of address from slave to master ʼ (f. ṭhakurāni), ṭhakuri ʻ a clan of Chetris ʼ (f. ṭhakurni); A.ṭhākur ʻ a Brahman ʼ, ṭhākurānī ʻ goddess ʼ; B. ṭhākurāni, ṭhākrān, °run ʻ honoured lady, goddess ʼ; Or. ṭhākura ʻ term of address to a Brahman, god, idol ʼ, ṭhākurāṇī ʻ goddess ʼ; Bi. ṭhākur ʻ barber ʼ; Mth.ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith ʼ; Bhoj. Aw.lakh. ṭhākur ʻ lord, master ʼ; H. ṭhākur m. ʻ master, landlord, god, idol ʼ, ṭhākurāin, ṭhā̆kurānī f. ʻ mistress, goddess ʼ; G. ṭhākor, °kar m. ʻ member of a clan of Rajputs ʼ, ṭhakrāṇī f. ʻ his wife ʼ, ṭhākor ʻ god, idol ʼ; M. ṭhākur m. ʻ jungle tribe in North Konkan, family priest, god, idol ʼ; Si. mald. "tacourou"ʻ title added to names of noblemen ʼ (HJ 915) prob. ← Ind.Garh. ṭhākur ʻ master ʼ; A. ṭhākur also ʻ idol ʼ AFD 205.(CDIAL 5488)
Seal, Bet Dwaraka 20 x 18 mm of conch shell. Drawing based on a seal from the Harappan port of Dwaraka (After Fig. 5.7 in: Crawford, Harriett EW, 1998, Dilmun and its Gulf neighbours, Cambridge University Press)
The artistic rendering with vivid eyes of the ligatured set of animals is typical Dilmun but the motif is from Meluhha as evidenced by many seals with a comparable ligatured set of animals.
m1169, m1170, m0298 Mohenjo-daro seals which compare with the Dwaraka shell seal of Dilmun type motifs.
Meluhha hieroglyphs read rebus:
sangaḍi = joined animals (M.) Rebus: 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, Rebus: sãgaṛh m. ʻline of entrenchments, stone walls for defenceʼ; sangath संगथ् । संयोगः f. (sg. dat. sangüʦü संग&above;च&dotbelow;ू&below; ), association, living together, partnership (e.g. of beggars, rakes, members of a caravan, and so on); jangaḍ ‘entrusted articles on approval basis’. Allograph: sangath संगथ् (of a man or woman) copulation.
tagara 'ram, antelope' Rebus: tagara 'tin'; damgar, tamkāru 'merchant' (Akkadian)
ayo ‘fish’ (Mu.) Rebus: aya = iron (G.); ayah, ayas = metal (Skt.)
mr̤eka ‘goat’. Rebus: milakkhu ‘copper’ Rebus: meṛh ‘helper of merchant’.
kondh ‘young bull’. ‘Pannier’ glyph: खोंडी [ khōṇḍī ] f An outspread shovelform sack (as formed temporarily out of a कांबळा, to hold or fend off grain, chaff &c.) Rebus: kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’ (Bengali) . कोंद kōnda‘engraver, lapidary setting or infixing gems’ (Marathi)
ḍhangra ‘bull’. Rebus: ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’.
kolom ‘sprout’ Rebus: kolami ‘smithy, forge’ (Telugu)
khareḍo = a currycomb (Gujarati) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi)
"Dilmun and the Harappans. The Harapan civilistion played a formative role in the emergence of Bahrain's mercantile tradition. The inhabitants of Bahrain adopted the Harappan weight system. Seven weights conforming to the Harappan series are known from Qala'at al-Bahrain, mainly in City IIa layers, with others found at Saar. The value of a Dilmun standard measure, calculated according to ratio given in an Isin Larsa text from Ur, was found to correspond exactly to a unit in the Harappan system. Harappan script and motifs are found on Persian Gulf seals which are associated with the 3rd milennium...At Saar a number of sherds comparable to Late Sorath Harappan and possibly Jhukar ware have been found...In Gujarat, a Dilmun seal was found at Lothal in unstratified deposits perhaps indicating the presence of Dilmun merchants at that site; a Dilmun-related seal has been reported from Dwarka...the role of the Harappans in the maritime trading system of the late 3rd millennium appears to have been very great." (Carter, Robert, 'Restructuring bronze age trade: Bahrain, southeast Arabia and the copper question, in: Crawford, Harriet, 2003, Archaeology of Bahrain, Proceedings of a seminar held on Monday 14th July 2000, BAR International Series 1189, pp.34, 42)
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)'.
Persian Gulf seals, 2500-1800 B.C.E. At the British Museum, London.These seals were used in trade in the Persian Gulf. Most were button-shaped, some were cylindrical or differently shaped. The top left seal has an Indus script inscription.
Impression from a cylinder seal. urseal6 Cylinder seal; BM 122947; U. 16220 (cut down into Ur III mausolea from Larsa level; U. 16220), enstatite; Legrain, 1951, No. 632; Collon, 1987, Fig. 611. Humped bull stands before a plant, feeding from a round manger or a bundle of fodder (or, probably, a cactus); behind the bull is a scorpion and two snakes; above the whole a human figure, placed horizontally, with fantastically long arms and legs, and rays about his head.
Rebus reading of scorpion glyph: bicha ‘scorpion’ (Assamese) Rebus:bica ‘stone ore’ (Munda) pola ‘magnetite ore’ (Munda. Asuri); bichi 'scorpion'; 'hematite ore'; tagaraka 'tabernae montana'; tagara 'tin'; ranga 'thorny'; Rebus: pewter, alloy of tin and antimony; kankar., kankur. = very tall and thin, large hands and feet; kankar dare = a high tree with few branches (Santali) Rebus: kanka, kanaka = gold (Samskritam); kan = copper (Tamil) nAga 'snake' nAga 'lead' (Samskritam). पोलाद [ pōlāda ] n (पोलादी a Of steel. (Marathi) bulad 'steel, flint and steel for making fire' (Amharic); fUlAd 'steel' (Arabic)
Stamp seal and modern impression: quadruped
Period: Ubaid-Middle Gawra
Date: ca. 4500–3500 B.C.
Geography: Northern Syria or eastern Anatolia
Medium: Chlorite, black
Dimensions: Seal face: 3.16 x 2.96 cm
Height: .68 cm
String Hole: 0.4 cm
Height: .68 cm
String Hole: 0.4 cm
Classification: Stone-Stamp Seals
Stamp seal and modern impression: horned animal and bird
Period: Ubaid
Date: 6th–5th millennium B.C.
Geography: Syria or Anatolia
Medium: Steatite or chlorite
Dimensions: 0.2 x 0.8 x 0.84 in. (0.51 x 2.03 x 2.13 cm)
Classification: Stone-Stamp Seals
The Ubaid Period (5500–4000 B.C.)
In the period 5500–4000 B.C., much of Mesopotamia shared a common culture, called Ubaid after the site where evidence for it was first found. Characterized by a distinctive type of pottery, this culture originated on the flat alluvial plains of southern Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) around 6200 B.C. Indeed, it was during this period that the first identifiable villages developed in the region, where people farmed the land using irrigation and fished the rivers and sea (Persian Gulf). Thick layers of alluvial silt deposited every spring by the flooding rivers cover many of these sites. Some villages began to develop into towns and became focused on monumental buildings, such as at Eridu and Uruk. The Ubaid culture spread north across Mesopotamia, gradually replacing the
. Ubaid pottery is also found to the south, along the west coast of the Persian Gulf, perhaps transported there by fishing expeditions. Baked clay figurines, mainly female, decorated with painted or appliqué ornament and lizardlike heads, have been found at a number of Ubaid sites. Simple clay tokens may have been used for the symbolic representation of commodities, and pendants and stamp seals may have had a similar symbolism, if not function. During this period, the repertory of seal designs expands to include snakes, birds, and animals with humans. There is much continuity between the Ubaid culture and the succeeding
, when many of the earlier traditions were elaborated, particularly in architecture.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1984.175.13/
Gulf seal with bucranium (top center), anthropomorph (left), grid, and scorpion (right), as well as bird (Kjærum 1983: 37). karaṇḍa 'duck' (Sanskrit) karaṛa 'a very large aquatic bird' (Sindhi) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi) bicha 'scorpiion' rebus: bicha 'haematite ore' kaNDa 'divisions' rebus: kaNDa 'implements' muh 'face' rebus: muhA 'quantity of smelted metal taken out of a furnace';'ingot' kaNDa 'arrow' rebus: kaNDA 'implements' kanda 'fire-altar' meD 'body' rebus: meD 'iron' karNaka 'spread legs' rebus: karNI 'supercargo'.
Dilmun seals (35) and decipherment through Indus Script Cipher
I am grateful to Luca Peyronel for selecting the following Dilmun seals from out of hundreds from Failaka, Bahrain and other Persian Gulf sites and categorizing them on iconographic frames (i.e. with the types of hieroglyphs signified on the seals). Peyronel gleans meanings of sacredness and ritual offerings from adorants explaining the iconograhic motifs.
The procedure for gleaning semantics (i.e. decipherment) of the hierolyphs is to treat them as Indus Script Cipher of rebus-metonymy-Meluhha speech renderings of metalwork proclamations.
I, therefore, suggest -- an alternative semantic framework -- that all the 35 Dilmun seals are Indus Script hieroglyph-multiplexes which are technical descriptions for documentation or proclamation as metalwork catalogues.
Proto-Prakritam or Meluhha hieroglyphs and rebus-metonymy readings of the hieroglyph-multiplexes on the 35 Dilmun seals:
Some hieroglyphs which recur on Ancient Near seals and their Meluhha rebus readings:
bull-man, bull ḍangar 'bull' read rebus ḍhangar 'blacksmith'; ṭagara 'ram' Rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) ṭhakkura, ‘idol’, ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith ʼ, ṭhākur m. ʻmaster’.ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’.
tiger kol 'tiger' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'
lion arye 'lion'āra 'brass'
aquatic bird karaḍa ‘aquatic bird, duck’ Rebus: karaḍa 'hard alloy'
eagle eraka 'eagle' Rebus: erako 'moltencast copper
buffalo கண்டி kaṇṭi , n. 1. Buffalo bull Rebus: Pk. gaḍa -- n. ʻlarge stoneʼ? (CDIAL 3969)
six hair-curls āra 'six curls' Rebus: āra 'brass'
face mũh ‘face’ Rebus: mũh ‘ingot’.
stag karuman 'stag' karmara 'artisan'
antelope melh 'goat' Rebus: milakkhu 'copper'
calf khoṇḍ 'young bull-calf' Rebus khuṇḍ '(metal) turner'.
scorpion bica ‘scorpion’ (Assamese) Rebus: bica ‘stone ore’
stalk daṭhi, daṭi 'stalks of certain plants' Rebus: dhatu ‘mineral.kāṇḍa काण्डः m. the stalk or stem of a reed. Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’.
twig kūdī ‘twig’ Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter’
fish ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo, ayas 'metal'.
overflowing pot lo ‘pot to overflow’ kāṇḍa ‘water’. Rebus: लोखंड lokhaṇḍ Iron tools, vessels, or articles in general.
spear మేడెము [ mēḍemu ] or మేడియము mēḍemu. [Tel.] n. A spear or dagger. Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’.
ring, bracelet kaḍum a bracelet, a ring (G.) Rebus: kaḍiyo [Hem. Des. kaḍaio = Skt. sthapati a mason] a bricklayer; a mason;
star मेढ [ mēḍha ] The polar star (Marathi). [cf.The eight-pointed star Rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Mundari. Remo.)
safflower karaḍa -- m. ʻsafflowerʼ Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi)
twig kūdī ‘twig’ Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter’
frond (of palm), palm tamar, ‘palm tree, date palm’ Rebus: tam(b)ra, ‘copper’ (Prakrit)
tree kuṭhāru 'tree' Rebus: kuṭhāru ‘armourer or weapons maker’(metal-worker)
ram, ibex, markhor 1.ram मेंढा [ mēṇḍhā ] m (मेष S through H) A male sheep, a ram or tup.(Marathi) meḍ 'iron' (Mundari. Remo.)
goat melh 'goat' Rebus: milakkhu 'copper'
knot (twist) meḍ, ‘knot, Rebus: 'iron’
reed, scarf dhaṭu m. (also dhaṭhu) m. ‘scarf’ (WPah.) (CDIAL 6707) Rebus: dhatu ‘minerals’ (Santali); dhātu ‘mineral’ (Pali) kāṇḍa काण्डः m. stem of a reed. Rebus: kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’
mountain डोंगर [ ḍōṅgara ] m A hill. डोंगरकणगर or डोंगरकंगर [ ḍōṅgarakaṇagara or ḍōṅgarakaṅgara ] m (डोंगर & कणगर form of redup.) Hill and mountain; hills comprehensively or indefinitely. डोंगरकोळी [ ḍōṅgarakōḷī ] m A caste of hill people or an individual of it. (Marathi) ḍāngā = hill, dry upland (B.); ḍã̄g mountain-ridge (H.)(CDIAL 5476). Rebus: dhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Maithili) dhokra 'cire perdue metallurgist'
wing eraka 'wing' eṟaka, ṟekka, rekka, neṟaka, neṟi ‘wing’ (Telugu)(DEDR 2591). Rebus: erako 'moltencast copper'.
snake nāga 'snake' nāga 'lead'
frame of building sã̄gāḍā m. ʻ frame of a building ʼ (M.)(CDIAL 12859) Rebus: 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 (Kashmiri) jangaḍ 'entrustment note' (Gujarati)
monkey kuṭhāru = a monkey (Sanskrit) Rebus: kuṭhāru ‘armourer or weapons maker’(metal-worker), also an inscriber or writer.
kick kolsa 'to kick' Rebus: kol working in iron, blacksmith
foot . khuṭo ʻ leg, foot ʼ Rebus: khũṭ ‘community, guild’ (Santali)
copulation (mating) kamḍa, khamḍa 'copulation' (Santali) Rebus: kampaṭṭa ‘mint, coiner’
adultery ṛanku, ranku = fornication, adultery (Telugu) ranku 'tin'
koṭe meṛed = forged iron, in contrast to dul meṛed, cast iron (Mundari)
meṭ sole of foot, footstep, footprint (Ko.); meṭṭu step, stair, treading, slipper (Te.)(DEDR 1557). dula ‘pair’.
Rebus: dul 'metal casting'
Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.) dul meṛed, cast iron (Mu.) mẽṛhẽt baṭi = iron (Ore) furnaces (Santali).A. bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ, bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire ʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻ forge ʼ. -- X bhástrā -- q.v. S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ.(CDIAL 9656).
Hieroglyph: sãgaḍ f. ʻa body formed of two or more fruits or animals or men &c. linked together' (Marathi). sãghāṛɔ (Gujarati) 'joined animal or animal parts, linked together' Rebus: sangara 'proclamation'.
Hieroglyph: dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'
Hieroglyphs:
1. kolom 'three'
2. Hieroglyph: kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
Hieroglyph: 'human face': mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) Rebus: mũh opening or hole (in a stove for stoking (Bi.); ingot (Santali) mũh metal ingot (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends; kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali) kaula mengro ‘blacksmith’ (Gypsy) mleccha-mukha (Skt.) = milakkhu ‘copper’ (Pali) The Samskritam gloss mleccha-mukha should literally mean: copper-ingot absorbing the Santali gloss, mũh, as a suffix.
Hieroglyph: करडूं or करडें [karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. Rebus: karaḍa 'hard alloy of metal (Marathi) Allograph: 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)
koḍ `horn' (Kuwi) Rebus: koḍ `artisan's workshop' (Gujarati).
कुठारु [p= 289,1] kuṭhāru monkey (Samskritam) Rebus: armourer (Samskritam)
koṭhāri 'crucible' Rebus: koṭhāri 'treasurer' (If the hieroglyph on the leftmost is moon, a possible rebus reading: قمر ḳamar A قمر ḳamar, s.m. (9th) The moon. Sing. and Pl. See سپوږمي or سپوګمي (Pashto) Rebus: kamar 'blacksmith' )
Hieroglyph: arka ‘sun’; agasāle ‘goldsmithy’ (Ka.) erka = ekke (Tbh. of arka) aka (Tbh. of arka) copper (metal); crystal (Ka.lex.) cf. eruvai = copper (Ta.lex.) eraka, er-aka = any metal infusion (Ka.Tu.); erako molten cast (Tulu) Rebus: eraka = copper (Ka.) eruvai = copper (Tamil); ere - a dark-red colour (Ka.)(DEDR 817). eraka, era, er-a = syn. erka, copper, weapons (Kannada)
Hierolyphs:
1. kuDi 'to drink'
2. kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi '
Hieroglyphs:
1. gaṇḍa 'four'
2. కాండము [ kāṇḍamu ] kānḍamu. [Skt.] n. Water. నీళ్లు (Telugu) kaṇṭhá -- : (b) ʻ water -- channel ʼ
3. khaṇḍ 'field,division' (Samskritam) Rebus 1: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Rebus 2: khaṇḍa 'metal implements' lokhãḍ, kāṇḍa ‘flowing water’‘overflowing pot’ Rebus: lokhãḍ, kāṇḍā ‘metalware, tools, pots and pans’(Gujarati)
kole.l 'temple' Rebus: kole.l 'smithy' (Kota)
kāṅga 'comb' Rebus: kanga 'brazier, fireplace' (Kashmiri)
Hieroglyphs:
1. kula '
2. kur.i 'woman'
3. kola ‘tiger’ (Telugu); kola ‘tiger, jackal’ (Kon.). Rebus: kol ‘working in iron’ (Tamil) kolhe 'smelter'
mē̃ḍh 'antelope, ram'; rebus: mē̃ḍ 'iron' (Mu.)
క్రమ్మర krammara. adv. క్రమ్మరిల్లు or క్రమరబడు Same as క్రమ్మరు 'look back' (Telugu). Rebus: krəm backʼ(Kho.)(CDIAL 3145) Rebus: kamar 'artisan, smith'
pattar 'trough' Rebus: pattar 'guild, goldsmith'.
