Shortugai was a trading outpost of Sarasvati Civilization, in the context of the Ancient Maritime Tin Route of 3rd millennium BCE. “Another source of gold was along the Oxus river valley in northern Afghanistan where a trading colony of the Indus cities has been discovered at Shortughai. Situated far from the Indus Valley itself, this settlement may have been established to obtain gold, copper, tin and lapis lazuli, as well as other exotic goods from Central Asia.” (JM Kenoyer, 1998, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, OUP, p.96)
Shortugai (Shortughai) was an Indus Valley Civilization trading colony established around 2000 BC on the Oxus river (Amu Darya) near the lapis lazuli mines in northern Afghanistan. It is considered to be the northernmost settlement of the Indus Valley Civilization. According to Bernard Sergent, "not one of the standard characteristics of the Harappan cultural complex is missing from it".
The town consists of two hills called A and B by the excavators. One of them was once the town proper, the other one the citadel. Each of them is about 2 hectares large.
Typical finds of the Indus Valley Civilization include one seal with a short inscription, clay models of cattle with carts and painted pottery. Pottery with Harappan design, jars, beakers, bronze objects, gold pieces, lapis lazuli beads, other types of beads, drill heads, shell bangles etc. are other findings. Square seals with animal motiff and script confirms this as a site belonging to Indus Valley Civilisation (not just having contact with IVC). Bricks had typical Harappan measurements.
Shortugai was a trading post of Harappan times and it seems to be connected with lapis lazuli mines located in the surrounding area. It also might have connections with tin trade (found at Afghanistan) and camel trade.
This is an Indus Script seal discovered in Shortugai Francfort: (Fouilles de Shortughai, pl. 75, no. 7)Decipherment of the Indus Script inscription of Shortugai: The unique hypertext of Sign 430 on Shortugai seal also occurs on other inscriptions of Sarasvati Civilization.
Decipherment of Sign 190
kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements.
Sign 190 which appears on Shortugai seal has a number of variants in other inscriptions: 
See: Translation of Sign 190 (four twigs on watery-field) on six inscriptions as Indus Script Hypertexts kaṇḍa, 'fire altar' kuṭhi'smelter' https://tinyurl.com/y7nrrpsa
Shortugai seal
Mohenjo-daro seal
Mohenjo-daro copper plate
Mohenjo-daro copper plate
Mohenjo-daro copper plate
Mohenjo-daro copper plate Mohenjo-daro seal |
 m0218 2175 Seal M-218 with inscription. Sign 190  Sign 69  aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal'. Sign 176  khareḍo 'a currycomb (Gujarati) Rebus: karaḍā खरडें 'daybook, wealth- |
A dozen Indus Script inscriptions (incl. m495 text of 26 signs) with vivid pictorial hypertexts, metalwork wealth-accounting ledgers https://tinyurl.com/y8jernfy
Note: Signs and Sign Numbers used in this monograph are from 1977 Archaeological Survey of India Memoir, also called Mahadevan Concordance.
Sign 331 ![]()
Variants of Sign 331![]()
The ligature of this unique pictorial motif with the rimless pot is significant. The rimless pot signifies baṭa 'rimless pot' rebus:bhaṭa 'furnace'. The ligaturing sign is Sign 169![]()
Variants of Sign 331
The ligature of this unique pictorial motif with the rimless pot is significant. The rimless pot signifies baṭa 'rimless pot' rebus:bhaṭa 'furnace'. The ligaturing sign is Sign 169
Variants of Sign 169![]()
I suggest that the ligaturing sign is a semantic determinant of bhaṭa 'furnace' to emphasise that what is signified is a smelter furnace. Sign 169 signifies. kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali)
I suggest that the ligaturing sign is a semantic determinant of bhaṭa 'furnace' to emphasise that what is signified is a smelter furnace. Sign 169 signifies. kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali)The same semantic significance is seen in another ligature of Sign 190. |
h-48A kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol: कोंद kōnda 'young bull' rebus: कोंद kōnda 'engraver, turner, smelter.' कोंद kōnda 'kiln, furnace' PLUS sangaḍa 'lathe, portable brazier' PLUS [ kammaṭamu ] Same as కమటము 'portable furnace' rebus: sangarh 'fortification', sangar 'trade', kammaṭa 'mint, coiner, coinage'. 
