Pictorial narratives: There are figurines of one-horned young bull of Ganweriwala. The one-horned young bull signifies Indus Script. khōṇḍa m A young bull
interspace for setting gems in a jewel; fine gold (< Te.). Ka. kundaṇa
setting a precious stone in fine gold; fine gold; kundana fine gold. Tu. kundaṇa pure gold. Te. kundanamu fine gold used in very thin foils in setting precious stones; setting precious stones with fine gold. (DEDR 1725).Hypertexts: భక్తుడు. maṇḍi '![]()
Sign 45![]()
Sign 46bhaṭa 'worshipper' Rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace' baṭa 'iron' (Gujarati)maṇḍā 'raised platform, stool, arch' rebus: maṇḍā 'warehouse'Hieroglyph: kamadha 'penance' Rebus: kammata 'coiner, mint'W .) 3. cf. mēṭa. Storey; terraced house or palace; மாடி. விண்ணார் நிலவுதவழ் மேடை (தாயு. பைங்கிளி. 54).మేడ (p. 1028) mēḍa mēḍa. [Tel.] n. A mansion or large house: an upper chamber, a storey, హర్మ్యము, సౌధము. मेंड (p. 390) mēṇḍa m ( H) Edge, margin, or border of a field, esp. as raised: also a ridge or raised edge more generally. (Marathi) Ta. meṭṭu mound, heap of earth; mēṭu height, eminence, hillock; muṭṭu rising ground, high ground, heap. Ma. mēṭu rising ground, hillock; māṭu hillock, raised ground; miṭṭāl rising ground, an alluvial bank; (Tiyya) maṭṭa hill. Ka. mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock; miṭṭu rising or high ground, hill; miṭṭe state of being high, rising ground, hill, mass, a large number; (Hav.) muṭṭe heap (as of straw). Tu. miṭṭè prominent, protruding; muṭṭe heap.
Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound; miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain. Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭāid., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock Konḍa meṭa id.
Kuwi (S.) metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda)mẽṛhet iron (metal), meD 'iron' (Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic)
1. kuṭila ‘bent’; rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) [cf. āra-kūṭa, ‘brass’ (Skt.) (CDIAL 3230) 2. Glyph of ‘rim of jar’: kárṇaka m. ʻ projection on the side of a vessel, handle ʼ ŚBr. [kárṇa -- ]Pa. kaṇṇaka -- ʻ having ears or corners ʼ; (CDIAL 2831) kaṇḍa kanka; Rebus: furnace account (scribe). kaṇḍ = fire-altar (Santali); kan = copper (Tamil) khanaka m. one who digs , digger , excavator Rebus: karanikamu. Clerkship: the office of a Karanam or clerk. (Telugu) káraṇa n. ʻ act, deed ʼ RV. [√kr̥1] Pa. karaṇa -- n. ʻdoingʼ; NiDoc. karana, kaṁraṁna ʻworkʼ; Pk. karaṇa -- n. ʻinstrumentʼ(CDIAL 2790)
3. khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ‘ turner’ (Gujarati.) khareḍo 'a currycomb' rebus kharada खरडें daybook.
Sign 45
Sign 46Hieroglyph: kamadha 'penance' Rebus: kammata 'coiner, mint'
Glyph: kaṇḍo ‘stool’. Rebus; kaṇḍ ‘furnace’.
maṇḍā 'raised platform, stool, arch' rebus: maṇḍā 'warehouse'
மேடை mēṭai , n. [Telugu. mēḍa] 1. Platform, raised floor; தளமுயர்ந்த இடப்பகுதி. 2. Artificial mound; செய்குன்று. (W .) 3. cf. mēṭa. Storey; terraced house or palace; மாடி. விண்ணார் நிலவுதவழ் மேடை (தாயு. பைங்கிளி. 54).మేడ (p. 1028) mēḍa mēḍa. [Tel.] n. A mansion or large house: an upper chamber, a storey, హర్మ్యము, సౌధము. मेंड (p. 390) mēṇḍa m ( H) Edge, margin, or border of a field, esp. as raised: also a ridge or raised edge more generally. (Marathi) Ta. meṭṭu mound, heap of earth; mēṭu height, eminence, hillock; muṭṭu rising ground, high ground, heap. Ma. mēṭu rising ground, hillock; māṭu hillock, raised ground; miṭṭāl rising ground, an alluvial bank; (Tiyya) maṭṭa hill. Ka. mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock; miṭṭu rising or high ground, hill; miṭṭe state of being high, rising ground, hill, mass, a large number; (Hav.) muṭṭe heap (as of straw). Tu. miṭṭè prominent, protruding; muṭṭe heap.
Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound; miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain. Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭāid., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock Konḍa meṭa id.
Kuwi (S.) metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda)mẽṛhet iron (metal), meD 'iron' (Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic)
Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound; miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain. Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭāid., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock Konḍa meṭa id.
Kuwi (S.) metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda)mẽṛhet iron (metal), meD 'iron' (Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic)
Glimpses of Ganweriwala
May 4th, 2019The least excavated of the five large known ancient Indus cities – Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira, Harappa and Rakigarhi – is Ganweriwala, discovered in the late 1980s by Rafique Mughal. Deep in the desert, far from any towns and close to the Indian border, it has hardly ever been written about until Farzand Masih's article Ganweriwala – A new Perspective published in Walking with the Unicorn (2018). "In recent years," writes Masih, "a four-meter wide road was constructed though the middle of Ganweriwala to facilitate the movement of hunting parties from the UAE. Although this is highly unfortunate, it did provide ready-made sections across the upper portions of the mounds" (Unicorn, p. 381, Figure 2, the road is also shown as the line through Mounds A and B in Figure 1).
Some remarkable finds have been coughed up from Ganweriwala, but first: how big is it really? Mughal estimated over 80 hectares, which would make it one of the largest Indus sites. A survey ten tears later had it at about half that size, though Masih writes: "it is possible that some areas of the site are now covered by sand dunes and, perhaps, will be located during future explorations" (p. 381). In any case, Ganweriwala was much larger than the dozens of other sites measured along the old Hakra riverbed by Mughal (see Ancient Cholistan, 1997)Perhaps the most astounding discovery was four unicorn figurines (Fig. 3), the most from any Indus site (they are only also found at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro). Then there is a clay tablet with a seated yogi-type figure (Fig. 4), as well as a nearly pure copper seal with boss not found elsewhere.
Ganweriwala also lies along the old Hakra riverbed that once flowed through here (the Saraswati? even if it flowed perennially as recent work seems to show till 1900 BCE). It is also roughly equidistant between Harappa, to the north on the Ravi River, and Mohenjo-daro, to the south on the Indus River, which might have made it a regional capital well downstream of Rakigarhi. Of course we will not know until it is properly excavated and some real trenches are dug deeply into the two known mounds, and the surrounding region is better explored. When that might be, no one know, the site has been untouched for thousands of years – until a sheikh got his road, and Indus archaeologists were tossed another tantalizing puzzle (we may lament the road construction, but the truth is that rapid construction throughout the subcontinent is unearthing many new sites which, sadly, are momentarily visible and then paved over and lost to scholarship for who knows how long).
The article is part of Walking with the Unicorn (2018).
Images:
1. Contour map of Ganweriwala
2. Road cut on Mound A
3. Images and line drawings of four unicorn figurines (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)
4. Clay tablet with yogi and three graphemes of the Indus script (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)
Some remarkable finds have been coughed up from Ganweriwala, but first: how big is it really? Mughal estimated over 80 hectares, which would make it one of the largest Indus sites. A survey ten tears later had it at about half that size, though Masih writes: "it is possible that some areas of the site are now covered by sand dunes and, perhaps, will be located during future explorations" (p. 381). In any case, Ganweriwala was much larger than the dozens of other sites measured along the old Hakra riverbed by Mughal (see Ancient Cholistan, 1997)Perhaps the most astounding discovery was four unicorn figurines (Fig. 3), the most from any Indus site (they are only also found at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro). Then there is a clay tablet with a seated yogi-type figure (Fig. 4), as well as a nearly pure copper seal with boss not found elsewhere.
Ganweriwala also lies along the old Hakra riverbed that once flowed through here (the Saraswati? even if it flowed perennially as recent work seems to show till 1900 BCE). It is also roughly equidistant between Harappa, to the north on the Ravi River, and Mohenjo-daro, to the south on the Indus River, which might have made it a regional capital well downstream of Rakigarhi. Of course we will not know until it is properly excavated and some real trenches are dug deeply into the two known mounds, and the surrounding region is better explored. When that might be, no one know, the site has been untouched for thousands of years – until a sheikh got his road, and Indus archaeologists were tossed another tantalizing puzzle (we may lament the road construction, but the truth is that rapid construction throughout the subcontinent is unearthing many new sites which, sadly, are momentarily visible and then paved over and lost to scholarship for who knows how long).
The article is part of Walking with the Unicorn (2018).
Images:
1. Contour map of Ganweriwala
2. Road cut on Mound A
3. Images and line drawings of four unicorn figurines (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)
4. Clay tablet with yogi and three graphemes of the Indus script (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)
https://www.harappa.com/blog/glimpses-ganweriwala