ḍhangar ‘bull’ Rebus: dhangar ‘blacksmith’ (Maithili) ḍangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi)
balad m. ʻox ʼ, gng. bald, (Ku.) barad, id. (Nepali. Tarai) Rebus: bharat (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin)(Punjabi) pattar ‘trough’ Rebus: pattar ‘guild, goldsmith’. Thus, copper-zinc-tin alloy (worker) guild. Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi) bhāraṇ = to bring out from a kiln (G.) bāraṇiyo = one whose profession it is to sift ashes or dust in a goldsmith’s workshop (G.lex.) In the Punjab, the mixed alloys were generally called, bharat (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin). In Bengal, an alloy called bharan or toul was created by adding some brass or zinc into pure bronze. bharata = casting metals in moulds; bharavum = to fill in; to put in; to pour into (G.lex.) Bengali. ভরন [ bharana ] n an inferior metal obtained from an alloy of coper, zinc and tin. baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi)
Hieroglyph: ‘hoof’: Kumaon. khuṭo ʻleg, footʼ, °ṭī ʻgoat's legʼ; Nepalese. khuṭo ʻleg, footʼ(CDIAL 3894). S. khuṛī f. ʻheelʼ; WPah. paṅ. khūṛ ʻfootʼ. (CDIAL 3906). Rebus: khũṭ ‘community, guild’ (Santali)
Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) Rebus: kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar, furnace’ (Santali) kāṇḍa ’stone ore’. kāṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans
‘scarf’ hieroglyph: dhaṭu m. (also dhaṭhu) m. ‘scarf’ (Wpah.) (CDIAL 6707) Rebus: dhatu ‘minerals’ (Santali)
Seated person seated on a stool, with a tiara of a set of curved horns (sometimes with double crown as in al-Sindi 1994: no. 19; Kjærum 1983: no. 185 shown below). A pigtail hangs over the seated person's shoulders. Other hieroglyphs are: drinking through tubes from jar, bull -- sometimes paired, antelope (kid) -- sometimes paired, standard (portable brazier).
al-Sindi 1994: no. 17 barad, balad 'ox' rebus: bharat 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin' kaNDa 'water' rebus: kaNDa 'implements'
al-Sindi 1994: no. 18 meD 'foot' rebus: meD 'iron' med 'copper' (Slavic) barad, balad' ox' rebus: bharat 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'
al-Sindi 1994: no. 19 barad, balad' ox' rebus: bharat 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'kaNDa 'water' rebus: kaNDa 'implements' meDha 'polar star' rebus: meD 'iron' med 'copper' (Slavic)
Kjærum 1983: no. 185
Kjærum 1983: no. 186
al-Sindi 1994: no. 23 kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' barad, balad 'ox' rebus: bharat 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'
al-Sindi 1994: no. 24
al-Sindi 1994: no. 57 bichi 'scorpion' rebus: bichi 'haematite ore'
Kjærum 1983: no. 212 [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं ) Akid. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] 'hard alloy' (Marathi)
Kjærum 1983: no. 81 [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं ) Akid. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] 'hard alloy' (Marathi) dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'metal casting'
Kjærum 1983: no. 274 [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं ) Akid. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] 'hard alloy' (Marathi) barad, balad 'ox' rebus: bharat 'alloy of pewter, copper, tin'Dotted circles and three lines on the obverse of many Failaka/Dilmun seals are read rebus as hieroglyphs:
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dhAv 'strand' rebus: dhAv 'dhAtu, mineral' tri-dhAtu 'three strands' rebus: 'three minerals'
A (गोटा) gōṭā Spherical or spheroidal, pebble-form. (Marathi) Rebus 1: khoṭā ʻalloyedʼ (metal) (Marathi) खोट [khōṭa] f A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down); an ingot or wedge (Marathi). P. khoṭ m. ʻalloyʼ (CDIAL 3931) Rebus 2: goTa 'laterite ore'
kolom ‘three’ (Mu.) Rebus: kolami ‘furnace, smithy’ (Telugu)
Thus, the seals are intended to serve as metalware catalogs from the smithy/forge. Details of the alloyed metalware are provided by the hieroglyphs of Indus writing on the reverse of the seal.
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Composition of two horned animals, sitting human playing a four-string musical instrument, a star and a moon.
The rebus reading of hieroglyphs are: తంబుర [tambura] orతంబురా tambura. [Tel. తంతి +బుర్ర .] n. A kind of stringed instrument like the guitar. A tambourine. Rebus: tam(b)ra 'copper' tambabica, copper-ore stones; samṛobica, stones containing gold (Mundari.lex.) tagara 'antelope'. Rebus 1: tagara 'tin' (ore) tagromi 'tin, metal alloy' (Kuwi) Rebus 2: damgar 'merchant'.
Thus the seal connotes a merchant of tin and copper.
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Inventory No. 8480. A seal from Dilmun, A seal from Dilmun, made of soft stone, classified as the 3rd largest seal in Failaka Island, decorated with human and zoomorphic figures. 0.16 X 4.8 cm. Site: the Ruler's Palace. 2nd millennium BCE, Dilmun civilization [NOTE: Many such seals of Failaka and Dilmun have been read rebus as Indus writing on blogposts.]
Hieroglyphs on this Dilmun seal are: star, tabernae montana flower, cock, two divided squares, two bulls, antelope, sprout (paddy plant), drinking (straw), stool, twig or tree branch. A person with upraised arm in front of the antelope. All these hieroglyphs are read rebus using lexemes (Meluhha, Mleccha) of Indiansprachbund.
meḍha ‘polar star’ (Marathi). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Mu.)
ṭagara (tagara) fragrant wood (Pkt.Skt.).tagara 'antelope'. Rebus 1: tagara 'tin' (ore) tagromi 'tin, metal alloy' (Kuwi) Rebus 2: damgar 'merchant'
kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelting furnace’ (Santali)
ḍangar ‘bull’; rebus: ḍangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi) dula 'pair' (Kashmiri). Rebus: dul 'cast metal' (Santali) Thus, a pair of bulls connote 'cast metal blacksmith'.
khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.) Rebus 1: Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (ore). Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Thus, the two divided squares connote furnace for stone (ore).
kolmo ‘paddy plant’ (Santali) Rebus: kolami ‘furnace, smithy’ (Telugu)
Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)
Tu. aḍaru twig. Rebus: aduru 'native (unsmelted) metal' (Kannada) Alternative reading: కండె [kaṇḍe] kaṇḍe. [Tel.] n. A head or ear of millet or maize. Rebus 1: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Rebus 2: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
eraka ‘upraised arm’ (Te.); eraka ‘copper’ (Te.)
Thus, the Dilmun seal is a metalware catalog of damgar 'merchant' dealing with copper and tin.
The two divided squares attached to the straws of two vases in the following seal can also be read as hieroglyphs:
khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.) Rebus 1: Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (ore). Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Thus, the two divided squares connote furnace for stone (ore).
kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelting furnace’ (Santali)
ḍangā = small country boat, dug-out canoe (Or.); ḍõgā trough, canoe, ladle (H.)(CDIAL 5568). Rebus: ḍānro term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.); ḍangar (H.) (CDIAL 5524)
Thus, a smelting furnace for stone (ore) is connoted by the seal of a blacksmith, ḍangar :![]()
Similar readings are suggested for all hieroglyphs on Failaka seals treating them as evidences of Indus writing in ancient Near East. The suggested rebus readings for specific hieroglyphs of Failaka seals (akin to Dilmun seal readings) are listed in the following section.
Note:![]()
What is shown like the phase of a moon may not denote a moon but the shape of a bun-ingot. ḍabu ‘an iron spoon’ (Santali) Rebus: ḍab, ḍhimba, ḍhompo ‘lump (ingot?)’. Alternative reading: mū̃h 'ingot'. Read together with the polar star, the rebus reading is: meḍ mū̃h 'iron ingot'. [meḍha ‘polar star’ (Marathi). meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Mu.)] The antelope + divided square is read rebus: eraka tagara kaṇḍ 'tin furnace' (merchant, damgar). The upraised arm indicates eraka 'copper': eraka ‘upraised arm’ (Telugu); eraka ‘copper’ (Telugu) Thus, the seal denotes a merchant dealing in iron, tin and copper ingots.
Rebus readings of hieroglyphs on Failaka seals (akin to Dilmun seal readings):
తంబుర [tambura] orతంబురా tambura. [Tel. తంతి +బుర్ర .] n. A kind of stringed instrument like the guitar. A tambourine. Rebus: tam(b)ra 'copper' tambabica, copper-ore stones; samṛobica, stones containing gold (Mundari.lex.)
Skt. kuṭī- intoxicating liquor. Ta. kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale; n. drinking, beverage (DEDR 1654). Rebus: kuṭhi‘smelting furnace’.
meḍha ‘polar star’ (Marathi). meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Mu.) Allograph: meḍh ‘ram’.
mūxā ‘frog’. Rebus: mũh ‘(copper) ingot’ (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end (Santali) Allographs: mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) मोख [ mōkha ] . Add:--3 Sprout or shoot. (Marathi) Kuwi (Su.) mṛogla shoot of bamboo; (P.) moko sprout (DEDR 4997) Tu. mugiyuni to close, contract, shut up; muguru sprout, shoot, bud; tender, delicate; muguruni, mukuruni to bud, sprout; muggè, moggè flower-bud, germ; (BRR; Bhattacharya, non-brahmin informant) mukkè bud. Kor. (O.) mūke flower-bud. (DEDR 4893)
ḍato ‘claws or pincers (chelae) of crabs’; ḍaṭom, ḍiṭom to seize with the claws or pincers, as crabs, scorpions; ḍaṭkop = to pinch, nip (only of crabs) (Santali) Rebus: dhātu ‘mineral’ (Vedic); dhatu ‘a mineral, metal’ (Santali)
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Stamp seal from Al-Khidr.![]()
Designs of stamp seals from Al-Khidr are composed of characteristic Early Dilmun stamp seal motifs. This stamp seal depicts human and half-human-half-animal horned figures, monkeys, serpents and birds on either side of a central motif of a standard and a podium at the bottom (drawing of stamp seal impression).![]()
On the obverse of Dilmun seals from Al-Khidr are depicted human or divine figures, half human-half animal creatures, animal figures (such as gazelles, bulls, scorpions, and snakes), celestial bodies (star or sun and moon), sometimes drinking scenes and also other activities (playing musical instruments). Composition of these motifs varies from formal (with ordering the figures and symbols to clear scenes) to chaotic.
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koThAri 'crucible' Rebus: koThAri 'treasurer, warehouse' . मेढ (p. 662) [ mēḍha ] 'polar' star' Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Ho.Munda) dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'metal casting' meD 'body' rebus:meD 'iron' Dhangar 'bull' rebus: Dhangar 'blacksmith'
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Seals with rotating designs usually bear pure plant, animal or geometric motifs. karaDi 'safflower' Rebus: karaDa 'hard alloy' (Marathi) kaNDa 'divisions' rebus: kaNDa 'implements'.
dhAv 'strand' rebus: dhAv 'dhAtu, mineral' tri-dhAtu 'three strands' rebus: 'three minerals'A (गोटा) gōṭā Spherical or spheroidal, pebble-form. (Marathi) Rebus 1: khoṭā ʻalloyedʼ (metal) (Marathi) खोट [khōṭa] f A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down); an ingot or wedge (Marathi). P. khoṭ m. ʻalloyʼ (CDIAL 3931) Rebus 2: goTa 'laterite ore'
kolom ‘three’ (Mu.) Rebus: kolami ‘furnace, smithy’ (Telugu)
Thus, the seals are intended to serve as metalware catalogs from the smithy/forge. Details of the alloyed metalware are provided by the hieroglyphs of Indus writing on the reverse of the seal.
Composition of two horned animals, sitting human playing a four-string musical instrument, a star and a moon.The rebus reading of hieroglyphs are: తంబుర [tambura] or
Thus the seal connotes a merchant of tin and copper.
Inventory No. 8480. A seal from Dilmun, A seal from Dilmun, made of soft stone, classified as the 3rd largest seal in Failaka Island, decorated with human and zoomorphic figures. 0.16 X 4.8 cm. Site: the Ruler's Palace. 2nd millennium BCE, Dilmun civilization [NOTE: Many such seals of Failaka and Dilmun have been read rebus as Indus writing on blogposts.]Hieroglyphs on this Dilmun seal are: star, tabernae montana flower, cock, two divided squares, two bulls, antelope, sprout (paddy plant), drinking (straw), stool, twig or tree branch. A person with upraised arm in front of the antelope. All these hieroglyphs are read rebus using lexemes (Meluhha, Mleccha) of Indiansprachbund.
meḍha ‘polar star’ (Marathi). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Mu.)
ṭagara (tagara) fragrant wood (Pkt.Skt.).tagara 'antelope'. Rebus 1: tagara 'tin' (ore) tagromi 'tin, metal alloy' (Kuwi) Rebus 2: damgar 'merchant'
kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelting furnace’ (Santali)
ḍangar ‘bull’; rebus: ḍangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi) dula 'pair' (Kashmiri). Rebus: dul 'cast metal' (Santali) Thus, a pair of bulls connote 'cast metal blacksmith'.
khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.) Rebus 1: Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (ore). Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Thus, the two divided squares connote furnace for stone (ore).
kolmo ‘paddy plant’ (Santali) Rebus: kolami ‘furnace, smithy’ (Telugu)
Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali)
Tu. aḍaru twig. Rebus: aduru 'native (unsmelted) metal' (Kannada) Alternative reading: కండె [kaṇḍe] kaṇḍe. [Tel.] n. A head or ear of millet or maize. Rebus 1: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Rebus 2: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
eraka ‘upraised arm’ (Te.); eraka ‘copper’ (Te.)
Thus, the Dilmun seal is a metalware catalog of damgar 'merchant' dealing with copper and tin.
The two divided squares attached to the straws of two vases in the following seal can also be read as hieroglyphs:
khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.) Rebus 1: Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (ore). Rebus 2: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar' (Santali) Thus, the two divided squares connote furnace for stone (ore).
kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelting furnace’ (Santali)
ḍangā = small country boat, dug-out canoe (Or.); ḍõgā trough, canoe, ladle (H.)(CDIAL 5568). Rebus: ḍānro term of contempt for a blacksmith (N.); ḍangar (H.) (CDIAL 5524)
Thus, a smelting furnace for stone (ore) is connoted by the seal of a blacksmith, ḍangar :
Stamp seal with a boat scene. Steatite. L. 2 cm. Gulf regio, Failaka, F6 758. Early Dilmun, ca. 2000-1800 BCE. Ntional Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Kuwait National Museum, 1129 ADY. The subject is a nude male figure standing in the middle of a flat-bottomed boat, facing right. The man's arms are bent at the elbow, perpendicular to his torso. Beside him are two jars stand on the deck of the boat, each containing a long pole to which is attached a hatched square that perhaps represents a banner. Six square stamp seals from Failaka have been published...It is unlikely that the hatched squares represent sails, since the poles to which they are attached emerge from vases. The two diagonal lines on the body of the boat may represent the reed bundles from which these craft were buit. See Kjærum 1983, seal nos. 192, 234, 254, 266, 335, 367. Source: Source: Joan Aruz et al., 2003, Art of the First cities: the third millennium BCE from the Mediterranean to the Indus, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art (Pages 320, 322).See also: http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.in/2012/10/kuwaiti-slovak-archaeological-mission.html
Similar readings are suggested for all hieroglyphs on Failaka seals treating them as evidences of Indus writing in ancient Near East. The suggested rebus readings for specific hieroglyphs of Failaka seals (akin to Dilmun seal readings) are listed in the following section.
Note:
Rebus readings of hieroglyphs on Failaka seals (akin to Dilmun seal readings):
తంబుర [tambura] or
kolmo ‘paddy plant’ (Santali); kolom = cutting, graft; to graft, engraft, prune; kolma hoṛo = a variety of the paddy plant (Desi)(Santali.) kolom ‘three’ (Mu.) Rebus: kolami ‘furnace, smithy’ (Telugu)
khaṇḍ ‘field, division’ (Skt.) Rebus: Ga. (Oll.) kanḍ, (S.) kanḍu (pl. kanḍkil) stone (DEDR 1298). खडा (Marathi) is ‘metal, nodule, stone, lump’. kaṇi ‘stone’ (Kannada) with Tadbhava khaḍu. khaḍu, kaṇ ‘stone/nodule (metal)’. Rebus: khaṇḍaran, khaṇḍrun ‘pit furnace’ (Santali) kaṇḍ ‘furnace’ (Skt.) लोहकारकन्दुः f. a blacksmith's smelting furnace (Grierson Kashmiri lex.) [khaṇḍa] A piece, bit, fragment, portion.(Marathi) Rebus: khānḍa ‘tools, pots and pans, metal-ware’.
Allographs: Kur. kaṇḍō a stool. Malt. kanḍo stool, seat. (DEDR 1179) खंड [ khaṇḍa ] A piece, bit, fragment, portion.(Marathi) khaṇḍ ‘ivory’ (H.) jaṇḍ khaṇḍ = ivory (Jaṭkī) khaṇḍ ī = ivory in rough (Jaṭkī) kandhi = a lump, a piece (Santali.lex.) kandi (pl. -l) beads, necklace (Pa.); kanti (pl. -l) bead, (pl.) necklace; kandit. bead (Ga.)(DEDR 1215).
Ta. kaṇ eye, aperture, orifice, star of a peacock's tail. (DEDR 1159a) Rebus ‘brazier, bell-metal worker’: கன்னான் kaṉṉāṉ , n. < கன்¹. [M. kannān.] Brazier, bell-metal worker, one of the divisions of the Kammāḷa caste; செம்புகொட்டி. (திவா.) కండె [ kaṇḍe ] kaṇḍe. [Tel.] n. A head or ear of millet or maize. జొన్నకంకి (Telugu) kã̄ṛ ʻstack of stalks of large milletʼ(Maithili) kã̄ḍ 2 काँड् m. a section, part in general; a cluster, bundle, multitude (Śiv. 32). kã̄ḍ 1 काँड् । काण्डः m. the stalk or stem of a reed, grass, or the like, straw. In the compound with dan 5 (p. 221a, l. 13) the word is spelt kāḍ.
Ka. (Hav.) aḍaru twig; (Bark.) aḍïrï small and thin branch of a tree; (Gowda) aḍəri small branches. Tu. aḍaru twig.(DEDR 67) Rebus: aduru gan.iyinda 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).
Ka. (Hav.) aḍaru twig; (Bark.) aḍïrï small and thin branch of a tree; (Gowda) aḍəri small branches. Tu. aḍaru twig.(DEDR 67) Rebus: aduru gan.iyinda 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).
satthiya ‘svastika glyph’; rebus: satthiya ‘pewter’.