Shortugai, Bactria (Jarrige 1984) h-48A kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol:gaṇḍa 'rhinoceros'; rebus:khaṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans .
m-2047 AB kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol: kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter'.
n-1498AB (Copper tablet) 
m-543A (Copper tablet)Field symbol: pāṭroṛo, pattar 'feeding trough' rebus paṭṭī 'inventory' పట్ర paṭra, patta'village, hamlet, maritime town' pāṭan; pattar 'goldsmith guild' PLUS कोंद kōnda 'young bull' rebus: कोंद kōnda 'engraver, turner, smelter.' कोंद kōnda 'kiln, furnace' PLUS Tor. miṇḍ 'ram', miṇḍā́l 'markhor' (CDIAL 10310) Rebus: meḍ (Ho.); mẽṛhet 'iron' (Munda.Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic languages) kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. PLUS baraḍo 'spine, backbone' rebus: baran, bharat 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).PLUS khār खार 'backbone, spine' rebus: khār खार्'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) PLUS bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'. कर्णक kárṇaka, 'rim of jar', karaṇī'scribe, supercargo, a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale.', kañi-āra 'helmsman'.PLUS गोटी [ gōṭī ] f (Dim. of गोटा) A roundish stone or pebble.rebus: गोटी [gōṭī ] 'A lump of silver'.
m-546A (Copper tablet) kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. PLUS baraḍo 'spine, backbone' rebus: baran, bharat 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).PLUS khār खार 'backbone, spine' rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) This could be a semantic re-inforcement, determinative of with bharat khār blacksmithy work (on) mixed alloys.Referenced without comment, leaving the reader to judge the validity of the divergent translation/decipherment claims. See variant readings by Wim J Borsboom:
https://www.academia.edu/7751469/Decipherment_Interpretation_and_Translation_of_Indus_Script_Sign_430_Sinha "Decipherment, Interpretation and Translation of Indus Script Sign 430 (Sinha) "The Indus Script sign 430 (Sinha), consisting of four vertical uprights that look like sticks/twigs/branches and a number of cross-wise horizontals that look like woven-like twigs, had been identified by S. M. Sullivan in her “Indus Script Dictionary” (2011) as the phoneme ‘gat’, which together with ‘ja’ forms the Sanskrit word ‘jagat’ - ‘world’, ‘people’. Instead, I propose that it stands for the Sanskrit phoneme ‘gar’, as in ‘-nagar’, ‘garta’ - area, place (SP) and ‘gada’ - ‘fence’, ‘screen’, ‘enclosure’, (phonologically, the ‘d’ and ‘r’ are interchangeable). The grapheme resembles the way ‘wattle & daub’ walls and fences were constructed out of woven twigs." - Wim J Borsboom
https://www.academia.edu/7751469/Decipherment_Interpretation_and_Translation_of_Indus_Script_Sign_430_Sinha "Decipherment, Interpretation and Translation of Indus Script Sign 430 (Sinha) "The Indus Script sign 430 (Sinha), consisting of four vertical uprights that look like sticks/twigs/branches and a number of cross-wise horizontals that look like woven-like twigs, had been identified by S. M. Sullivan in her “Indus Script Dictionary” (2011) as the phoneme ‘gat’, which together with ‘ja’ forms the Sanskrit word ‘jagat’ - ‘world’, ‘people’. Instead, I propose that it stands for the Sanskrit phoneme ‘gar’, as in ‘-nagar’, ‘garta’ - area, place (SP) and ‘gada’ - ‘fence’, ‘screen’, ‘enclosure’, (phonologically, the ‘d’ and ‘r’ are interchangeable). The grapheme resembles the way ‘wattle & daub’ walls and fences were constructed out of woven twigs." - Wim J Borsboom
Lothal seal 97 presents a variant of Sign 169.’twig’.
