- http://tinyurl.com/y2uekds6
- I submit that the so-called 'unicorn' on Indus Script Corpora is an orthographic composition (consistent with the styles of creating composite animals) which signifies a young bull, with characteristic orthographic ligatured of one horn, rings on neck, a pannier on shoulder. All these orthographic components are hypertexts read rebus in Meluhha readings for semantic determinatives signified by hieroglyphs: कोंद kōnda'young bull' rebus: कोंद kōnda'engraver, turner'kundana'fine gold' PLUS kōḍu'horn' rebus koḍ 'workplace' PLUS koḍiyum'ring on neck' rebus: koḍ 'workplace' PLUS khōṇḍī खोंडी 'pannier sack' rebus: कोंद kōnda'engraver, turner, fine gold'. Thus, the hypertext composition signifies workshop of a goldsmith, lapidary (turner, engraver). A remarkable cognate etymon signifying a young bull is seen in Telugu (Indian sprahbund, 'speech union'): kōḍe. [Tel.] n. A bullcalf.
కోడెదూడ . A young bull.కాడిమరపదగినదూడ . Plumpness, prime.తరుణము. జోడుకోడయలు a pair of bullocks.కోడె adj. Young.కోడెత్రాచు a young snake, one in its prime. "కోడెనాగముం బలుగుల రేడుతన్ని కొని పోవుతెరంగు "రామా . vi. కోడెకాడు kōḍe-kāḍu. n. A young man.పడుచువాడు . A loverవిటుడు .
I submit that there is little evidence to suggest that the young bull shown on Indus Script Corpora is an import from Mari or Ancient Near East.
On the contrary, the rebus readings of the Indus Script messages composed of hieroglyphs/hypertexts clearly indicate the semantic base of words of Indian sprachbund (speech union). I also submit that such an indication is not an idiosyncratic view given the archaeological evidence of Meluhha settlements in Ancient Near East and the discovery of three pure tin ingots with Indus Script inscriptions,from a shipwreck in Haifa. See: Itihāsa.Tin-Bronze mirror, exemplar of Tin-Bronze Revolution, of Rakhigarhi on an Ancient Maritime Tin Route Meluhha seafaring merchants link Hanoi and Haifa https://tinyurl.com/ydhyklz7
Considering that identical orthography occurs on Ancient Near East artifacts, the identity of the young bull, कोंद kōnda, is an Indian aurochs (Bos primigenius) as shown on the Mari procession proclaiming a young bull atop a flag-staff (which is a culm of millet).
See: Zebu (Bos primigenius indicus) are descended from Indian aurochs (stylized as unicorns)
Bos primigenius are signified on ANE cylinder seals, artefacts at Tell Hariri (Mari), Temple of Ninhurag Tell al Ubaid and on Indus Script hypertexts.
On Indus Script hypertexts, three forms of bulls are signified:
1. Bos primigenius (unicorns as young bulls with one horn): khōṇḍa m A young bull, a bullcalf. rebus: kunda, 'one of कुबेर's nine treasures', kundaṇa 'fine gold'
2. Bos primigenius Indicus (zebu): पोळ [pōḷa], 'zebu, dewlap' rebus: पोळ [pōḷa], 'magnetite, ferrite ore''
3. Bos primigenius taurus (old bull or ox): ḍhangra 'bull'. Rebus: ḍhangar
'blacksmith'. barad, balad, 'ox' rebus: bharata 'metal alloy' (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin
One-horned young bull is NOT a mythical species said to be 'unicorn' but in the genre of Indian aurochs (Bos primigenius).
In front of a soldier, a Sumerian standard bearer holds a banner aloft signifying the one-horned young bull which is the signature glyph of Harappa Script (Indus writing). Detail of a victory parade, from the Ishtar temple, Mari, Syria. 2400 BCE Schist panel inlaid with mother of pearl plaques. Louvre Museum. See:
Refuting pictorial symbolism of Othmar Keel. Meanings of Indus Script hypertexts, gypsum plaster priest of Mari, steatite priest of Mohenjo-daro
Detail of the Mari procession; the stand topped by the image of one-horned young bull (excavation no. M-458), height 7 cm. (After Parrot 1935: 134, fig.15)This procession is called a victory parade in Asko Parpola's article. I submit that the use of culm of millet as a flagstaff is a clear hypertext in the tradition of Indus Script cipher. karba'culm of millet' rebus: karba'iron'.
The 'rein rings' which constitute the stand for the one--horned young bull held aloft, are read rebus: valgā, bāg-ḍora 'bridle' rebus (metath.) bagalā 'seafaring dhow'. See: Priests of Mohenjo-daro and Mari (Susa) are dhāvaḍ 'iron smelters'
This young bull is distinguished from bos indicus or zebu with a pronounced hump, high horns and dewlap.