Skt. kuṭī- intoxicating liquor. (DEDR 1654) Ta. kuṭi (-pp-, -tt-) to drink, inhale; n. drinking, beverage,drunkenness; kuṭiyaṉ drunkard. Rebus: kuṭi= smelter furnace (Santali)
gaṇḍ 'four'. kaṇḍ 'bit'. Rebus: kaṇḍ 'fire-altar'. kolmo 'three'. Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge'.
tagara 'antelope'; rebus 1: tagara 'tin'; rebus 2: tamkāru, damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian)
The bamboo-shoot is tã̄bā read rebus: tamba 'copper'.
tagara 'antelope'; rebus 1: tagara 'tin'; rebus 2: tamkāru, damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian)
The bamboo-shoot is tã̄bā read rebus: tamba 'copper'.
B. Or. bichā 'scorpion', Mth. bīch (CDIAL 12081) Rebus: meṛed-bica = iron stone ore, in contrast to bali-bica, iron sand ore (Mu.lex.)
kamḍa, khamḍa 'copulation' (Santali) Rebus:kaṇḍ ‘furnace, fire altar, consecrated fire’.
mūxā ‘frog’. Rebus: mũh ‘(copper) ingot’ (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end (Santali) Allographs: mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) मोख [ mōkha ] . Add:--3 Sprout or shoot. (Marathi) Kuwi (Su.) mṛogla shoot of bamboo; (P.) moko sprout (DEDR 4997) Tu. mugiyuni to close, contract, shut up; muguru sprout, shoot, bud; tender, delicate; muguruni, mukuruni to bud, sprout; muggè, moggè flower-bud, germ; (BRR; Bhattacharya, non-brahmin informant) mukkè bud. Kor. (O.) mūke flower-bud. (DEDR 4893)
pajhar. = to sprout from a root (Santali) Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali)
ḍangar ‘bull’; rebus: ḍangar ‘blacksmith’ (Hindi)
ḍumgara ‘mountain’ (Pkt.)(CDIAL 5423). Rebus: damgar ‘merchant’.
kangha (IL 1333) kãgherā comb-maker (H.) Rebus: kangar ‘portable furnace’
kangha (IL 1333) kãgherā comb-maker (H.) Rebus: kangar ‘portable furnace’
गोदा [ gōdā ] m A circular brand or mark made by actual cautery (Marathi) गोटा [ gōṭā ] m A roundish stone or pebble. 2 A marble (of stone, lac, wood &c.) 2 A marble. 3 A large lifting stone. Used in trials of strength among the Athletæ. 4 A stone in temples described at length underउचला 5 fig. A term for a round, fleshy, well-filled body. 6 A lump of silver: as obtained by melting down lace or fringe. गोटुळा or गोटोळा [ gōṭuḷā or gōṭōḷā ] a (गोटा) Spherical or spheroidal, pebble-form. (Marathi) Allographs: Ta. kōṭu (in cpds. kōṭṭu-) horn, tusk, branch of tree, cluster, bunch, coil of hair, line, diagram, bank of stream or pool (DEDR 2200) Koḍ. ko·ḷi fowl. Tu. kōri, (B-K. also) kōḷi id. Te. kōḍi id. Nk. (Ch.) gogoḍi, gogoṛi cock (< Go.). Go. (Tr.) gōgōṛi, (Ph.)gugoṛī, (Y.) ghogṛi, (Mu. Ma. S. Ko.) gogoṛ id. (Voc. 1184). Cf. Apabhraṃśa (Jasaharacariu) koḍi- id., fowl. (DEDR 2248). Rebus: khoṭ ‘alloy’ (Marathi). खोट [ khōṭa ] f A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down); an ingot or wedge (Marathi). P. khoṭ m. ʻalloyʼ M.khoṭā ʻalloyedʼ, (CDIAL 3931) Rebus: khoṭ ‘alloy’ (Marathi). खोट [ khōṭa ] f A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down); an ingot or wedge (Marathi). P. khoṭ m. ʻalloyʼ M.khoṭā ʻalloyedʼ, (CDIAL 3931)
தமரூசி tamar-ūci, n. < தமர்² +. 1. See தமர்², 2. 2. Bits of a brace; தமரில் மாட்டும் ஆணி. தமர்² tamar , n. [M. tamar.] 1. Hole, as in a plank, commonly bored or cut; கருவியால் அமைத்த துளை. தமரிடு கருவியாம் (திருவிளை. மாணிக்க. 61). 2. Gimlet, spring awl, boring instrument; துளையிடுங் கருவி. Ta. tamar hole in a plank, commonly bored or cut; gimlet, spring awl, boring instrument; tavar (-v-, -nt-) to bore a hole; n. hole in a board. Ma. tamar hole made by a gimlet; a borer, gimlet, drill. ? Ko. tav- (tavd-) to butt with both horns, gore. Tu. tamirů gimlet. Te. tamire, (VPK) tagire the pin in the middle of a yoke. (DEDR 3078)
ayo ‘fish’(Mu.); ayas ‘iron’ (Skt.) Rebus: ayas ‘metal’
ḍato ‘claws or pincers (chelae) of crabs’; ḍaṭom, ḍiṭom to seize with the claws or pincers, as crabs, scorpions; ḍaṭkop = to pinch, nip (only of crabs) (Santali) Rebus: dhātu ‘mineral’ (Vedic); dhatu ‘a mineral, metal’ (Santali)
Allographs:
1. aru m. ʻ sun ʼ lex. Kho. yor Morgenstierne NTS ii 276 with ? <-> Whence y -- ? (CDIAL 612)
2. aru(m), eru(m), harum "branch, frond " of date palm (Akkadian) Akkadian aru/eru may be equivalent of the Hebrew 'rh 'eagle'. The concise dictionary of Akkadian (Jeremy A. Black, 2000) notes: eru, aru, also ru 'eagle'. aru 'granary, storehouse' OA, jB lex. aru(m) 'warrior'.
Rebus: eraka, era, er-a = syn. erka, copper, weapons (Ka.) eruvai ‘copper’ (Ta.); ere dark red (Ka.)(DEDR 446).
Ta. kara-tāḷam palmyra palm. Ka. kara-tāḷa fan-palm, Corypha umbraculifera Lin. Tu. karatāḷa cadjan. Te. (B.) kara-tāḷamu the small-leaved palm tree.(DEDR 1270). karukku teeth of a saw or sickle, jagged edge of palmyra leaf-stalk, sharpness (Ta.) Ka. garasu. / Cf. Skt. karaṭa- a low, unruly, difficult person; karkara- hard, firm; karkaśa- rough, harsh, hard; krakaca-, karapattra- saw; khara- hard, harsh, rough, sharp-edged; kharu- harsh, cruel; Pali kakaca- saw; khara- rough; saw; Pkt.karakaya- saw; Apabhraṃśa (Jasaharacariu) karaḍa- hard. Cf. esp. Turner, CDIAL, no. 2819. Cf. also Skt. karavāla- sword (for second element, cf. 5376 Ta. vāḷ). (DEDR 1265) Allograph: Ta. karaṭi, karuṭi, keruṭi fencing, school or gymnasium where wrestling and fencing are taught. Ka. garaḍi, garuḍi fencing school. Tu.garaḍi, garoḍi id. Te. gariḍi, gariḍī id., fencing.(DEDR 1262)
Ko. meṭ- (mec-) to trample on, tread on; meṭ sole of foot, footstep, footprint (DEDR 5057). Allograph: meḍ ‘dance’ (Santali). mēḍamu. A fight, battle, యుద్ధము. మేడము పొడుచు mēdamu-poḍuṭsu. v. n. To fight a battle. M. meḍhā m. ʻ curl, snarl, twist or tangle in cord or thread ʼ (CDIAL 10312) మేడెము [ mēḍemu ] or మేడియము mēḍemu. [Tel.] n. A spear or dagger. ఈటె, బాకు. mēḍha The polar star. (Marathi)
Rebus: meḍ, mẽṛhẽt 'iron'(Mu.Ho.)
ḍabe, ḍabea ‘large horns, with a sweeping upward curve, applied to buffaloes’ (Santali) Rebus: ḍab, ḍhimba, ḍhompo ‘lump (ingot?)’, clot, make a lump or clot, coagulate, fuse, melt together (Santali)
See:
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/indus-writing-on-gold-disc-kuwait.html Indus writing on gold disc, Kuwait Museum al-Sabah collection: An Indus metalware catalog
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/see-httpbharatkalyan97.html Indus writing in ancient Near East (Dilmun seal readings)
Stamp seal with figures and animals. Steatite. Early Dilmun, ca. 2000-1800 BCE. Dia. 2.9 cm. Gulf region, Bahrain, Karrana, Bahrain National Museum, Manama
Stamp seal from Al-Khidr.
Designs of stamp seals from Al-Khidr are composed of characteristic Early Dilmun stamp seal motifs. This stamp seal depicts human and half-human-half-animal horned figures, monkeys, serpents and birds on either side of a central motif of a standard and a podium at the bottom (drawing of stamp seal impression).
On the obverse of Dilmun seals from Al-Khidr are depicted human or divine figures, half human-half animal creatures, animal figures (such as gazelles, bulls, scorpions, and snakes), celestial bodies (star or sun and moon), sometimes drinking scenes and also other activities (playing musical instruments). Composition of these motifs varies from formal (with ordering the figures and symbols to clear scenes) to chaotic.
koThAri 'crucible' Rebus: koThAri 'treasurer, warehouse' . मेढ (p. 662) [ mēḍha ] 'polar' star' Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Ho.Munda) dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'metal casting' meD 'body' rebus:meD 'iron' Dhangar 'bull' rebus: Dhangar 'blacksmith'
Seals with rotating designs usually bear pure plant, animal or geometric motifs. karaDi 'safflower' Rebus: karaDa 'hard alloy' (Marathi) kaNDa 'divisions' rebus: kaNDa 'implements'.
Until now only one single seaal has been discovered (in 2004) which comes from a non-Dilmun cultural environment. It is a cylinder seal with a cuneiform inscription that refers to "Ab-gina, sailor from a huge ship, the son of Ur-Abba" (F. Rahman). This seal provides further evidence of the existing contacts between Dilmun and ancient Mesopotamia at the end of the 3rd- beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE. 
A minor fragment of a globularly shaped metal sheet may represent a fragment of a vessel. 
Blades are technologically more demanding than awls and fish-hooks. A few complete pieces and some major fragments seem to represent knives and perhaps razors.
Metal awls are made from thin copper rods of circular or rectangular section. Most of them have both ends pointed. A handful of pieces have simple handles from bird and mammal bones. These awls may have been used for various purposes. Large amounts of shells at the site may indicate that the awls could have served to open and take out the flesh from the shells of bivalves and gastropods. 
Two tanged arrowheads have been found. 
From among other utensils, needles with eyes and a pair of tweezers have been uncovered. 
Collection of copper fish-hooks.
Besides vessels, steatite was used for the production of stamp seals and small personal ornaments (pendants). Sherds of broken vessels were further used also as tools (e.g. polishers).
Typical globular bowl with incised decoration (dotted-circles).
Small carnelian bead (pointing to link with Gujarat as the possible source of carnelian).
Net sinker (left) and limestone lid (above). The local limestone was also used for the production of working slabs, grinders and grindstones (below).Pearls were recovered from heavy residue fractions of the soil samples processed by water flotation. They almost exclusively occur in contexts dominated by mother-of-pearl shells.
Stamp seal cut from shell nacre layers (above). Pendant made from a strombus shell (left). Semi-product made from an oyster shell (right).Source. http://www.kuwaitarchaeology.org/gallery/al-khidr-finds-2.html Kuwaiti-Slovak Archaeological Mission
Failaka Island is located approximately 20 km northeast of Kuwait City. The island has a shallow surface measuring 12 km in length and 6 km width. The island proved to be an ideal location for human settlements, because of the wealth of natural resources, including harbours, fresh water, and fertile soil. It was also a strategic maritime commercial route that linked the northern side of the Gulf to the southern side. Studies show that traces of human settlement can be found on Failaka dating back to as early as the end of the 3rd millennium BC and extended through most of the 20th century CE.
Failaka was first known as Agarum, the land of Enzak, the great god of Dilmun civilisation according to Sumerian cuneiform texts found on the island. Dilmun was the leading commercial hub for its powerful neighbours in their need to exchange processed goods for raw materials. Sailing the Arabian Gulf was by far the most convenient trade route at a time as transportation over land meant a much longer and more hazardous journey. As part of Dilmun, Failaka became a hub for the activities which radiated around Dilmun (Bahrain) from the end of the 3rd millennium to the mid-1st millennium BCE.
The cities of Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Harappan people from the Indus Valley, the inhabitants of Magan and the Iranian hinterland have left many archaeological traces of their encounters on Failaka Island. More speculative is the ongoing debate among academics on whether Failaka might be the mythical Eden: the place where Sumerian hero Gilgamesh almost unraveled the secret of immortality; the paradise later described in the Bible.
As a result of changes in the balance of political powers in the region towards the end of the 2nd millennium BCE and beginning of 1st millennium BCE, the importance of Failaka began to decline.
Studies indicate that Alexander the Great received reports from missions sent to explore the Arabian shoreline of the Gulf. The reports referenced two islands, one located approximately 120 stadia (almost 19 km) from an estuary; the second island located a complete day and night sailing journey with proper climate conditions. As the historian Aryan stated, “Alexander the Great ordered that the nearer island be named “Ikaros” (now Failaka) and the distant island as “Tylos” (now the Kingdom of Bahrain). Ikaros was described by the explorers as an island covered with rich vegetation and a shelter for numerous wild animals, considered sacred by the inhabitants who dedicate them to their local goddess.
After the collapse of the great empires in western Asia (Greek, Persian, Roman), the first centuries of the Christian era brought new settlers to Failaka. The island became a secure home for a Christian community, possibly Nestorian, until the 9th century CE. At Al- Qusur, in the centre of the island, archaeologists have uncovered two churches, built at an undetermined date, around which a large settlement grew. Its name may have changed again at that time, to Ramatha.
Failaka was continuously inhabited throughout the Islamic period until the 1990s. Excavations on the Island began in 1958 and continue today. Many archaeological expeditions have worked on Failaka and it is considered one of the key sources of knowledge about civilisations emerging from within the Gulf region.
Brochure at http://darmuseum.org.kw/dai/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Loans-From-KNM-Brochure.pdf
Failaka geography 
The Dilmun temple on Failaka, Kuwait Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy Volume 23, Issue 2, pages 165–173, November 2012
Failaka (also transcribed as Failakah or Faylakah, and locally known by the names Feileche, Feiliche or Feliche), in antiquity known as Ikaros was mentioned by the Geographer Strabo in ca. 25 AD and later by Arrian. It is the second biggest offshore island of Kuwait situated at the entrance to Kuwait Bay ca. 16 – 17 km far from Ras Al-Ardh in Salmiya and ca. 12 km from Ras As-Sabbiya. It blocks access to the Bay opposite the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates (Shatt Al-Arab). Failaka has attracted the attention of researchers since 1957 when Danish archaeologists first had the opportunity to study material from the island received from a member of the British political representation to Kuwait. According to the results of up-to-date archaeological research, the ancient history of Failaka goes back to the beginning of the second millennium BC – to the Bronze Age when the Dilmun cultural phenomenon occupied the western shoreline and islands of the Arabian Gulf.
The Dilmun monuments are the most significant antiquities of the history of Failaka and Kuwait. Major Bronze Age sites on Failaka are located on its south-west (Tell Sa’ad/F3; F6; G3), north-west (Al-Khidr) and north-east (Al-Awazim) coasts, one perhaps even being located in the south-east (Al-Sed Al-Aaliy/Matitah) part of the island [6,14]. During the Bronze Age the temple of the god Inzak, tutelary god of Dilmun, existed on Failaka as it is mentioned in the cuneiform and Proto-Aramaic inscriptions on vessel fragments, Dilmun stamp seals and slabs from excavations [5]. In F6, the French excavations revealed buildings interpreted as a tower temple and palace [8].
Kjærum 1983: no. 193Dilmun seals with bullmen (human torso, bull’s legs and tail, human face with bull’s ears and horns)
Peyronel 2000: no. 4.14 Bull-man holding a crescent standard
Kjærum 1983: no. 208
Kjærum 1983: no. 121
Kjærum 1983: no. 122
al-Sindi 1994: no. 254
Kjærum 1983: no. 274[Peyronel, Luca, 2008, Some thoughts on iconographic relations between the Arabian Gulf and Syria-Mesopotamia during the Middle Bronze Age, in: Olijdam, E. & RH Spoor, eds., Intercultural relations between south and southwest Asia, studies in commemoration of ECL During Caspers (1934-1996), BAR International Series 1826 (2008): 236-252 “The relationship between bull-men and superimposed bulls or bull and gazelle (Kjærum 1983: nos. 247-249) again suggests the complex pattern of ideological meanings which hides behind the animal repertoire in Dilmun stamp seals. Two crossed bull-men with raised hands stand across a net podium on a unique seal from Failaka (Kjærum 1983: no. 261)…Another meaningful seal is engraved with a schematic shrine or door with symbols inside (hatched podium, sun-ring, hatched lentoid, net podium), flanked by a bull-man and a garbed man grasping the door-frame (Kjærum 1983: no. 51). Rectangular structures appear on 9 seals (Kjærum 1983: nos. 51-54, 126; al-Sindi 1994; nos. 202-203, 205, 263): they have symbols or human figures within and they can be considered schematic gates or chapels/shrines, without doubt linked with pecular ritual functions as revealed also by astral symbols, mythological figures (serpent monsters or bull-men) and worshippers on their sides.” (p.242)
Dilmun seals with a pair of bull-men and other hieroglyphs (in addition to kids): rectangle with divisions, sun, crucible, bun ingot with infixed 3 numeral strokes, a rectangle with four infixed numeral strokes, temple gate (signifying temple).