Translation of Sign 190 (four twigs on watery-field) on six inscriptions as Indus Script Hypertexts kaṇḍa, 'fire altar' kuṭhi 'smelter'
The locus of the Sarasvati Civilization sites on the Sarasvati River Basin extending into the Ganga-Yamuna doab (typical site: Alamgirpur) are presented in the following maps. The monograph discusses a unique hypertext of Sign 190 found on six inscriptions of the Sarasvati Civilization:
Sign 190 is read as four 'twigs' in a watery-field: kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. 
Variants of Sign 190 (as reported by Wim Borsboom) and by Mahadevan
Variants of Sign 169
Even though the Sign 169 may be a variant of Sign 162, alternative reading is suggested because this hieroglyph is quadrupled in a unique hypertext discussed in this monograph.Sign 162 is translated as kolmo 'rice-plant' rupaka 'metapor' of rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
Sign 169 is translated as kūdī rupaka 'metapor' of rebus: kuṭhi, 'smelter'.
Thus, a clear distinction may be drawn that Sign 162 signifies metal used in smithy/forge while Sign 169 signifies metal produced out of a smelter.
If interpretedd as a sprout, the reading is: sprouts (in watery field), twigs: kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali).
| कौशिक-सूत्र, according to Sāyaṇa. = बदरी, "Christ's thorn")(Monier-Williams) |
Sign 169 may be a variant of 
Sign 162. Sign 162 is kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. Both signs are circumscripted by an oval or lozenge-shaped glyph, Signs 387 and 389: the hypertexts are read: Sign 387 kolimi mũhã̄ 'smithy/forge ingot'. Sign 389 kuṭhi mũhã̄ , 'smelter ingot'
Lothal 97 seal 
Text kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'. 
The circumscript ![]()
has the shape of oval or lozenge is the shape of a bun ingot.
has the shape of oval or lozenge is the shape of a bun ingot.mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced atone time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed likea four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes andformed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends; kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt komūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali). Thus, Sign 373 signifies word, mũhã̄ 'bun ingot'.
h-48A kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol: कोंद kōnda '
Shortugai, Bactria (Jarrige 1984) h-48A kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol:gaṇḍa 'rhinoceros'; rebus:khaṇḍa 'tools, pots and pans .
m-2047 AB kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. Field symbol: kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelter'.
n-1498AB (Copper tablet) 
m-543A (Copper tablet)Field symbol: pāṭroṛo, pattar 'feeding trough' rebus paṭṭī 'inventory' పట్ర paṭra, patta'village, hamlet, maritime town' pāṭan; pattar 'goldsmith guild' PLUS कोंद kōnda ' kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. PLUS baraḍo 'spine, backbone' rebus: baran, bharat 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).PLUS khār खार 'backbone, spine' rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) PLUS bhaṭa 'warrior' rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace'. कर्णक kárṇaka, 'rim of jar', karaṇī'scribe, supercargo, a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale.', kañi-āra 'helmsman'.PLUS गोटी [ gōṭī ] f (Dim. of गोटा) A roundish stone or pebble.rebus: गोटी [gōṭī ] 'A lump of silver'.