Walking with the Unicorn is the title of a Jonathan Mark Kenoyer felicitation volume published on October 16, 2018. The volume includes contributions by Gregg Jamison (fn.1) and Asko Parpola (fn.2), related to the Unicorn on Indus Script inscriptions. Gregg Jamison suggests that the evidenceof unicorn seal production suggests a decentralized form of socioolitical organization proposed by Kenoyer and supported by other forms of material culture throughout the Indus.
For views which differ from Asko Parpola's arguments, on the identity and origin of the 'unicorn', see an article by JM Kenoyer (fn.3), Iconography of the Indus Unicorn: Origins and Legacy. This comprehensive article of JM Kenoyer examines the figure of the unicorn in different historical contexts including the Greeks, Mesopotamians and other West Asians, and local Indian mythological and actual creatures to arrive at the author's startling conclusion, for which it can be said, there have been other supporters and which, at the very least, should cause those who may disagree with Dr. Parpola's thesis, to reflect on the antelope-characteristics of the so-called unicorn.
Abstract of Kenoyer's article
The most frequently occurring iconographic motif of the Indus seals, with thousands of occurrences, is a unicorn bull, a male bovine animal with a single horn. Its exact zoological identity is still controversial, but while some scholars consider it to be a purely fabulous beast, perhaps a conflation of two or more real species, many authorities consider it to represent either the humpless wild cow called aurochs or urus (Bos primigenius) or the humpless taurine cow (Bos taurus). The religious meaning of the Harappan unicorn has remained unclear as well. The present study tries to solve this problem by considering both Eurasian unicorn myths and those which are particular to South Asia, as well as their historical evolution and context. The evidence strongly suggests that the Harappan unicorn was an integral part of this unicorn mythology, that it stood for male creative power, and that its cult purported to secure rain and fertility for purposes of agriculture and animal husbandry. The Harappan unicorn was probably originally the humpless bull of Western Asia, and then transformed in the Indus Valley into an image of the blue bull, the nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus).
Abstract of Kenoyer's article
The most frequently occurring iconographic motif of the Indus seals, with thousands of occurrences, is a unicorn bull, a male bovine animal with a single horn. Its exact zoological identity is still controversial, but while some scholars consider it to be a purely fabulous beast, perhaps a conflation of two or more real species, many authorities consider it to represent either the humpless wild cow called aurochs or urus (Bos primigenius) or the humpless taurine cow (Bos taurus). The religious meaning of the Harappan unicorn has remained unclear as well. The present study tries to solve this problem by considering both Eurasian unicorn myths and those which are particular to South Asia, as well as their historical evolution and context. The evidence strongly suggests that the Harappan unicorn was an integral part of this unicorn mythology, that it stood for male creative power, and that its cult purported to secure rain and fertility for purposes of agriculture and animal husbandry. The Harappan unicorn was probably originally the humpless bull of Western Asia, and then transformed in the Indus Valley into an image of the blue bull, the nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus).
In an earlier conclusion reached in 2011, Asko Parpola stated: "My conclusion, is that the Indian Rsyasrnga legend goes back to the Harappan religion, where the unicorn bull depicted on thousands of seals has a real local animal, the nilgai antelope, called rsya in Sanskrit. His single horn, the length of which is exaggerated, has a phallic connotation and emphasizes the importance of this animal as a symbol of fertility. His cult purported to secure abundant rains that were vital for agriculture and animal husbandry, the foundations of Harappan economy. Such a role can best explain the overwhelming popularity of the unicorn as the favorite deity of many Indus seals owners." (4)
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Series: Orientale Roma (Book 15)- Paperback: 680 pages Publisher: Archaeopress Access Archaeology; 1 edition (October 16, 2018)
- Language: English ISBN-10: 1784919179 ISBN-13: 978-1784919177
Series:Notes:
1. Gregg Jamison, 2018, The Organization of Indus Unicorn Seal Production. A Multi-faceted Investigation of Technology, Skill, and Style, in: Dennys Frenez, Gregg Jamison, Randall Law, Massimo Vidale and Richard Meadow (eds.), Walking with the Unicorn. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume. Oxford: Archaeopress. http://tinyurl.com/y43qvacr
2. Parpola, Asko, 2018. Unicorn Bull and Victory Parade. Pp. 435-444 in: Dennys Frenez, Gregg Jamison, Randall Law, Massimo Vidale and Richard Meadow (eds.), Walking with the Unicorn. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume. Oxford: Archaeopress
http://tinyurl.com/yb695goq
3. https://www.harappa.com/content/iconography-indus-unicorn-origins-and-legacy
3. https://www.harappa.com/content/iconography-indus-unicorn-origins-and-legacy
https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Kenoyer2013%20Indus%20Unicorns-1.pdf An article by JM Kenoyer was originally published as Chapter 6 in Connections and Complexity, New Approaches to the Archaeology of South Asia, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California, 2013.
4. Asko Parpola's 2011 article: https://www.harappa.com/content/harappan-unicorn-eurasian-and-south-asian-perspectives
Originally published in Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, Edited by Toashiki Osada and Hitoshi Endo, Indus Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan, 2011, pp. 125-188.