Kjærum 1983: no. 93
Kjærum 1983: no. 70
Kjærum 1983: no. 248
Kjærum 1983: no. 249
Kjærum 1983: no. 261
Kjærum 1983: no. 51Dilmun seals with a pair of bull-men and other hieroglyphs (crucible, sun, vase, pair of harrows, aquatic bird; pair of forked stakes)
al-Sindi 1994: no. 115Hieroglyph: 'kid': करडूं or करडें (p. 137) [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं ) A kid. Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c.(Marathi) karaṇḍa 'duck' (Sanskrit) karaṛa 'a very large aquatic bird' (Sindhi) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi) .
al-Sindi 1994: no. 116kaNDa 'divisions' rebus: kaNDa 'implements'
Hieroglyph: 'kid': करडूं or करडें (p. 137) [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं ) A kid. Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c.(Marathi)
al-Sindi 1994: no. 117
Kjærum 1983: no. 115
Kjærum 1983: no. 116
Kjærum 1983: no. 141 (Same as 115?)“Bull-men are attested in Mesopotamian glyptic from the Early Dynastic II onwards. The iconographic elaboration probably happened at the end of the 4th or at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE in the Iranian milieu, where stamp and cylinder seals show hybrid creatures with mixed human and animal features since he prehistoric periods...”(opcit., pp.244-245) It has been noted in Indus Script Cipher that sangaDa ‘joined animals or animal parts’ is rebus sangara ‘proclamations’. The ‘hybrid creatures’ are thus metalwork proclamations detailing, for example, the metals as alloying components.
"Bull-men were represented during the Early Dynastic period only in contest scenes together with rampant animas, the naked hero and the human-headed bull. A lengthy discussion on these figures has involved Near Eastern scholars, some proposing to identify Enkidu and Gilgamesh with the bull-man and the hero with long hair with curls, other preferring to recognize in these figures different aspects of the god Dumuzi. More recently a simplistic correlation between Early Dynastic supernatural beings and those known from mythological tales was submitted to a strong criticism (Lambert 1987), despite the unequivocal connection with the religious sphere. It is now widely accepted that the ‘nude hero’ must be considered a protective and beneficent deity, in later periods associated with Enki (Akkadian period) or Marduk (from the 2nd millennium BCE), known by the name Lahmu…The corpus of seal impressions from Kultepe karum II (ca. 1920-1850 BCE) verifies the occurrence in the Anatolian, Syro-Cappadocian, Old Syrian, and Old Assyrian styles." (opcit. 244-245).
I would not venture critiquing these meanings and art expression evaluations based on faith. I would not also submit to the 'master of animals' metaphor. I would, instead, deploy an Occam's razor, suggest a simple, direct submission of Indus Script cipher based on Meluhha-rebus-metonymy yielding plain texts of metalwork catalogues involving multiple alloying metals and metalcastings to read the hieroglyph-multiplexes as cypher-texts, symbolic hyper-texts (as Dennys Frenez and Massimo Vidale would call them). See:
Dilmun portable braziers with crucibles (offering tables with bull's hooves) and other hieroglyphs: aquatic bird, rice-plant, snake,
Kjærum 1983: no. 163
Kjærum 1983: no. 165
Kjærum 1983: no. 166
Kjærum 1983: no. 167
Kjærum 1983: no. 168“Dilmunite seal designs with offering tables might testify not only to the iconographic knowledge but also to a circulation of that type of ceremonial furnishing between Western Syria and Arabian Gulf, i.e. as real imports. From an artistic point of view, Dilmun again shows the trend to assimilate themes and figurative motifs pertaining to the ‘Amorite’ Western and Northern Syrian milieu dating from the very beginning of the 2nd millennium till the end of the 17th century BCE...The wide web of intercultural contacts during the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE is well attested, for example, by the distribution of chlorite carved vessels and by imports or objects with Harappan influence in Mesopotamia (i.e. square or circular stamp seals, etched carnelian beads, weights, clay figurines, dice, kidney-shaped inlays. If it is very likely that the people from Meluhha had settled in the alluvium, but it is much more difficult to establish the presence of Mesopotamians in the Indus Valley on the basis of presumed Near Eastern ‘cultural’ traits in a handful of objects from Harappan cities.”(opcit., p.246, 249, fn 9). It is possible that the assimilation of hieroglyphs onto Dilmun seals occurred because of Meluhhan presence and adoption of Meluhhan Indus Script cipher, with rebus-metonymy renderings of cyphertexts as hieroglyph-complexes.
Referencies
[1] Bernard, V. - Callot, O. - Salles, J.-F. 1999: Al-Qusur church at Failaka, State of Kuwait, 1989. Original report translated to Arabic by Khaloud Al-Salem.
[2] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 200
[3] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 248 sqq.
[4] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 248, 251
[5] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 254, 332
[6] Callot, O. - Calvet, Y. 1999: Preliminary report on the topographical mission at Failaka, Kuwait (February 26 - March 25 1999). Unpublished report, NCCAL.
[7] Calvet, Y. - Pic, M. 1986: Un nouveau batiment de l'age du bronze sur le tell F6. In: Calvet, Y. - Salles, J.-F. (sous la dir.): Failaka. Fouilles Françaises 1984 - 1985. Lyon - Paris, 13-87.
[8] Calvet, Y. - Pic, M. 1990: Un temple-tour de l'age du bronze a Failaka. In: Calvet, Y. - Gachet, J. (sous la dir.): Failaka. Fouilles Françaises 1986 - 1988. Lyon - Paris, 103-122.
[1] Bernard, V. - Callot, O. - Salles, J.-F. 1999: Al-Qusur church at Failaka, State of Kuwait, 1989. Original report translated to Arabic by Khaloud Al-Salem.
[2] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 200
[3] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 248 sqq.
[4] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 248, 251
[5] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. New York, 254, 332
[6] Callot, O. - Calvet, Y. 1999: Preliminary report on the topographical mission at Failaka, Kuwait (February 26 - March 25 1999). Unpublished report, NCCAL.
[7] Calvet, Y. - Pic, M. 1986: Un nouveau batiment de l'age du bronze sur le tell F6. In: Calvet, Y. - Salles, J.-F. (sous la dir.): Failaka. Fouilles Françaises 1984 - 1985. Lyon - Paris, 13-87.
[8] Calvet, Y. - Pic, M. 1990: Un temple-tour de l'age du bronze a Failaka. In: Calvet, Y. - Gachet, J. (sous la dir.): Failaka. Fouilles Françaises 1986 - 1988. Lyon - Paris, 103-122.
Research Notes--The Middle Asian Interaction Sphere (Gregory Possehl, 2007, Expedition, Vol. 49, No. 1, Spring 2007)
The Copper Hoards of Northern India Paul Yule, 1997, Copper hoards of northern India, Expedition, Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring 1997)
The Indus Civilization and Dilmun, the Sumerian Paradise Land Samuel Noah Kramer, 1964, Expedition, Vol. 6, No. 3, Spring 1964)
The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjo-daro (George F. Dales, 1964, Expedition, Vol. 6, No. 3, Spring 1964)
Shipping and Maritime Trade of the Indus People (S. R. Rao, 1965, Expedition,Vol.7, No. 3, Spring 1965)
The Ganga-Yamuna Basin in the First Millennium B.C. (Vimala S. Begley, Expedition Volume 9, Number 1 Fall 1966)
South Asia's Earliest Writing--Still Undeciphered (George F. Dales, Expedition Volume 9, Number 4 Summer 1967)
The Early Bronze Age of Iran as Seen from Tepe Yahya (C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky and Philip L. Kohl, Expedition Volume 13, Number 3 - 4 Spring/Summer 1971)
Aspects of Elamite Art and Archaeology (Edith Porada, Expedition Volume 13, Number 3 - 4 Spring/Summer 1971)
Iran--Eleven Thousand Years of Cultural History Robert H. Dyson, Jr. Expedition Volume 13, Number 3 - 4 Spring/Summer 1971)
Iran, 9000-4000 B.C.--The Neolithic Philip E. L. SmithExpedition Volume 13, Number 3 - 4 Spring/Summer 1971)
An Early Farmers' Village in Central India H. D. Sankalia, Z. D. Ansari, and M. K. Dhavalikar Expedition Volume 17, Number 2 Winter 1975
Origins of Bronze Age Cultures in the Indus Basin--A Geographic Perspective Ahmad Hasan Dani Expedition Volume 17, Number 2 Winter 1975
Kalibangan--A Harappan Metropolis Beyond the Indus Valley B. K. Thapar Expedition Volume 17, Number 2 Winter 1975
The Chronology of Gabarbands and Palas in Western South Asia Gregory L. Possehl Expedition Volume 17, Number 2 Winter 1975
University Museum-Thai Fine Arts Department Northeast Thailand Archaeological Project: Introduction
James D. Muhly Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
James D. Muhly Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
Ban Chiang--A Mosaic of Impressions from the First Two Years
Chester Gorman and Pisit Charoenwongsa Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
Chester Gorman and Pisit Charoenwongsa Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
Archaeological Survey and Excavation of Ban Chiang Culture Sites in Northeast Thailand
William Schauffler Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
William Schauffler Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
The Techniques of the Early Thai Metalsmith
Tamara Stech Wheeler and Robert Maddin Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
Tamara Stech Wheeler and Robert Maddin Expedition Volume 18, Number 4 Summer 1976
Shell Working at Ancient Balakot, Pakistan
George F. Dales and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Expedition Volume 19, Number 2 Winter 1976
George F. Dales and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Expedition Volume 19, Number 2 Winter 1976
Tin in the Ancient Near East--Old Questions and New Finds
Robert Maddin, Tamara Stech Wheeler, and James D. Muhly Expedition Volume 19, Number 2 Winter 1976
Robert Maddin, Tamara Stech Wheeler, and James D. Muhly Expedition Volume 19, Number 2 Winter 1976
Special Issue: Ur
Cover: Photo by William Clough. Gaming board of shell and lapis lazuli from RT. 580 in the Royal Cemetery, now in the University Museum.
Cover: Photo by William Clough. Gaming board of shell and lapis lazuli from RT. 580 in the Royal Cemetery, now in the University Museum.
Features
[Special Issue Introduction]
[Special Issue Introduction]
Recollections of C. Leonard Woolley
Sir Max Mallowan, C.B.E.
Sir Max Mallowan, C.B.E.
Archival Glimpses of the Ur Expedition in the Years 1920 to 1926
Selected by Robert H. Dyson, Jr.
Selected by Robert H. Dyson, Jr.
What Do We Know About the People Buried in the Royal Cemetery?
P. R. S. Moorey
P. R. S. Moorey
The Ur Excavations and Sumerian Literature
Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer
Cambay Beadmaking--An Ancient Craft in Modern India
Gregory L. Possehl Expedition Volume 23, Number 4 Summer 1981
Gregory L. Possehl Expedition Volume 23, Number 4 Summer 1981
Early Tin in the Near East--A Reassessment in the Light of New Evidence from Western Afghanistan
Serge Cleuziou and Thierry Berthoud Expedition Volume 25, Number 1 Fall 1982
Serge Cleuziou and Thierry Berthoud Expedition Volume 25, Number 1 Fall 1982
Cattle and the Harappan Chiefdoms of the Indus Valley
Walter Fairservis, Jr. Expedition Volume 28, Number 2 Summer 1986
Walter Fairservis, Jr. Expedition Volume 28, Number 2 Summer 1986
Artisans and Archaeologists--A Special Section on the Study of Crafts in India
Lee Horne Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
Lee Horne Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
The Brasscasters of Dariapur, West Bengal--Artisans in a Changing World
Lee Horne Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
Lee Horne Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
Modern Statues and Traditional Methods--A Casting Workshop in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, Northwest India
Chandra L. Reedy Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
Chandra L. Reedy Expedition Volume 29, Number 3 Winter 1987
Temples Along the Indus
Michael W. Meister Expedition Volume 38, Number 3 Winter 1996
Michael W. Meister Expedition Volume 38, Number 3 Winter 1996
Discovery of a New Temple on the Indus
Michael W. Meister, with Abdur Rehman and Farid Khan Expedition Volume 42, Number 1 Spring 2000
Kalighat Paintings from Nineteenth Century Calcutta in Maxwell Sommerville's "Ethnological East Indian Collection"Michael W. Meister, with Abdur Rehman and Farid Khan Expedition Volume 42, Number 1 Spring 2000
Pika Ghosh Expedition Volume 42, Number 3 Winter 2000
The Multiple Landscapes of Vijayanagara--From the Mythic and the Ritual to the Kingly and the Common
Alexandra Mack Expedition Volume 46, Number 2 Summer 2004
Re-Orienting Yoga
Sarah Strauss Expedition Volume 46, Number 3 Winter 2004
Indus Script hieroglyph 'twisted rope' on 14 Ancient Near East seals/artifacts deciphered, linked to Dhā̆rvā̆ḍ iron-ore town Karnataka, India
'Twisted rope' which is identified as an Indus Script hieroglyph is signified on the following 14 artifacts of Ancient Near East, dated from ca. 2400 to 1650 BCE:
Bogazkoy seal impression with 'twisted rope' hieroglyph (Fig. 13) eruvai 'kite' dula 'pair' eraka 'wing' Rebus: eruvai dul 'copper cast metal' eraka'moltencast' PLUS dhāu 'strand of rope' Rebus: dhāv 'red ore' (ferrite) ti-dhāu 'three strands' Rebus: ti-dhāv 'three ferrite ores: magnetite, hematite, laterite'.https://tinyurl.com/yafwo3lq
लोखंड lōkhaṇḍa 'metalware', मुँह mũh 'ingot' of Candi Sukuh, Candi Ceto linga; रसायन 'alchemist, name of Garuḍa',are Indus Script Hypertexts.
The word ‘Sukuh’ means ‘to go to war, go on a military expedition, wage war on, attack'. Candi Sukuh and Candi Ceto are temples -- divine blessings of pitr̥-s for a military expedition supported by metal armour produced by artisans of Candi Sukuh & Candi Ceto smithy-forge. kole.l 'smithy, forge' is kole.l'temple' (Kota language).
श्येन m. a hawk , falcon , eagle , any bird of prey (esp. the eagle that brings down सोम to man) RV. (Monier-Williams). This words is expanded in the expression: aśáni f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ RV., °nī -- f. ŚBr. [Cf. áśan -- m. ʻ sling -- stone ʼ RV.] Pa. asanī -- f. ʻ thunderbolt, lightning ʼ, asana -- n. ʻ stone ʼ; Pk. asaṇi -- m.f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ; Ash. ašĩˊ ʻ hail ʼ, Wg. ašē˜ˊ, Pr. īšĩ, Bashg. "azhir", Dm. ašin, Paš. ášen, Shum. äˊšin, Gaw. išín, Bshk. ašun, Savi išin, Phal. ã̄šun, L. (Jukes) ahin, awāṇ. &circmacrepsilon;n (both with n, not ṇ), P. āhiṇ, f., āhaṇ, aihaṇ m.f., WPah. bhad. ã̄ṇ, bhal. ´tildemacrepsilon;hiṇi f., N. asino, pl. °nā; Si. sena, heṇa ʻ thunderbolt ʼ Geiger GS 34, but the expected form would be *ā̤n; -- Sh. aĩyĕˊr f. ʻ hail ʼ (X ?). -- For ʻ stone ʼ > ʻ hailstone ʼ cf.upala -- and A. xil s.v. śilā (CDIAL 910) A thunder-bolt maker is: ahan-gār अहन्-गार् (= آهن āhan, s.m. (9th) Iron. Sing. and Pl. آهن ګر āhan gar, s.m. (5th) A smith, a blacksmith. Pl. آهن ګران āhan-garān. آهن ربا āhan-rubā, s.f. (6th) The magnet or loadstone. (E.) Sing. and Pl.); (W.) Pl. آهن رباوي āhan-rubāwī. See اوسپنه .(Pashto). Such a blacksmith, maker of thunderbolt is shown as an anthropomorphic representation on a silver axe with two heads of 'falcons; dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'; thus, the hieroglyph/hypertext signifies a thunderblt jmetal caster; the associated hieroglyphs to signify metalwork are: kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron' ; baḍhia = a castrated boar, a hog; rebus: baḍhi 'a caste who work both in iron and wood':
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लोखंड lōkhaṇḍa 'metalware', मुँह mũh 'ingot' of Candi Sukuh, Candi Ceto linga; रसायन 'alchemist, name of Garuḍa',are Indus Script Hypertexts.
The word ‘Sukuh’ means ‘to go to war, go on a military expedition, wage war on, attack'. Candi Sukuh and Candi Ceto are temples -- divine blessings of pitr̥-s for a military expedition supported by metal armour produced by artisans of Candi Sukuh & Candi Ceto smithy-forge. kole.l 'smithy, forge' is kole.l'temple' (Kota language).
श्येन m. a hawk , falcon , eagle , any bird of prey (esp. the eagle that brings down सोम to man) RV. (Monier-Williams). This words is expanded in the expression: aśáni f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ RV., °nī -- f. ŚBr. [Cf. áśan -- m. ʻ sling -- stone ʼ RV.] Pa. asanī -- f. ʻ thunderbolt, lightning ʼ, asana -- n. ʻ stone ʼ; Pk. asaṇi -- m.f. ʻ thunderbolt ʼ; Ash. ašĩˊ ʻ hail ʼ, Wg. ašē˜ˊ, Pr. īšĩ, Bashg. "azhir", Dm. ašin, Paš. ášen, Shum. äˊšin, Gaw. išín, Bshk. ašun, Savi išin, Phal. ã̄šun, L. (Jukes) ahin, awāṇ. &circmacrepsilon;n (both with n, not ṇ), P. āhiṇ, f., āhaṇ, aihaṇ m.f., WPah. bhad. ã̄ṇ, bhal. ´tildemacrepsilon;hiṇi f., N. asino, pl. °nā; Si. sena, heṇa ʻ thunderbolt ʼ Geiger GS 34, but the expected form would be *ā̤n; -- Sh. aĩyĕˊr f. ʻ hail ʼ (X ?). -- For ʻ stone ʼ > ʻ hailstone ʼ cf.
Shaft-hole axhead with a bird-headed demon, boar,and dragon, late 3rd–early 2nd millennium BCE Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana) Silver, gold foil; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm) Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fig. 1 First cylinder seal-impressed jar from Taip 1, Turkmenistan
Fig. 2 Hematite cylinder seal of Old Syria ca. 1820-1730 BCE
Fig. 3 Hematite seal. Old Syria. ca. 1720-1650 BCE
Fig. 4 Cylinder seal modern impression. Mitanni. 2nd millennium BCE
Fig. 5 Cylinder seal modern impression. Old Syria. ca. 1720-1650 BCE
Fig. 6 Cylinder seal. Mitanni. 2nd millennium BCE
Fig. 7 Stone cylinder seal. Old Syria ca. 1720-1650 BCE
Fig. 8 Hematite cylinder seal. Old Syria. ca. early 2nd millennium BCE
Fig. 9 Fragment of an Iranian Chlorite Vase. 2500-2400 BCE
Fig.10 Shahdad standard. ca. 2400 BCE Line drawing
Fig.11 Cylinder seal. 2 seated lions. Twisted rope. Louvre AO7296Fig.