m-546A (Copper tablet) kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' PLUS kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS gaṇḍa 'four' rebus: kaṇḍa 'fire-altar' khaṇḍa 'implements, metalware'. Thus, the hypertext signifies smelter implements. PLUS baraḍo 'spine, backbone' rebus: baran, bharat 'mixed alloys' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) (Punjabi).PLUS khār खार 'backbone, spine' rebus: khār खार् 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) This could be a semantic re-inforcement, determinative of with bharat khār blacksmithy work (on) mixed alloys.https://www.academia.edu/7751469/Decipherment_Interpretation_and_Translation_of_Indus_Script_Sign_430_Sinha "Decipherment, Interpretation and Translation of Indus Script Sign 430 (Sinha) "The Indus Script sign 430 (Sinha), consisting of four vertical uprights that look like sticks/twigs/branches and a number of cross-wise horizontals that look like woven-like twigs, had been identified by S. M. Sullivan in her “Indus Script Dictionary” (2011) as the phoneme ‘gat’, which together with ‘ja’ forms the Sanskrit word ‘jagat’ - ‘world’, ‘people’. Instead, I propose that it stands for the Sanskrit phoneme ‘gar’, as in ‘-nagar’, ‘garta’ - area, place (SP) and ‘gada’ - ‘fence’, ‘screen’, ‘enclosure’, (phonologically, the ‘d’ and ‘r’ are interchangeable). The grapheme resembles the way ‘wattle & daub’ walls and fences were constructed out of woven twigs." - Wim J Borsboom
Lothal 97 seal 
Text kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali) PLUS kolom 'three' rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge' PLUS dula 'two' rebus: dul 'metal casting'. | |
 m0596At m0596Bt  3313Tablet M-596, B side with single-sign inscription Sign 346  = Sign 342 PLUS duplicated ‘three linear strokes’PLUS duplicate ‘splinters’ Sign 342 'rim-of-jar'कर्णक m. (ifc. f(आ).) a prominence or handle or projection on the side or sides (of a vessel &c ) , a tendril S3Br. Ka1tyS3r. Rebus: कर्णिक having a helm; a steersman; m. pl. N. of a people VP. (Monier-Williams) rebus:karṇī 'supercargo', 'engraver' ( Sign 389  Sign 389, bun-ingot shape (oval) + 'twig', i.e. ingots produced from a smelter. This indicates that copper plates on which this hypertext occurs with high frequency are accounting ledgers of products produced from a smelter. The message is ingots from smelter.kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali). Sign 72  Modifier on Sign 72: sloping stroke: ḍhāḷiyum = adj. sloping, inclining (G.) The ligatured glyph is read rebus as: ḍhālako = a large metal ingot (G.) ḍhālakī = a metal heated and poured into a mould; a solid piece of metal; an ingot (Gujarati). Sign 59 aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'alloy metal'. Thus, Sign 72 is a hypertext to signify: alloy metal ingot.Sign 326  loa 'ficus glomerata' rebus: loh 'metal, copper'Sign 342  'rim-of-jar'कर्णक m. (ifc. f(आ).) a prominence or handle or projection on the side or sides (of a vessel &c ) , a tendril S3Br. Ka1tyS3r. Rebus: कर्णिक having a helm; a steersman; m. pl. N. of a people VP. (Monier-Williams) rebus:karṇī 'supercargo', 'engraver' ( |
Ligatured ‘rim-of-jar’ appears on copper tablets. This same inscription appears on tablets designated A2, where an iconic animal takes the place of ligatured ‘rim-of-jar’ sign. This animal is a composite, with a bovine body and bearing short, curved horns, but with an apparent tiger’s tail. Parpola interprets this juxtaposition as indicating the sign represents the animal.
Tvaṣṭṛ takṣa 'engraver' is creator of takṣat vAk 'engraved speech'. Takṣa has made a significant contribution to the abhyudayam, 'welfare' of people: by creating a writing system which revolutionized and intensified peoples' contacts and resulted in exchanges of ideas and archaeometallurgical and other technological inventions for the benefit of mankind.
A unique feature of Mohenjo-daro inscriptions is that over 260 inscriptions (out of a total of 2951) are on copper tablets both engraved and painted. (See 262 tablets analysed in: Franke-Vogt, U. 1990. Die Glyptik aus Mohenjo-Daro. Uniformität und Variabilität in der Induskultur: Untersuchungen zur Typologie, Ikonographie und räumlichen Verteilung, I-III. Ph.D. dissertation, Freien Universität Berlin. [Published in 1992 in two parts as volume 13 in the series Baghdader Forschungen].
In addition, tens of inscriptions are written (in ferrous oxide red or white paint) on metal implements. Mackay (1938, Further excavations at Mohenjo-daro, p. 364) explained the red colour on the tablets: “After cleaning, if the tablet is not too corroded, the animal or inscription, as the case may be, appears in faint dark red lines upon the lighter red of the copper, the incisions being filled in with cuprous oxide.” Silver stamp seals are with intaglio text and iconography.