12 Cylinder seal. Sumerian. 18th cent. BCE. Louvre AO 22366
Fig.13 Bogazkoy Seal impression ca. 18th cent. BCE
Fig.14 Dudu plaque.Votive bas-relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu in the time of Entemena, prince of Lagash, ca. 2400 BCE Tello (ancient Girsu)
The orthography of the 'twisted rope' is characterised by an endless twist, sometimes signified with three strands of the rope.
Meluhha rebus-metonymy Indus Script cipher on all the 14 seals/artifacts is:
Hieroglyph: ti-dhAtu 'three strands' Rebus: ti-dhAtu 'three red stone ores: magnetite, hematite, laterite'.
The three ores are: poLa 'magnetite', bica 'hematite', goTa 'laterite'. The hieroglyphs signifying these mineral ores are: poLa 'zebu', bica 'scorpion' goTa 'round object or seed'.
Some associated hieroglyphs on the 14 seals/artifacts are:
Hieroglyph: poLa 'zebu' Rebus: poLa 'magnetite' (Fig.1)
Hieroglyph: bica 'scorpion' Rebus: bica 'hematite' (Fig.4)
Hieroglyph: karaNDava 'aquatic bird' Rebus: karaDa 'hard alloy'. (Fig.7)
Hieroglyph: kuThAru 'monkey' Rebus: kuThAru 'armourer'. (Fig.2)
Hieroglyph: arye 'lion' (Akkadian) Rebus: arA 'brass'. (Fig.2)
Hieroglyph: eruvai 'kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'. (Fig.13)
Hieroglyph: eraka 'wing' Rebus: eraka 'moltencast copper'. (Fig.14)
Hieroglyph: dhangar 'bull' Rebus: dhangar 'blacksmith' (Fig.2)
Hieroglyph: ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin'. (Fig.4)
Hieroglyph: kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy/forge' (Fig.1)
Hieroglyph: dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'. (Fig.3)
The semantic elaboration of dhāv 'a red stone ore' is identified in the gloss: dhā̆vaḍ 'iron-smelters'. There is a place-name in Karnataka called dhā̆rvā̆ḍ
The suffix -vā̆ḍ in the place-name is also explained in the context of ‘rope’ hieroglyph: vaṭa2 ʻ string ʼ lex. [Prob. ← Drav. Tam. vaṭam, Kan. vaṭi, vaṭara, &c. DED 4268] vaṭa- string, rope, tie; vaṭāraka-, vaṭākara-, varāṭaka- cord, string(DEDR 5220).
Dhā̆rvā̆ḍ is an ancient major trading down dealing -- even today -- with iron ore and mineral-belt of Sahyadri mountain ranges in western Karnataka. The word dhāv is derived from dhātu which has two meanings: 'strand of rope' (Rigveda)(hieroglyph) and 'mineral' (metalwork ciphertext of Indian sprachbund.)
I suggest that Shahdad which has a standard of ca. 2400 BCE with the 'twisted rope' hieroglyph -- and hence dealing with ferrote ores (magnetite, hematite, laterite) -- should be recognized as a twin iron-ore town of Dhā̆rvā̆ḍ It is hypothesised that further archaeometallurgical researchers into ancient iron ore mines of Dhā̆rvā̆ḍ region are likely to show possible with an archaeological settlement of Sarasvati_Sindhu civilization: Daimabad from where a seal was discovered showing the most-frequently used Indus Script hieroglyph: rim of jar.
Daimabad seal. Rim of jar hieroglyph. karNI 'rim of jar' Rebus: karNI 'supercargo', karNIka 'scribe'.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)
Fig. 1 First cylinder seal-impressed jar from Taip 1, Turkmenistan
(Photo: Kohl 1984: Pl. 15c; drawings after Collon 1987: nos. 600, 599. (After Fig. 5 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
(Photo: Kohl 1984: Pl. 15c; drawings after Collon 1987: nos. 600, 599. (After Fig. 5 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
Decipherment of Indus Script hieroglyphs:
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.
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Fig. 2 Hematite cylinder seal of Old Syria ca. 1820-1730 BCE
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Fig. 3 Hematite seal. Old Syria. ca. 1720-1650 BCE
![Cylinder seal and modern impression: male and griffin demon slaying animal; terminal: animal attack scenes, guilloche]()
![Cylinder seal and modern impression: royal figures approaching weather god; divinities]()
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Fig. 7 Stone cylinder seal. Old Syria ca. 1720-1650 BCE
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The Sumerian/Akkadian word sanga, is a loan from Proto-Prakritam or Meluhha of Indian sprachbund. saṁghapati m. ʻ chief of a brotherhood ʼ Śatr. [saṁghá -- , páti -- ]G. saṅghvī m. ʻ leader of a body of pilgrims, a partic. surname ʼ.(CDIAL 12857) saṁghá m. ʻ association, a community ʼ Mn. [√han 1 ]
Pa. saṅgha -- m. ʻ assembly, the priesthood ʼ; Aś. saṁgha -- m. ʻ the Buddhist community ʼ; Pk. saṁgha -- m. ʻ assembly, collection ʼ; OSi. (Brāhmī inscr.) saga, Si. san̆ga ʻ crowd, collection ʼ. -- Rather <saṅga -- : S. saṅgu m. ʻ body of pilgrims ʼ (whence sã̄go m. ʻ caravan ʼ), L. P. saṅg m. (CDIAL 12854).
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kōla = woman (Nahali) Rebus: kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five
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kuṭi ‘tree’. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter’ (Santali). The two trees are shown ligatured to
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Santali glosses
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Twisted rope as hieroglyph on a plaque.
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This hieroglyph-multiplex seen on a cylinder seal is deciphered: Hieroglyph: ti-dhātu 'three-strands of rope' Rebus: ti-dhāū, ti-dhāv; dula 'pair' Rebus: dul ''cast metal' PLUS arye 'lion' Rebus: Ara 'brass' (which may be an alloy of copper, zinc and tin minerals and/or arsenopyrites including ferrous ore elements). Thus, the hieoglyph-multiplex composition signifies dul Ara 'cast brass alloy' of ti-dhātu 'three minerals'.
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m1406 Seal using three-stranded rope: dhAtu Rebus: iron ore.
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Located on the Map of India are regions with Fe (Iron ore) mines: the locations include Dharwad and Ib.
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The station derives its name from Ib River flowing nearby. Ib railway station came up with the opening of the Nagpur-Asansol main line of Bengal Nagpur Railway in 1891. It became a station on the crosscountry Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line in 1900 In 1900, when Bengal Nagpur Railway was building a bridge across the Ib River, coal was accidentally discovered in what later became Ib Valley Coalfield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ib_railway_station![]()
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This etymon indicates the possible reading of the tall flagpost carried by kneeling persons with six locks of hair: baTa 'six' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. Associated with nAga 'serpent' Rebus: nAga 'lead'
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Situated at the end of a small delta on a dry plain, Shahdad was excavated by an Iranian team in the 1970s. (Courtesy Maurizio Tosi) ![]()
An Iranian-Italian team, including archaeologist Massimo Vidale (right), surveyed the site in 2009. (Courtesy Massimo Vidale) The peripatetic English explorer Sir Aurel Stein, famous for his archaeological work surveying large swaths of Central Asia and the Middle East, slipped into Persia at the end of 1915 and found the first hints of eastern Iran's lost cities. Stein traversed what he described as "a big stretch of gravel and sandy desert" and encountered "the usual...robber bands from across the Afghan border, without any exciting incident." What did excite Stein was the discovery of what he called "the most surprising prehistoric site" on the eastern edge of the Dasht-e Lut. Locals called it Shahr-i-Sokhta ("Burnt City") because of signs of ancient destruction. It wasn't until a half-century later that Tosi and his team hacked their way through the thick salt crust and discovered a metropolis rivaling those of the first great urban centers in Mesopotamia and the Indus. Radiocarbon data showed that the site was founded around 3200 B.C., just as the first substantial cities in Mesopotamia were being built, and flourished for more than a thousand years. During its heyday in the middle of the third millennium B.C., the city covered more than 150 hectares and may have been home to more than 20,000 people, perhaps as populous as the large cities of Umma in Mesopotamia and Mohenjo-Daro on the Indus River. A vast shallow lake and wells likely provided the necessary water, allowing for cultivated fields and grazing for animals. Built of mudbrick, the city boasted a large palace, separate neighborhoods for pottery-making, metalworking, and other industrial activities, and distinct areas for the production of local goods. Most residents lived in modest one-room houses, though some were larger compounds with six to eight rooms. Bags of goods and storerooms were often "locked" with stamp seals, a procedure common in Mesopotamia in the era. Shahr-i-Sokhta boomed as the demand for precious goods among elites in the region and elsewhere grew. Though situated in inhospitable terrain, the city was close to tin, copper, and turquoise mines, and lay on the route bringing lapis lazuli from Afghanistan to the west. Craftsmen worked shells from the Persian Gulf, carnelian from India, and local metals such as tin and copper. Some they made into finished products, and others were exported in unfinished form. Lapis blocks brought from the Hindu Kush mountains, for example, were cut into smaller chunks and sent on to Mesopotamia and as far west as Syria. Unworked blocks of lapis weighing more than 100 pounds in total were unearthed in the ruined palace of Ebla, close to the Mediterranean Sea. Archaeologist Massimo Vidale of the University of Padua says that the elites in eastern Iranian cities like Shahr-i-Sokhta were not simply slaves to Mesopotamian markets. They apparently kept the best-quality lapis for themselves, and sent west what they did not want. Lapis beads found in the royal tombs of Ur, for example, are intricately carved, but of generally low-quality stone compared to those of Shahr-i-Sokhta. Pottery was produced on a massive scale. Nearly 100 kilns were clustered in one part of town and the craftspeople also had a thriving textile industry. Hundreds of wooden spindle whorls and combs were uncovered, as were well-preserved textile fragments made of goat hair and wool that show a wide variation in their weave. According to Irene Good, a specialist in ancient textiles at Oxford University, this group of textile fragments constitutes one of the most important in the world, given their great antiquity and the insight they provide into an early stage of the evolution of wool production. Textiles were big business in the third millennium B.C., according to Mesopotamian texts, but actual textiles from this era had never before been found.![]()
A metal flag found at Shahdad, one of eastern Iran's early urban sites, dates to around 2400 B.C. The flag depicts a man and woman facing each other, one of the recurrent themes in the region's art at this time. (Courtesy Maurizio Tosi) ![]()
This plain ceramic jar, found recently at Shahdad, contains residue of a white cosmetic whose complex formula is evidence for an extensive knowledge of chemistry among the city's ancient inhabitants. (Courtesy Massimo Vidale) The artifacts also show the breadth of Shahr-i-Sokhta's connections. Some excavated red-and-black ceramics share traits with those found in the hills and steppes of distant Turkmenistan to the north, while others are similar to pots made in Pakistan to the east, then home to the Indus civilization. Tosi's team found a clay tablet written in a script called Proto-Elamite, which emerged at the end of the fourth millennium B.C., just after the advent of the first known writing system, cuneiform, which evolved in Mesopotamia. Other such tablets and sealings with Proto-Elamite signs have also been found in eastern Iran, such as at Tepe Yahya. This script was used for only a few centuries starting around 3200 B.C. and may have emerged in Susa, just east of Mesopotamia. By the middle of the third millennium B.C., however, it was no longer in use. Most of the eastern Iranian tablets record simple transactions involving sheep, goats, and grain and could have been used to keep track of goods in large households. While Tosi's team was digging at Shahr-i-Sokhta, Iranian archaeologist Ali Hakemi was working at another site, Shahdad, on the western side of the Dasht-e Lut. This settlement emerged as early as the fifth millennium B.C. on a delta at the edge of the desert. By the early third millennium B.C., Shahdad began to grow quickly as international trade with Mesopotamia expanded. Tomb excavations revealed spectacular artifacts amid stone blocks once painted in vibrant colors. These include several extraordinary, nearly life-size clay statues placed with the dead. The city's artisans worked lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise, and other materials imported from as far away as eastern Afghanistan, as well as shells from the distant Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Evidence shows that ancient Shahdad had a large metalworking industry by this time. During a recent survey, a new generation of archaeologists found a vast hill—nearly 300 feet by 300 feet—covered with slag from smelting copper. Vidale says that analysis of the copper ore suggests that the smiths were savvy enough to add a small amount of arsenic in the later stages of the process to strengthen the final product. Shahdad's metalworkers also created such remarkable artifacts as a metal flag dating to about 2400 B.C. Mounted on a copper pole topped with a bird, perhaps an eagle, the squared flag depicts two figures facing one another on a rich background of animals, plants, and goddesses. The flag has no parallels and its use is unknown. Vidale has also found evidence of a sweet-smelling nature. During a spring 2009 visit to Shahdad, he discovered a small stone container lying on the ground. The vessel, which appears to date to the late fourth millennium B.C., was made of chlorite, a dark soft stone favored by ancient artisans in southeast Iran. Using X-ray diffraction at an Iranian lab, he discovered lead carbonate—used as a white cosmetic—sealed in the bottom of the jar. He identified fatty material that likely was added as a binder, as well as traces of coumarin, a fragrant chemical compound found in plants and used in some perfumes. Further analysis showed small traces of copper, possibly the result of a user dipping a small metal applicator into the container. Other sites in eastern Iran are only now being investigated. For the past two years, Iranian archaeologists Hassan Fazeli Nashli and Hassain Ali Kavosh from the University of Tehran have been digging in a small settlement a few miles east of Shahdad called Tepe Graziani, named for the Italian archaeologist who first surveyed the site. They are trying to understand the role of the city's outer settlements by examining this ancient mound, which is 30 feet high, 525 feet wide, and 720 feet long. Excavators have uncovered a wealth of artifacts including a variety of small sculptures depicting crude human figures, humped bulls, and a Bactrian camel dating to approximately 2900 B.C. A bronze mirror, fishhooks, daggers, and pins are among the metal finds. There are also wooden combs that survived in the arid climate. "The site is small but very rich," says Fazeli, adding that it may have been a prosperous suburban production center for Shahdad. Sites such as Shahdad and Shahr-i-Sokhta and their suburbs were not simply islands of settlements in what otherwise was empty desert. Fazeli adds that some 900 Bronze Age sites have been found on the Sistan plain, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mortazavi, meanwhile, has been examining the area around the Bampur Valley, in Iran's extreme southeast. This area was a corridor between the Iranian plateau and the Indus Valley, as well as between Shahr-i-Sokhta to the north and the Persian Gulf to the south. A 2006 survey along the Damin River identified 19 Bronze Age sites in an area of less than 20 square miles. That river periodically vanishes, and farmers depend on underground channels called qanats to transport water. Despite the lack of large rivers, ancient eastern Iranians were very savvy in marshaling their few water resources. Using satellite remote sensing data, Vidale has found remains of what might be ancient canals or qanats around Shahdad, but more work is necessary to understand how inhabitants supported themselves in this harsh climate 5,000 years ago, as they still do today.
Fig. 2 Hematite cylinder seal of Old Syria ca. 1820-1730 BCE
Period: Old Syrian
Date: ca. 1820–1730 B.C.E
Geography: Syria
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H. 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm); Diam. 1/2 in. (1.2 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.142 Metmuseum
Fig. 3 Hematite seal. Old Syria. ca. 1720-1650 BCE
Period: Old Syrian
Date: ca. 1720–1650 B.C.E
Geography: Syria
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H. 15/16 in. (2.4 cm); Diam. 3/8 in. (1 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.155 Metmuseum
Fig. 4 Cylinder seal modern impression. Mitanni. 2nd millennium BCE
(male and griffin demon slaying animal; terminal: animal attack scenes, guilloche)
Period: Mitanni
Date: 2nd millennium B.C.E
Geography: Mesopotamia or Syria
Culture: Mitanni
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H. 13/16 in. (2 cm); Diam. 7/16 in. (1.1 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.165 Metmuseum
Fig. 5 Cylinder seal modern impression. Old Syria. ca. 1720-1650 BCE
(royal figures approaching weather god; divinities)
Period: Old Syrian
Date: ca. 1720–1650 B.C.E
Geography: Syria
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H, 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm); Diam. 7/16 in. (1.1 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.147 Metmuseum
Fig. 6 Cylinder seal. Mitanni. 2nd millennium BCE
Period: Mitanni
Date: ca. late 2nd millennium B.C.E
Geography: Mesopotamia or Syria
Culture: Mitanni
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H. 1 in. (2.6 cm); Diam. 1/2 in. (1.2 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.190 Metmuseum
Fig. 7 Stone cylinder seal. Old Syria ca. 1720-1650 BCE
Period: Old Syrian
Date: ca. 1720–1650 B.C.
Geography: Syria
Medium: Stone
Dimensions: H. 1.9 cm x Diam. 1.1 cm
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Bequest of W. Gedney Beatty, 1941
Accession Number: 41.160.189 Metmuseum
Fig. 8 Hematite cylinder seal. Old Syria. ca. early 2nd millennium BCE
Period: Old Syrian
Date: ca. early 2nd millennium B.C.E
Geography: Syria
Medium: Hematite
Dimensions: H. 11/16 in. (1.7 cm); Diam. 5/16 in. (0.8 cm)
Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals
Credit Line: Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999
Accession Number: 1999.325.161 Metmuseum
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- Fig. 9 Fragment of an Iranian Chlorite Vase. 2500-2400 BCE
- Decorated with the lion headed eagle (Imdugud) found in the temple of Ishtar during the 1933 - 1934 fieldwork by Parrot. Dated 2500 - 2400 BCE. Louvre Museum collection AO 17553.
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Fig. 10 Shahdad standard. ca. 2400 BCE Line drawing![]()
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Fig. 11 Cylinder seal. 2 seated lions. Twisted rope. Louvre AO7296
Fig. 11 Cylinder seal. 2 seated lions. Twisted rope. Louvre AO7296
Fig.12 Cylinder seal. Sumerian. 18th cent. BCE. Louvre AO 22366
Fig. 13 Bogazkoy Seal impression ca. 18th cent. BCE
(Two-headed eagle, a twisted cord below. From Bogazköy . 18th c. BCE (Museum Ankara).
Fig. 13 Bogazkoy Seal impression Decipherment:
eruvai 'kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper' dhAtu 'strands of rope' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral' (Note the three strands of the rope hieroglyph on the seal impression from Bogazkoy; it is read: tridhAtu 'three mineral elements'). It signifies copper compound of three minerals; maybe, arsenic copper? or arsenic bronze, as distinct from tin bronze?
Sulfide deposits frequently are a mix of different metal sulfides, such as copper, zinc, silver, lead, arsenic and other metals. (Sphalerite (ZnS2), for example, is not uncommon in copper sulfide deposits, and the metal smelted would be brass, which is both harder and more durable than bronze.)The metals could theoretically be separated out, but the alloys resulting were typically much stronger than the metals individually.
| Ore name | Chemical formula |
|---|---|
| Arsenopyrite | FeAsS |
| Enargite | Cu3AsS4 |
| Olivenite | Cu2(AsO4)OH |
| Tennantite | Cu12As4S13 |
| Malachite | Cu2(OH)2CO3 |
| Azurite | Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2 |
Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/nuceor7
Dudu plaque ca. 2400 BCE signifies sanga of Ningirsu.
Shahdad standard ca. 2400 BCE signifies dhāvaḍ 'iron-smelters'. (Note: the gloss explains the place name Dharwar close to the iron ore mines in Deccan Plateau of India).
The continuum of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization in an extensive civilizational contact area from 3rd millennium BCE and the metalwork competence of Bhāratam Janam is explained by this link of Dharwar city of Karnataka to the artifacts of over 4000 years Before Present found in Ancient Near East (Sumer/Elam/Mesopotamia). This is a moment for celebration of Dharwar and Shahdad as twin cities from ancient Bronze Age times.
Both artifacts -- Dudu plaque and Shahdad standard -- signify a three-stranded twisted rope hieroglyph, (together with other metalwork signifying hieroglyphs). The hieroglyph-multiplexes on both artifacts signify workers with tridhātu 'three minerals (metals of soft red stones)'.
These inscribed artifacts herald a Bronze Age advance into the Iron Age of Ancient Iran. The language used to render the Indus Script cipher is Proto-Prakritam. No wonder, speakers of Proto-Prakritam were present in Ancient Iran.
sanga 'priest' is a loanword in Sumerian/Akkadian. The presence of such a sanga may also explain Gudea as an Assur, in the tradition of ancient metalworkers speaking Proto-Prakritam of Indian sprachbund.
The Sumerian/Akkadian word sanga, is a loan from Proto-Prakritam or Meluhha of Indian sprachbund. saṁghapati m. ʻ chief of a brotherhood ʼ Śatr. [
Pa. saṅgha -- m. ʻ assembly, the priesthood ʼ; Aś. saṁgha -- m. ʻ the Buddhist community ʼ; Pk. saṁgha -- m. ʻ assembly, collection ʼ; OSi. (Brāhmī inscr.) saga, Si. san̆ga ʻ crowd, collection ʼ. -- Rather <
dhātu (f.) [Sk. dhātu to dadhāti, Idg. *dhē, cp. Gr. ti/qhmi, a)na/ -- qhma , Sk. dhāman, dhāṭr (=Lat. conditor); Goth. gadēds; Ohg. tāt, tuom (in meaning -- ˚=dhātu, cp. E. serf -- dom "condition of . . .") tuon=E. to do; & with k -- suffix Lat. facio, Gr. (e)/ )qhk (a ), Sk. dhāka; see also dhamma] element... -- kusala skilled in the elements M iii. 62; ˚kusalatā proficiency in the (18) elements D iii. 212; Dhs 1333; -- ghara "house for a relic," a dagoba SnA 194. -- cetiya a shrine over a relic DhA iii. 29 (Pali)
Ti˚ [Vedic tris, Av. priś, Gr. tri/s , Lat. ter (fr. ters>*tris, cp. testis>*tristo, trecenti>*tricenti), Icl. prisvar, Ohg. driror] base of numeral three in compn ; consisting of three, threefold; in numerical cpds. also= three (3 times)...-- vidha 3 fold, of sacrifice (yañña) D i. 128, 134, 143; of aggi (fire) J i. 4 & Miln 97; Vism 147 (˚kalyāṇatā). (Pali)
Hieroglyph: 'three strands of rope': tridhāˊtu -- ʻ threefold ʼ RV (CDIAL 6283) ti-dhātu (Proto-Prakritam, Meluhha) signifies three elements (minerals of 'soft red stones').The Meluhha glosses: dhāū, dhāv connote a soft red stone. (See cognate etyma of Indian sprachbund appended).
I suggest that the 'twist' hieroglyphs on Dudu plaque and on Shahdad standard signify ti-dhātu 'three strands of rope' Rebus: ti-dhātu 'three minerals'. The dhā- suffix signifies 'elements, minerals': dhāvaḍ 'iron-smelters'. dhāvḍī ʻcomposed of or relating to ironʼ. Thus, the hieroglyph 'twist' is signified by the Proto-Prakritam gloss: ti-dhātu semantically 'three metal/mineral elements.' Thus Dudu, sanga of Ningirsu and the sanga 'priest' shown on Shahdad standard can be identified as dhāvaḍ 'iron (metal)-smelters'.
This decipherment is consistent with other hieroglyphs shown the Dudu plaque and on Shahdad standard.
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Location of Lagash. At the time of Hammurabi, Lagash was located near the shoreline of the gulf.
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Location of Shahdad
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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![]()
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The upper section of the Shahdad Standard, grave No. 114, Object No. 1049 (p.24)
Location of Lagash. 
Location of Shahdad
Oldest standard in the world. Shahdad standard, 2400 BCE (
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)
eruvai 'kite' Rebus:eruvai 'copper'
dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'
arya 'lion' (Akkadian) Rebus: Ara 'brass'
kul, kOla 'tiger' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'
poLa 'zebu' Rebus: poLa 'magnetite'
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,
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.)
If the date palm denotes tamar (Hebrew language), ‘palm tree, date palm’ the rebus reading would be: tam(b)ra, ‘copper’ (Pkt.)
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.
Hieroglyph: BHSk. gaṇḍa -- m. ʻ piece, part ʼ(CDIAL 3791)
Hieroglyph: Paš. lauṛ. khaṇḍā ʻ cultivated field ʼ, °ḍī ʻ small do. ʼ (→ Par. kheṇ ʻ field ʼ IIFL i 265); Gaw. khaṇḍa ʻ hill pasture ʼ (see also bel.)(CDIAL 3792)
Rebus: khaṇḍa 'implements'
Santali glossesGlyph 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.![]()
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.
Twisted 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).
![File:Relief Dudu Louvre AO2394.jpg]()
- Votive relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu, in the days of King Entemena of Lagash.
- Mésopotamie, room 1a: La Mésopotamie du Néolithique à l'époque des Dynasties archaïques de Sumer. Richelieu, ground floor.
This work is part of the collections of the Louvre (Department of Near Eastern Antiquities).Louvre Museum: excavated by Ernest de Sarzec. Place: Girsu (modern city of Telloh, Iraq). Musée du Louvre, Atlas database: entry 11378 Votive relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu, in the days of King Entemena of Lagash. Oil shale, ca. 2400 BC. Found in Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. |H. 25 cm (9 ¾ in.), W. 23 cm (9 in.), D. 8 cm (3 in.) ![]()
- Votive bas-relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu in the time of Entemena, prince of Lagash C. 2400 BCE Tello (ancient Girsu) Bituminous stone H. 25 cm; W. 23 cm; Th. 8 cm De Sarzec excavations, 1881 AO 2354
- Hieroglyph: dhA 'rope strand' Rebus: dhAtu 'mineral element' Alternative: मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) eruvai 'eagle'
- Rebus: eruvai 'copper'.
- eraka 'wing' Rebus: erako 'moltencast copper'.
- Plaques perforated in the center and decorated with scenes incised or carved in relief were particularly widespread in the 2nd and 3rd Early Dynastic Periods (2800-2340 BC), and have been found at many sites in Mesopotamian and more rarely in Syria or Iran. The perforated plaque of Dudu, high priest of Ningirsu in the reign of Entemena, prince of Lagash (c.2450 BC), belongs to this tradition. It has some distinctive features, however, such as being made of bitumen.
Dudu, priest of Ningirsu
The bas-relief is perforated in the middle and divided into four unequal sections. A figure occupying the height of two registers faces right, leaning on what appears to be a long staff. He is dressed in the kaunakes, a skirt of sheepskin or other material tufted in imitation of it. His name is inscribed alongside: Dudu, rendered by the pictograph for the foot, "du," repeated. Dudu was high priest of the god Ningirsu at the time of Entemena, prince of Lagash (c.2450 BC). Incised to his left is the lion-headed eagle, symbol of the god Ningirsu and emblem of Lagash, as found in other perforated plaques from Telloh, as well as on other objects such as the mace head of Mesilim, king of Kish, and the silver vase of Entemena, king of Lagash. On this plaque, however, the two lions, usually impassive, are reaching up to bite the wings of the lion-headed eagle. Lower down is a calf, lying in the same position as the heifers on Entemena's vase. The lower register is decorated with a plait-like motif, according to some scholars a symbol of running water.Perforated plaques
This plaque belongs to the category of perforated plaques, widespread throughout Phases I and II of the Early Dynastic Period, c.2800-2340 BCE, and found at many sites in Mesopotamia (especially in the Diyala region), and more rarely in Syria (Mari) and Iran (Susa). Some 120 examples are known, of which about 50 come from religious buildings. These plaques are usually rectangular in form, perforated in the middle and decorated with scenes incised or carved in relief. They are most commonly of limestone or gypsum: this plaque, being of bitumen, is an exception to the rule.Bibliography
André B, Naissance de l'écriture : cunéiformes et hiéroglyphes, (notice), Paris, Exposition du Grand Palais, 7 mai au 9 août 1982, Paris, Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1982, p. 85, n 42.Contenau G., Manuel d'archéologie orientale, Paris, Picard, 1927, p. 487, fig. 357.Heuzey L., Les Antiquités chaldéennes, Paris, Librairie des Imprimeries Réunies, 1902, n 12.Orthmann W., Der Alte Orient, Berlin, Propylaën (14), 1975, pl. 88. Sarzec É., Découvertes en Chaldée, Paris, Leroux, 1884-1912, pp. 204-209.Thureau-Dangin, Les inscriptions de Sumer et d'Akkad, Paris, Leroux, 1905, p. 59.
The image may be read as a series of rebuses or ideograms. A priest dedicates an object to his god, represented by his symbol, and flanked perhaps by representations of sacrificial offerings: an animal for slaughter and a libation of running water. The dedicatory inscription, confined to the area left free by the image in the upper part , runs over the body of the calf: "For Ningirsu of the Eninnu, Dudu, priest of Ningirsu ... brought [this material] and fashioned it as a mace stand." See alternative readings provided for the 'twist' hieroglyph. Maybe, the calf is NOT an animal for slaughter but a gloss which sounds similar to the name of the sanga, 'priest': Dudu. The calf is called dUDa (Indian sprachbund). It may also have sounded: dāmuri ʻcalfʼ evoking the rebus of dAv 'strands of rope' rebus: dhAtu 'mineral elements'.
The precise function of such plaques is unknown, and the purpose of the central perforation remains a mystery. The inscription here at first led scholars to consider them as mace stands, which seems unlikely. Some have thought they were to be hung on a wall, the hole in the center taking a large nail or peg. Others have suggested they might be part of a door-closing mechanism. Perforated plaques such as this are most commonly organized in horizontal registers, showing various ceremonies, banquets (particularly in the Diyala), the construction of buildings (as in the perforated plaque of Ur-Nanshe), and scenes of cultic rituals (as in the perforated plaque showing "the Libation to the Goddess of Fertility"). The iconography is often standardized, almost certainly an indication that they represent a common culture covering the whole of Mesopotamia, and that they had a specific significance understood by all." http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/perforated-plaque-dudu- Perforated plaque of Dudu with 'twisted rope' and other Indus Script hieroglyphsI suggest that the hieroglyphs on the Dudu plaque are: eagle, pair of lions, twisted rope, calfHieroglyph: eruvai 'kite' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'Hieroglyph: arye 'lion' (Akkadian) Rebus: Ara 'brass'Hieroglyph: dām m. ʻ young ungelt ox ʼ: damya ʻ tameable ʼ, m. ʻ young bullock to be tamed ʼ Mn. [~ *
dāmiya -- . -- √dam ]Pa. damma -- ʻ to be tamed (esp. of a young bullock) ʼ; Pk. damma -- ʻ to be tamed ʼ; S. ḍ̠amu ʻ tamed ʼ; -- ext. -- ḍa -- : A. damrā ʻ young bull ʼ, dāmuri ʻ calf ʼ; B.dāmṛā ʻ castrated bullock ʼ; Or. dāmaṛī ʻ heifer ʼ, dāmaṛiā ʻ bullcalf, young castrated bullock ʼ, dāmuṛ, °ṛi ʻ young bullock ʼ.Addenda: damya -- : WPah.kṭg. dām m. ʻ young ungelt ox ʼ.(CDIAL 6184). This is a phonetic determinative of the 'twisted rope' hieroglyph: dhāī˜ f.dāˊman1 ʻ rope ʼ (Rigveda)Dudu, sanga priest of Ningirsu, dedicatory plaque with image of Anzud (Imdugud) Fig. 14 Dudu plaque. Votive bas-relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu in the time of Entemena, prince of Lagash, ca. 2400 BCE Tello (ancient Girsu) - Bituminous stoneH. 25 cm; W. 23 cm; Th. 8 cm
- De Sarzec excavations, 1881 , 1881AO 2354
- Anzud with two lions.
- Hieroglyph: endless knot motif
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After Fig. 52, p.85 in Prudence Hopper opcit. Plaque with male figures, serpents and quadruped. Bitumen compound. H. 9 7/8 in (25 cm); w. 8 ½ in. (21.5 cm); d. 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm). ca. 2600-2500 BCE. Acropole, temple of Ninhursag Sb 2724. The scene is described: “Two beardless, long-haired, nude male figures, their heads in profile and their bodies in three-quarter view, face the center of the composition…upper centre, where two intertwined serpents with their tails in their mouths appear above the upraised hands. At the base of the plaque, between the feet of the two figures, a small calf or lamb strides to the right. An irregular oblong cavity or break was made in the centre of the scene at a later date.”The hieroglyphs on this plaque are: kid and endless-knot motif (or three strands of rope twisted).Hieroglyph: 'kid': करडूं or करडें (p. 137) [ karaḍū or ṅkaraḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonlyकरडूं ) A kid. Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c.(Marathi)I suggest that the center of the composition is NOT set of intertwined serpents, but an endless knot motif signifying a coiled rope being twisted from three strands of fibre.
Twisted rope as hieroglyph on a plaque. Alternative hieroglyph: मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) eruvai 'eagle' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'. kōḍe, kōḍiya. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf. Rebus: koḍ artisan’s workshop (Kuwi) kunda ‘turner’ kundār turner (Assamese) मेढा [ mēḍhā ] A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl.(Marathi)(CDIAL 10312).L. meṛh f. ʻrope tying oxen to each other and to post on threshing floorʼ(CDIAL 10317) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)
A stranded rope as a hieroglyph signifies dhAtu rebus metal, mineral, ore. This occurs on Ancient Near East objects with hieroglyphs such as votive bas-relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu in the time of Entemena, prince of Lagash C. 2400 BCE Tello (ancient Girsu), eagle and stranded rope from Bogazhkoy. Indus Script decipherment of these hieroglyph-multiplexes confirms the underlying Prakritam as an Indo-European language and Indus Script Corpora is emphatically catalogus catalogorum of metalwork of the Bronze Age in Ancient Near East.
m1406 Seal using three-stranded rope: dhAtu Rebus: iron ore.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)
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)
There are two Railway stations in India called Dharwad and Ib. Both are related to Prakritam words with the semantic significance: iron worker, iron ore.
dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ (Marathi)(CDIAL 6773)
ib 'iron' (Santali) karba 'iron'; ajirda karba 'native metal iron' (Tulu) karabha 'trunk of elephant' Rebus: karba 'iron' ibha 'elephant' Rebus: ib 'iron ore' (Santali) The gloss ajirda (Tulu) is cognate with aduru, ayas. Hence, it is likely that the gloss ayas of Rigveda signifies native, unsmelted metal of iron ore.![]()
Glazed steatite . Cylinder seal. 3.4cm high; imported from Indus valley. Rhinoceros, elephant, crocodile (lizard? ).Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), Iraq. Elephant, rhinoceros, crocodile hieroglyphs: ib 'elephant' Rebus: ib 'iron' kANDa 'rhinoceros' Rebus: kANDa 'iron implements' karA 'crocodile' Rebus: khAr 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri)
Located on the Map of India are regions with Fe (Iron ore) mines: the locations include Dharwad and Ib.
Dharwad is the district headquarters of Dharwad district in the state of Karnataka, India. It was merged with the city of Hubli in 1961 to form the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad. It covers an area of 200.23 km² and is located 425 km northwest of Bengaluru, onNH 4, between Bengaluru and Pune...The word "Dharwad" means a place of rest in a long travel or a small habitation. For centuries, Dharwad acted as a gateway between the Malenaadu (western mountains) and the Bayalu seeme (plains) and it became a resting place for travellers. Inscriptions found near Durga Devi temple in Narendra (a nearby village) and RLS High School date back to the 12th century and have references to Dharwad. This makes Dharwad at least 900 years old. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharwad The place is located in the region of hematite (iron ore) -- e.g. Sandur taluk
The station derives its name from Ib River flowing nearby. Ib railway station came up with the opening of the Nagpur-Asansol main line of Bengal Nagpur Railway in 1891. It became a station on the crosscountry Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line in 1900 In 1900, when Bengal Nagpur Railway was building a bridge across the Ib River, coal was accidentally discovered in what later became Ib Valley Coalfield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ib_railway_station
dhAtu is a gloss which signifies metal, mineral, ore. It is likely that in early Bronze Age, the mineral specifically referred to is iron ore or meteoric iron as naturally occurring native, unsmelted metal called aduru, ayas. A gloss dhāvaḍ has the meaning: iron smelters. This gloss derived rom dhAtu can be explained in an archaeometallurgical context with evidences from Indus Script Corpora.
This suggestion is premised on a Marathi gloss (Prakritam, Meluhha pronunciation) cognate with dhAtu: dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻa partic. soft red stoneʼ (Marathi)
This note suggests that the place names in India of Dharwad and Ib are related to nearby iron ore regions and lived in by iron workers. The names are derived from two etyma streams: 1 dhāū, dhāv m.f. ʻ a partic. soft red stone ʼ
(whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻa caste of iron -- smeltersʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to iron ʼ); dhātu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ 2. ib 'iron' kara +iba, karba 'iron'. For example, the place name Dharwad is relatable to dhāvaḍ 'iron-smelters'. Archaeological explorations near Dharwad and Ib may indicate evidences for iron smelting.