Copper tablets mostly rectangular in shape range in size from 1.2X0.5 in. to 1.5x1.0 in. They vary in thickness from -.07 in. to 0.12 in. The incised hypertext (hieroglyph compositions) inscriptions are cut with a burin.
Hypertexts include pictorial motifs of: elephant, antelope (with head turned to look behind), hare, rhinoceros, buffalo, short-horned bull, archer, goat, bos indicus (zebu), tiger, two-headed animal, composite animal (hind-quarters of a rhinoceros and fore-quarters of a leopard or tiger with the horn of a young bull with a standard device in front, body of antelope with a head on either end, monkey(?), rope pattern (endless knot motif).
Mohenjo-daro Copper plates with inscriptions
--An analysis of 205 copper tablets made by Asko Parpola (1973)
Note: Set A2 (six copper plates) have a pictorial motif of a composite animal on one side and an inscription on the obverse. The same inscription occurs on Set C4a (six copper plates) which have a ligatured sign Sign ![]()
.
. The unique infixed ligatures to the 'rim-of-jar' hieroglyph Sign 342![]()
are: pair of three linear strokes and a pair of 'twigs' joined together. The rebus readings are: kolmo 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
are: pair of three linear strokes and a pair of 'twigs' joined together. The rebus readings are: kolmo 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.
kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali). Thus, the composite hypertext of Sign 346 signifies:
Sign 342 'rim-of-jar'कर्णक m. (ifc. f(आ).) a prominence or handle or projection on the side or sides (of a vessel &c ) , a tendril S3Br. Ka1tyS3r. Rebus: कर्णिक having a helm; a steersman; m. pl. N. of a people VP. (Monier-Williams) rebus:karṇī 'supercargo', 'engraver' (
Note: It is clear that the bunch of twigs ligatured on Sign 346 signify
kūdī 'bunch of twigs' (Sanskrit) rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter furnace' (Santali).
The dual of a pair of three linear strokes: dula 'pair' rebus: dul 'metal casting' PLUS kolmo 'three' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. The inscripted ligatured pair of 'three linear strokes' signifies metal casting smithy/forge.
Thus, together Sign 346 is a reading of a steersman, helmsman carrying and responsible as a seafaring merchant to manage the cargo metal products out of a smelter, smithy, forge.
The composite animal pictorial motif on set A2 (six copper plates) is an antelope which looks back and with a tail shaped like a cobra hood.
The readings of the hieroglyphs are: ranku 'antelope' rebus: ranku 'tin' PLUS krammara 'look back' rebus: kamar 'blacksmith' PLUS phaḍa 'cobrahood' rebus: phaḍa 'metals manufactory. Thus, the pictorial motif signifies blacksmith's tin and other alloy metal products out of a manufactory.
Sami William Devinck
Posted on Facebook Feb. 10, 2019
The shortugai site and Ellsworth Huntington's theoryAccording to the theory of this American geologist, there are still 3000 years water levels in the Caspian Sea and Aral were still so high in Central Asia, the Oxus River had a flow rate so much greater than it was possible that goods are sailing from Shortugai to the Black Sea. A waterway called Greeks Phase River, also connected the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, and that since the Neolithic and the creation of it there 7500 BP.
On the satellite photos one sees perfectly the old bed of the river, dating 2200 BCE according to the rare studies. And we also see a huge circular structure that looks like an old port. Too bad the French teams led Henri Paul Frank did not go further in their search in this region. Nevertheless genetic studies of ancient burials show a strong Indian presence in the former Bactrio-margian space, I believe that one has not yet understood yet the full extent of the Indian economy of the Bronze Age ...
Note that the Greeks of the classical period have sought this waterway, especially in the time of Alexander, but it did not exist already at that time ...
And that according to Russian archaeologists this region around shortugaï would be the birthplace of the prophet Zarathustra around 2000 BCE, a region strongly influenced by ancient India.
I also put on line a rare document of the old channels dating from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. I think we should think about who built them ???
Photos from Sam William Devinck's post