This etymon indicates the possible reading of the tall flagpost carried by kneeling persons with six locks of hair: baTa 'six' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. Associated with nAga 'serpent' Rebus: nAga 'lead'The banner flagpost carried by four flag-bearers includes a banner associated with fish. aya 'fish' Rebus: aya 'iron' (Gujarati) ayas 'metal' (Rigveda) http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-unravels-announcement-of.html presents the picture of a 11-ft tall banner from Girsu (Telloh)
Red jasper H. 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm), Diam. 5/8 in. (1.6 cm) cylinder Seal with four hieroglyphs and four kneeling persons (with six curls on their hair) holding flagposts, c. 2220-2159 B.C.E., Akkadian (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Cylinder Seal (with modern impression). The four hieroglyphs are: from l. to r. 1. crucible PLUS storage pot of ingots, 2. sun, 3. narrow-necked pot with overflowing water, 4. fish A hooded snake is on the edge of the composition. (The dark red color of jasper reinforces the semantics: eruvai 'dark red, copper' Hieroglyph: eruvai 'reed'; see four reedposts held.
If the hieroglyph on the leftmost is moon, a possible rebus reading: قمر ḳamar
A قمر ḳamar, s.m. (9th) The moon. Sing. and Pl. See سپوږمي or سپوګمي (Pashto) Rebus: kamar 'blacksmith'
Situated at the end of a small delta on a dry plain, Shahdad was excavated by an Iranian team in the 1970s. (Courtesy Maurizio Tosi) 
An Iranian-Italian team, including archaeologist Massimo Vidale (right), surveyed the site in 2009. (Courtesy Massimo Vidale) The peripatetic English explorer Sir Aurel Stein, famous for his archaeological work surveying large swaths of Central Asia and the Middle East, slipped into Persia at the end of 1915 and found the first hints of eastern Iran's lost cities. Stein traversed what he described as "a big stretch of gravel and sandy desert" and encountered "the usual...robber bands from across the Afghan border, without any exciting incident." What did excite Stein was the discovery of what he called "the most surprising prehistoric site" on the eastern edge of the Dasht-e Lut. Locals called it Shahr-i-Sokhta ("Burnt City") because of signs of ancient destruction. It wasn't until a half-century later that Tosi and his team hacked their way through the thick salt crust and discovered a metropolis rivaling those of the first great urban centers in Mesopotamia and the Indus. Radiocarbon data showed that the site was founded around 3200 B.C., just as the first substantial cities in Mesopotamia were being built, and flourished for more than a thousand years. During its heyday in the middle of the third millennium B.C., the city covered more than 150 hectares and may have been home to more than 20,000 people, perhaps as populous as the large cities of Umma in Mesopotamia and Mohenjo-Daro on the Indus River. A vast shallow lake and wells likely provided the necessary water, allowing for cultivated fields and grazing for animals. Built of mudbrick, the city boasted a large palace, separate neighborhoods for pottery-making, metalworking, and other industrial activities, and distinct areas for the production of local goods. Most residents lived in modest one-room houses, though some were larger compounds with six to eight rooms. Bags of goods and storerooms were often "locked" with stamp seals, a procedure common in Mesopotamia in the era. Shahr-i-Sokhta boomed as the demand for precious goods among elites in the region and elsewhere grew. Though situated in inhospitable terrain, the city was close to tin, copper, and turquoise mines, and lay on the route bringing lapis lazuli from Afghanistan to the west. Craftsmen worked shells from the Persian Gulf, carnelian from India, and local metals such as tin and copper. Some they made into finished products, and others were exported in unfinished form. Lapis blocks brought from the Hindu Kush mountains, for example, were cut into smaller chunks and sent on to Mesopotamia and as far west as Syria. Unworked blocks of lapis weighing more than 100 pounds in total were unearthed in the ruined palace of Ebla, close to the Mediterranean Sea. Archaeologist Massimo Vidale of the University of Padua says that the elites in eastern Iranian cities like Shahr-i-Sokhta were not simply slaves to Mesopotamian markets. They apparently kept the best-quality lapis for themselves, and sent west what they did not want. Lapis beads found in the royal tombs of Ur, for example, are intricately carved, but of generally low-quality stone compared to those of Shahr-i-Sokhta. Pottery was produced on a massive scale. Nearly 100 kilns were clustered in one part of town and the craftspeople also had a thriving textile industry. Hundreds of wooden spindle whorls and combs were uncovered, as were well-preserved textile fragments made of goat hair and wool that show a wide variation in their weave. According to Irene Good, a specialist in ancient textiles at Oxford University, this group of textile fragments constitutes one of the most important in the world, given their great antiquity and the insight they provide into an early stage of the evolution of wool production. Textiles were big business in the third millennium B.C., according to Mesopotamian texts, but actual textiles from this era had never before been found.
A metal flag found at Shahdad, one of eastern Iran's early urban sites, dates to around 2400 B.C. The flag depicts a man and woman facing each other, one of the recurrent themes in the region's art at this time. (Courtesy Maurizio Tosi) 
This plain ceramic jar, found recently at Shahdad, contains residue of a white cosmetic whose complex formula is evidence for an extensive knowledge of chemistry among the city's ancient inhabitants. (Courtesy Massimo Vidale) The artifacts also show the breadth of Shahr-i-Sokhta's connections. Some excavated red-and-black ceramics share traits with those found in the hills and steppes of distant Turkmenistan to the north, while others are similar to pots made in Pakistan to the east, then home to the Indus civilization. Tosi's team found a clay tablet written in a script called Proto-Elamite, which emerged at the end of the fourth millennium B.C., just after the advent of the first known writing system, cuneiform, which evolved in Mesopotamia. Other such tablets and sealings with Proto-Elamite signs have also been found in eastern Iran, such as at Tepe Yahya. This script was used for only a few centuries starting around 3200 B.C. and may have emerged in Susa, just east of Mesopotamia. By the middle of the third millennium B.C., however, it was no longer in use. Most of the eastern Iranian tablets record simple transactions involving sheep, goats, and grain and could have been used to keep track of goods in large households. While Tosi's team was digging at Shahr-i-Sokhta, Iranian archaeologist Ali Hakemi was working at another site, Shahdad, on the western side of the Dasht-e Lut. This settlement emerged as early as the fifth millennium B.C. on a delta at the edge of the desert. By the early third millennium B.C., Shahdad began to grow quickly as international trade with Mesopotamia expanded. Tomb excavations revealed spectacular artifacts amid stone blocks once painted in vibrant colors. These include several extraordinary, nearly life-size clay statues placed with the dead. The city's artisans worked lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise, and other materials imported from as far away as eastern Afghanistan, as well as shells from the distant Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Evidence shows that ancient Shahdad had a large metalworking industry by this time. During a recent survey, a new generation of archaeologists found a vast hill—nearly 300 feet by 300 feet—covered with slag from smelting copper. Vidale says that analysis of the copper ore suggests that the smiths were savvy enough to add a small amount of arsenic in the later stages of the process to strengthen the final product. Shahdad's metalworkers also created such remarkable artifacts as a metal flag dating to about 2400 B.C. Mounted on a copper pole topped with a bird, perhaps an eagle, the squared flag depicts two figures facing one another on a rich background of animals, plants, and goddesses. The flag has no parallels and its use is unknown. Vidale has also found evidence of a sweet-smelling nature. During a spring 2009 visit to Shahdad, he discovered a small stone container lying on the ground. The vessel, which appears to date to the late fourth millennium B.C., was made of chlorite, a dark soft stone favored by ancient artisans in southeast Iran. Using X-ray diffraction at an Iranian lab, he discovered lead carbonate—used as a white cosmetic—sealed in the bottom of the jar. He identified fatty material that likely was added as a binder, as well as traces of coumarin, a fragrant chemical compound found in plants and used in some perfumes. Further analysis showed small traces of copper, possibly the result of a user dipping a small metal applicator into the container. Other sites in eastern Iran are only now being investigated. For the past two years, Iranian archaeologists Hassan Fazeli Nashli and Hassain Ali Kavosh from the University of Tehran have been digging in a small settlement a few miles east of Shahdad called Tepe Graziani, named for the Italian archaeologist who first surveyed the site. They are trying to understand the role of the city's outer settlements by examining this ancient mound, which is 30 feet high, 525 feet wide, and 720 feet long. Excavators have uncovered a wealth of artifacts including a variety of small sculptures depicting crude human figures, humped bulls, and a Bactrian camel dating to approximately 2900 B.C. A bronze mirror, fishhooks, daggers, and pins are among the metal finds. There are also wooden combs that survived in the arid climate. "The site is small but very rich," says Fazeli, adding that it may have been a prosperous suburban production center for Shahdad. Sites such as Shahdad and Shahr-i-Sokhta and their suburbs were not simply islands of settlements in what otherwise was empty desert. Fazeli adds that some 900 Bronze Age sites have been found on the Sistan plain, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mortazavi, meanwhile, has been examining the area around the Bampur Valley, in Iran's extreme southeast. This area was a corridor between the Iranian plateau and the Indus Valley, as well as between Shahr-i-Sokhta to the north and the Persian Gulf to the south. A 2006 survey along the Damin River identified 19 Bronze Age sites in an area of less than 20 square miles. That river periodically vanishes, and farmers depend on underground channels called qanats to transport water. Despite the lack of large rivers, ancient eastern Iranians were very savvy in marshaling their few water resources. Using satellite remote sensing data, Vidale has found remains of what might be ancient canals or qanats around Shahdad, but more work is necessary to understand how inhabitants supported themselves in this harsh climate 5,000 years ago, as they still do today.
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A Proto-Dilmun seal? Source: https://www.academia.edu/7837834/From_rags_to_riches_three_crucial_steps_in_Dilmun_s_rise_to_fame_poster_-_HIGH_RESOLUTION_FIGS._1-4
kolmo 'rice-plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' melh 'goat' Rebus: milakkhu
'copper' bica 'scorpion' Rebus: bica 'laterite' kulA 'hooded serpent' Rebus: kolhe
'smelter'.
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The legs are made of copper. The vase features an image of Anzud (also known as Imdugud), the lion-headed eagle, grasping two lions with his talons.![]()
Detail drawing of the Enmetena vase. Lions kisse the antelopes.
Inscribed vase of silver and copper of Entemena, king of Lagash, with dedication to the god Ningirsu, around 2400 BC, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Found in Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.![]()
The dedicatory inscriptions wrap around the neck of the vase:
![]()
.
Translation of the inscriptions from the CDLI (P222539):
For Ningirsu, the hero of Enlil,
Enmetena, ruler of Lagash,
chosen by the heart of Nanshe,
chief ruler of Ningirsu,
son of Enannatum, ruler of Lagash,
for the king who loved him, Ningirsu,
(this) gurgur-vessel of refined silver,
from which Ningirsu will consume the monthly oil (offering),
he had fashioned for him.
For his life, before Ningirsu of the Eninnu (temple)
he had it set up.
At that time Dudu
was the temple administrator of Ningirsu.
![]()
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash. Limestone, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh (ancient city of Girsu).Louvre AO2344 At the top he creates the foundation for a shrine, at the bottom he presides over the dedication (Louvre).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagash#/media/File:Relief_Ur-Nanshe_Louvre_AO2344.jpg Inscription: “Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, built the temple of Ningirsu; he built the temple of Nanshe; he built Apsubanda...boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)”. This is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods intoMesopotamia. ( Pouysségur, Patrick , ed. "Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe." Lourve Museum. Louvre Museum). http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=ur-nanshe![]()
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, representing the bird-god Anzu (or Im-dugud) as a lion-headed eagle. Alabaster, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh, ancient city of Girsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Nanshe#/media/File:Relief_Im-dugud_Louvre_AO2783.jpg
Decipherment:
Hieroglyph: eraka 'wing' Rebus: eraka 'moltencast copper'; kola 'tiger' Rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron'; arya 'lion' Rebus: Ara 'brass' dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'.
Etyma: Indian sprachbund
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.)
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)
పోలడు [ pōlaḍu ] , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడు pōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.)
Te. dūḍa a calf. Go. (ASu.) ḍuḍḍe female young of buffalo. Konḍa dūṛa calf (< Te.). (DEDR 3378) దూడ (p. 0604) [ dūḍa ] dūḍa. [Tel.] n. A calf. దూడలు అరిచినవి the calves were bleating. దూడలగొట్టిగాడు dūḍala-goṭṭi-gāḍu. n. The bird called an Adjutant, Leptoptilus dubius (F.B.I.) దూడలపోలిగాడు dūḍala-pōligāḍu. n. An eagle. Te. kōḍiya, kōḍe young bull; adj. male (e.g. kōḍe dūḍa bull calf), young, youthful; kōḍekã̄ḍu a young man. Kol.(Haig) kōḍē bull. Nk. khoṛe male calf. Konḍa kōḍi cow; kōṛe young bullock. Pe. kōḍi cow. Manḍ. kūḍi id. Kui kōḍi id., ox.Kuwi (F.) kōdi cow; (S.) kajja kōḍi bull; (Su. P.) kōḍi cow(DEDR 2199)
Ta. eruvai blood, (?) copper. Ka. ere a dark-red or dark-brown colour, a dark or dusky colour; (Badaga) erande sp. fruit, red in colour. Te. rēcu, rēcu-kukka a sort of ounce or lynx said to climb trees and to destroy tigers; (B.) a hound or wild dog.Kol. resn a·te wild dog (i.e. *res na·te; see 3650). Pa. iric netta id. Ga. (S.3 ) rēs nete hunting dog, hound. Go. (Ma.) erm ney, (D.) erom nay, (Mu.) arm/aṛm nay wild dog (Voc. 353); (M.) rac nāī, (Ko.) rasi ney id. (Voc. 3010). For 'wild dog', cf. 1931 Ta. ce- red, esp. the items for 'red dog, wild dog'. (DEDR 817)
Ta. eruvai a kind of kite whose head is white and whose body is brown; eagle. Ma. eruva eagle, kite.(DEDR 818)
Ta. eruvai European bamboo reed; a species of Cyperus; straight sedge tuber. Ma. eruva a kind of grass.(DEDR 819)dhāˊtu ʻ *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)
Dāma (nt.) [Sk. dāman to dyati to bind (Gr. di/dhmi ), *dē, as in Gr. de/sma (rope), dia/dhma (diadem), u(po/dhma (sandal)] a bond, fetter, rope; chain, wreath, garland S iv. 163 (read dāmena for damena), 282, (id.); A iii. 393 (dāmena baddho); Sn 28 (=vacchakānaŋ bandhanatthāya katā ganthitā nandhipasayuttā rajjubandhanavisesā); Vism 108. Usually -- ˚, viz. anoja -- puppha˚ J i. 9; vi. 227; olambaka˚ VvA 32; kusuma˚ J iii. 394; gandha˚ J i. 178; VvA 173, 198; puppha˚ Ji. 397; VvA 198; mālā˚ J ii. 104; rajata˚ J i. 50; iii. 184; iv. 91; rattapuppha˚ J iii. 30; sumana˚ J iv. 455. (Pali) दामन् n. [दो-मनिन्] 1 A string, thread, fillet, rope. -2 A chaplet, a garland in general; आद्ये बद्धा विरहदिवसे या शिखा दाम हित्वा Me.93; कनकचम्पकदामगौरीम् Ch. P.1; Śi.4.5. -3 A line, streak (as of lightning); वुद्युद्- दाम्ना हेमराजीव विन्ध्यम् M.3.2; Me.27. -4 A large bandage. -5 Ved. A gift. -6 A portion, share. -7 A girdle. -Comp. -अञ्चलम्, -अञ्जनम् a foot-rope for horses, &c.; सस्रुः सरोषपरिचारकवार्यमाणा दामाञ्चलस्खलितलोलपदं तुरङ्गाः Śi.5.61. -उदरः an epithet of Kṛiṣṇa. dāmanī दामनी A foot-rope. dāmā दामा A string, cord. धामन् dhāman A fetter. 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.*dāmayati2 ; *dāmakara -- , *dāmadhāra -- ; uddāma -- , prōddāma -- ; *antadāmanī -- , *galadāman -- , *galadāmana -- , *gōḍḍadāman -- , *gōḍḍadāmana -- , *gōḍḍadāmara -- .dāmán -- 2 m. (f.?) ʻ gift ʼ RV. [√dā 1 ]. See dāˊtu -- .*dāmana -- ʻ rope ʼ see dāˊman -- 1 .Addenda: dāˊman -- 1 . 1. Brj. dã̄u m. ʻ tying ʼ.3. *dāmara -- : Brj. dã̄wrī f. ʻ rope ʼ.(CDIAL 6283)धातुः [धा-आधारे तुन्] -कुशल a. skilful in working in metals, metallurgist.
धम dhama a. (-मा, -मी f.) [धम् ध्माने-अच्] (Usually at the end of comp.) 1 Blowing; अग्निंधम, नाडिंधम. -2 Melting, fusing. -मः 1 The moon. -2 An epithet of Kṛiṣṇa. -3 Of Yama, the god of death. -4 Of Brahmā.धमकः dhamakḥ A blacksmith. धमनिः नी f. 1 A reed, blow-pipe; वेणुधमन्या प्रबोध्य Vaiśvadeva. धामनिका धामनी See धमनी.
dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn., ʻ ashes of the dead ʼ lex., [√dhā ]Pa. dhātu -- m. ʻ element, ashes of the dead, relic ʼ; KharI. dhatu ʻ relic 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; 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); -- Si. dā ʻ relic ʼ; -- (CDIAL 6773)
dhākḥ धाकः [धा-उणा ˚ क तस्य नेत्वम्] 1 An ox. -2 A receptacle, reservoir. -3 Food, boiled rice. -4 A post, pillar, column. -5 Brahman. -6 A supporter.See:
.
The legs are made of copper. The vase features an image of Anzud (also known as Imdugud), the lion-headed eagle, grasping two lions with his talons.
Detail drawing of the Enmetena vase. Lions kisse the antelopes.
.Translation of the inscriptions from the CDLI (P222539):
For Ningirsu, the hero of Enlil,
Enmetena, ruler of Lagash,
chosen by the heart of Nanshe,
chief ruler of Ningirsu,
son of Enannatum, ruler of Lagash,
for the king who loved him, Ningirsu,
(this) gurgur-vessel of refined silver,
from which Ningirsu will consume the monthly oil (offering),
he had fashioned for him.
For his life, before Ningirsu of the Eninnu (temple)
he had it set up.
At that time Dudu
was the temple administrator of Ningirsu.
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash. Limestone, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh (ancient city of Girsu).Louvre AO2344 At the top he creates the foundation for a shrine, at the bottom he presides over the dedication (Louvre).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagash#/media/File:Relief_Ur-Nanshe_Louvre_AO2344.jpg Inscription: “Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, built the temple of Ningirsu; he built the temple of Nanshe; he built Apsubanda...boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)”. This is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods intoMesopotamia. ( Pouysségur, Patrick , ed. "Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe." Lourve Museum. Louvre Museum). http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=ur-nanshe
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, representing the bird-god Anzu (or Im-dugud) as a lion-headed eagle. Alabaster, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh, ancient city of Girsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Nanshe#/media/File:Relief_Im-dugud_Louvre_AO2783.jpg
Decipherment:
Hieroglyph: eraka 'wing' Rebus: eraka 'moltencast copper'; kola 'tiger' Rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron'; arya 'lion' Rebus: Ara 'brass' dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'.
Etyma: Indian sprachbund
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.)
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)
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)
పోలడు [ pōlaḍu ] , పోలిగాడు or దూడలపోలడు pōlaḍu. [Tel.] n. An eagle. పసులపోలిగాడు the bird called the Black Drongo. Dicrurus ater. (F.B.I.)
Te. dūḍa a calf. Go. (ASu.) ḍuḍḍe female young of buffalo. Konḍa dūṛa calf (< Te.). (DEDR 3378) దూడ (p. 0604) [ dūḍa ] dūḍa. [Tel.] n. A calf.దూడలు అరిచినవి the calves were bleating. దూడలగొట్టిగాడు dūḍala-goṭṭi-gāḍu. n. The bird called an Adjutant, Leptoptilus dubius (F.B.I.) దూడలపోలిగాడు dūḍala-pōligāḍu. n. An eagle. Te. kōḍiya, kōḍe young bull; adj. male (e.g. kōḍe dūḍa bull calf), young, youthful; kōḍekã̄ḍu a young man. Kol.(Haig) kōḍē bull. Nk. khoṛe male calf. Konḍa kōḍi cow; kōṛe young bullock. Pe. kōḍi cow. Manḍ. kūḍi id. Kui kōḍi id., ox.Kuwi (F.) kōdi cow; (S.) kajja kōḍi bull; (Su. P.) kōḍi cow(DEDR 2199)
Ta. eruvai blood, (?) copper. Ka. ere a dark-red or dark-brown colour, a dark or dusky colour; (Badaga) erande sp. fruit, red in colour. Te. rēcu, rēcu-kukka a sort of ounce or lynx said to climb trees and to destroy tigers; (B.) a hound or wild dog.Kol. resn a·te wild dog (i.e. *res na·te; see 3650). Pa. iric netta id. Ga. (S.3 ) rēs nete hunting dog, hound. Go. (Ma.) erm ney, (D.) erom nay, (Mu.) arm/aṛm nay wild dog (Voc. 353); (M.) rac nāī, (Ko.) rasi ney id. (Voc. 3010). For 'wild dog', cf. 1931 Ta. ce- red, esp. the items for 'red dog, wild dog'. (DEDR 817)
Ta. eruvai a kind of kite whose head is white and whose body is brown; eagle. Ma. eruva eagle, kite.(DEDR 818)
Ta. eruvai European bamboo reed; a species of Cyperus; straight sedge tuber. Ma. eruva a kind of grass.(DEDR 819)
Te. dūḍa a calf. Go. (ASu.) ḍuḍḍe female young of buffalo. Konḍa dūṛa calf (< Te.). (DEDR 3378) దూడ (p. 0604) [ dūḍa ] dūḍa. [Tel.] n. A calf.
Ta. eruvai blood, (?) copper. Ka. ere a dark-red or dark-brown colour, a dark or dusky colour; (Badaga) erande sp. fruit, red in colour. Te. rēcu, rēcu-kukka a sort of ounce or lynx said to climb trees and to destroy tigers; (B.) a hound or wild dog.Kol. resn a·te wild dog (i.e. *res na·te; see 3650). Pa. iric netta id. Ga. (S.
Ta. eruvai a kind of kite whose head is white and whose body is brown; eagle. Ma. eruva eagle, kite.(DEDR 818)
Ta. eruvai European bamboo reed; a species of Cyperus; straight sedge tuber. Ma. eruva a kind of grass.(DEDR 819)
dhāˊtu ʻ *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)
Dāma (nt.) [Sk. dāman to dyati to bind (Gr. di/dhmi ), *dē, as in Gr. de/sma (rope), dia/dhma (diadem), u(po/dhma (sandal)] a bond, fetter, rope; chain, wreath, garland S iv. 163 (read dāmena for damena), 282, (id.); A iii. 393 (dāmena baddho); Sn 28 (=vacchakānaŋ bandhanatthāya katā ganthitā nandhipasayuttā rajjubandhanavisesā); Vism 108. Usually -- ˚, viz. anoja -- puppha˚ J i. 9; vi. 227; olambaka˚ VvA 32; kusuma˚ J iii. 394; gandha˚ J i. 178; VvA 173, 198; puppha˚ Ji. 397; VvA 198; mālā˚ J ii. 104; rajata˚ J i. 50; iii. 184; iv. 91; rattapuppha˚ J iii. 30; sumana˚ J iv. 455. (Pali) दामन् n. [दो-मनिन्] 1 A string, thread, fillet, rope. -2 A chaplet, a garland in general; आद्ये बद्धा विरहदिवसे या शिखा दाम हित्वा Me.93; कनकचम्पकदामगौरीम् Ch. P.1; Śi.4.5. -3 A line, streak (as of lightning); वुद्युद्- दाम्ना हेमराजीव विन्ध्यम् M.3.2; Me.27. -4 A large bandage. -5 Ved. A gift. -6 A portion, share. -7 A girdle. -Comp. -अञ्चलम्, -अञ्जनम् a foot-rope for horses, &c.; सस्रुः सरोषपरिचारकवार्यमाणा दामाञ्चलस्खलितलोलपदं तुरङ्गाः Śi.5.61. -उदरः an epithet of Kṛiṣṇa. dāmanī दामनी A foot-rope. dāmā दामा A string, cord. धामन् dhāman A fetter. 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. dhāgga <-> q.v.*dāmayati2 ; *dāmakara -- , *dāmadhāra -- ; uddāma -- , prōddāma -- ; *antadāmanī -- , *galadāman -- , *galadāmana -- , *gōḍḍadāman -- , *gōḍḍadāmana -- , *gōḍḍadāmara -- .dāmán -- 2 m. (f.?) ʻ gift ʼ RV. [√dā 1 ]. See dāˊtu -- .*dāmana -- ʻ rope ʼ see dāˊman -- 1 .Addenda: dāˊman -- 1 . 1. Brj. dã̄u m. ʻ tying ʼ.3. *dāmara -- : Brj. dã̄wrī f. ʻ rope ʼ.(CDIAL 6283)
1 Blowing; अग्निंधम, नाडिंधम. -2 Melting, fusing. -मः 1 The moon. -2 An epithet of Kṛiṣṇa. -3 Of Yama, the god of death. -4 Of Brahmā.धमकः dhamakḥ A blacksmith. धमनिः नी f. 1 A reed, blow-pipe; वेणुधमन्या प्रबोध्य Vaiśvadeva. धामनिका धामनी See धमनी.
dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn., ʻ ashes of the dead ʼ lex., [√dhā ]Pa. dhātu -- m. ʻ element, ashes of the dead, relic ʼ; KharI. dhatu ʻ relic 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; 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); -- Si. dā ʻ relic ʼ; -- (CDIAL 6773)
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 *धातुः [धा-आधारे तुन्] -कुशल a. skilful in working in metals, metallurgist.
धम dhama a. (-मा, -मी f.) [धम् ध्माने-अच्] (Usually at the end of comp.)
dhāˊtu n. ʻ substance ʼ RV., m. ʻ element ʼ MBh., ʻ metal, mineral, ore (esp. of a red colour) ʼ Mn., ʻ ashes of the dead ʼ lex., [√
dhākḥ धाकः [धा-उणा ˚ क तस्य नेत्वम्] 1 An ox. -2 A receptacle, reservoir. -3 Food, boiled rice. -4 A post, pillar, column. -5 Brahman. -6 A supporter.
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/ancient-near-east-shahdad-bronze-age.html Ancient Near East: Shahdad bronze-age inscriptional evidence, a tribute to Ali Hakemi
See:
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/10/indus-script-hieroglyph-twisted-rope-on.html
Sea-faring Meluhhan business in Mesopotamia
It is commonly understood that Meluhhan were sea-faring merchants from the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. What was the business of the Meluhhan Ur-Lamma and others in Meluhhan villages in Mesopotamia, in a seaport of Guabba with a temple for Ninmar? Meluhhan bronze is hinted in a text: bronze (uruda) with the Meluhhan village: 6 ma-na uruda me-luh-ha.
Here is a remarkable account by Prof. PS Vermaak on the business of Meluhhan villages in Mesopotamia:
“The Meluhhan granaries. The Meluhhan village was known for its granaries (i-dub e-duru me-luh-ha) and the large amounts of royal barley that were delivered to the town of Girsu. When one calculates the amounts delivered by the Meluhhan granaries in comparison to other regions, towns or villages it was surprisingly high. It cannot exactly be determined why they delivered more barley (up to three times more) than most of the other granaries. It might be that the Meluhhan granaries had a larger region under their premises or perhaps they had to deliver more to the Girsu authorities due to their foreign origin, but this is pure speculation at this stage. There are, however, two t0065ts dating from the sixth year of Amar-Sin (AS 6-vii) and the eighth year of Shu-Sin (SS 8) respectively (from Girsu) where the Meluhhan granary was the only deliverer of the royal barley and it seems that the various granaries had separate monthly instalments to pay (text ASJ 03 152 107). The Meluhhan garden. Some references can be found to the Meluhhan garden (kiri me-luh-ha) in the Neo-Sumerian period, but no more specific details can be derived from these texts except to note that they were connected to the temple of Ninmar. However, several types of Meluhhan artefacts have been identified which probably made up the Meluhhan garden, especially the ab-ba me-luh-ha which is a sort o Meluhhan wood, or the ab-ba could refer to some kind of water feature in a garden…The Meluhhan temples. Two temples have been connected to the Meluhhan village in Ur III Girsu, namely those of the gods’ Nanshe and Nin-mar. In a text where a number of scribes (dub-sar-me) are listed it has been summarized in three interesting lines, namely shu-nigin 6 gurush, arad Nanshe-me, ugula me-luhha (A total of 6 men, servants of the god, Nanshe, while the overseer is a Meluhhan) which definitely seems to connect the Meluhhan village with the temple of Nanshe. This text relates to the temple of Nanshe and the Meluhhan official, which is a good illustration of the Meluhhan s being incorporated into the society of southern Mesopotamia. Another text suggests that the Meluhhans worked in the temple of Nanshe: dumu me-luh-ha erin e Nanshe (‘The Meluhhan worker in the house of Nanshe’). In a balanced account (nig-kas-ak) regarding the different types of barley delivered to the temple of Ninmar (nig-kas ak Lu-Shul-gi shabra she e Nin-MAR.KI) the seal of the well-known Meluhhan appears twice in the text (Kishib Ur-Lamma dumu me-luh-ha). The royal barley deliveries sent to the different gardens (kiri en-ne) in the region of Girsu (year 48 of Shulgi) and the Meluhhan garden was again connected to the temple of Nin-Mar (kiri me-luh-ha Nin-MAR.KI) which was not connected to the Meluhhan temple. This means there had to be two gardens in the same temple of Ninmarki, one as a Meluhhan garden and another one not. The Meluhhan avifauna. The Meluhhan bird (dar me-luh-ha) appears five times in the Ur III texts, only once with the determinative of a bid (mushen). In most of the cases the dar has been listed together with images (alan) which indicates that in these instances the dar probably does not refer to a real bird, but to an image of a bird, maybe as a carved bird (as curio) from wood or ivory. In all instances these texts came from Ur and date from the thirteenth year of Ibbi-Sin. It has been speculated that the dar might be a ‘multi-coloured’ Meluhhan bird, described by Leemans (1960: 166) as a ‘peacock’, but he (Leemans 1968: 222) later corrected himself and regarded it as a kind of a ‘hen’ due to his understanding of it as a bird from ‘India’. The Meluhhan fauna. Although in earlier and later texts references are made to the Meluhhan fauna species from other periods such as the multicoloured Meluhhan dog which was given as a gift to Ibbi-Sin and a Meluhhan cat (Akkadian shuranu) in a Babylonian proverb (Lambert 1960: 272). The only Meluhhan fauna in the Ur III texts is a reference to the goat: mash ga me-luh-ha, ‘the Meluhhan milk goat’. The Meluhhan timber/woods. Special kinds of timber/woods came into southern Mesopotamia from various places such as Magan and Meluhha from the Early Dynastic III to the Gudea period. Lexical texts confirm the import of Meluhhan timber which entered via the ports in the Gulf. Various kinds of Meluhhan wood have been identified during the Ur III and other periods and they were mostly used for different kinds of furniture. The mes-me-luh-ha wood only occurs twice in the Ur III texts, but also continued to be used for furniture and household utensils during the Old Babylonian period (Leemans 160: 126). Its Akkadian equivalent musukkannu was referred to as a Magan and Meluhhan import and it was probably a hard and/or black wood. However, it was locally available during the first millennium BCE (Maxwell-Hyslop 1983: 70-71). The ab-ba me-luh-ha wood had a special purpose to make inter alia special chairs or thrones with ivory inlays. Heimpel (1993: 54) describes it as ‘Meerholz’ which indicates the usage as boat building material, but its Akkadian equivalent is even more well known kushabku.” The Meluhhan bronzes. Since the Uruk III period upto the Gudea period the acquiring of bronzes from the three places Dilmun, Magan en Meluhha was well documented, however during the Ur III period only one reference was found which connects the bronze (uruda) with the Meluhhan village: 6 ma-na uruda me-luh-ha. The Meluhhan village of Guabba.According to the electronic UR III databases there are more than four hundred references in texts mentioning the place name Gu-ab-ba and the texts mostly originate from Girsu/Lagash. Several features immediately come forward when you retrieve these texts, but we will only outline some of these features in order to find the common business of the area concerned…MVN 7 420 = ITT 4 8024…the Meluhhan village often referred to is now connected to the well-known place/village of Gu-ab-ba which is also mentioned twice in this text. It is also linked with a person called Ur-Lamma who has often been mentioned in several other Ur III texts and seals as a Meluhhan (dumu me-luh-ha)...Currently, all 44 texts have been published and are available electronically referring to Meluhha as a place or as a qualifier (a so-called ‘adjective’). On the other hand the place Gu-ab-ba is to be found several hundred times in the Sargonic and Ur III texts…Guabba continued with Meluhha temples…these temples, especially the one of Ninmar, have also been associated with the place of Guabba in earlier periods. One oyal inscription during the time of Ur-Bau in Lagash II dates the year according to the building of temple of Ninmar in Guabba: mu e-nin-mar –ka gu-ab-ba –ka ba-du-a ‘year in which the temple of Ninmar in Guabba was built’ (AO 3355)…In a Sumerian temple hymn (TH 23) Guabba is twice mentioned in connection with the temple of Ninmar…Guabba as a Meluhhan textile hub. .. During the UR III period Guabba provides the largest group of people from Girsu working in the weaving sector, mainly women and children. In one text 4272 women and 1800 children from Guabba are listed as being in the weaving industry (cf. Waetzoldt 1972-94)…if Guabba was indeed a Meluhhan village then one could speculate that this group could have been ancestors of a distant group which diffused into this area, bringing their skills of textiles into the region or being used as cheap labour…Ur-Lamma the Meluhhan of Guabba. Although the name Ur-Lamma occurs several hundred times in the UR III texts, it seems that several persons carried the name Ur-Lamma, because there are often references to the names of their fathers or sons, thus several could be distinguished. However, Ur-Lamma the Meluhhan occurs in a few texts and in seals, but Meluhha occurs only once as a personal name from Guabba…According to the references in texts the personal name Ur-Lamma occurs at least twice in seals from texts, namely Kishib Ur-Lamma dumu me-luh-ha (OBTR 242 = JESHO 20, 135 02)(SH 40)(2x in text) in a financial ‘balanced account’ (nig-kas-ak) and Kishib Ur-Lamma dumu me-luh-ha (UDT 64=CBCY 3, NBC 64). Guabba as a Meluhhan seaport. Guabba has been interpreted as a harbor town under the jurisdiction of Girsu/Lagas due to the literal meaning of the reading gu-ab-ba which did not include the determinative KI for the place name in text SRT 49 II 4, thus gu-ab-ba (‘sea-shore’) instead of the normal gu-ab-ba…Since pre-Sargonic and Sargonic times, references to ‘large boats’ hint at a trading colony which initially had direct contact with their distant ancestors. The following literary document (Lamentation of Sumer and Ur. Michalowski 1989) confirms the previous status: Line 168-169: nin-mar –ra esh gu-ab-ba-ka izi im-ma-da-an-te ku za-gin-bi ma-gal-gal-la bala-she i-ak-e (‘Fire approached Ninmarki in the shrine Guabba (and) large boats were transporting precious metals and gem stones’…one might be able to say that Guabba is a Meluhhan village in southern Mesopotamia…(pp. 556-568) Excerpts from:http://www.scribd.com/doc/21340164/Guabbasemit-v17-n2-a12
Meluhhan (mleccha) speakers were all over India, and also established villages close to Guabba, seaport (not far from Tigris-Euphrates): “In order to form a comprehensive view of the Meluhhan remnants (in Mesopotamia) a variety of texts could be consulted, although they display a picture of a people that have been integrated into the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures much earlier than the Ur III period. ” [i.e., earlier than (2112-2004 BC)] (cf. PS Vermaak, 2008, Guabba, the Meluhhan village in Mesopotamia, Journal of Semitics, 17/2, pp. 553-570). It should be possible to identify mleccha (meluhha) substratum words in Sumerian/Akkadian. One substrate word is sanga 'priest' (Akkadian); cognate with sanghvi 'priest accompanying pilgrims' (Gujarati).