Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521430798 ISBN 13: 9780521430791

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Of the writing systems of the ancient world which still await deciphering, the Indus script is the most important. It developed in the Indus or Harappan Civilization, which flourished c. 2500-1900 BC in and around modern Pakistan, collapsing before the earliest historical records of South Asia were composed. Nearly 4,000 samples of the writing survive, mainly on stamp seals and amulets, but no translations. Professor Parpola is the chief editor of the Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions. His ideas about the script, the linguistic affinity of the Harappan language, and the nature of the Indus religion are informed by a remarkable command of Aryan, Dravidian, and Mesopotamian sources, archaeological materials, and linguistic methodology. His fascinating study confirms that the Indus script was logo-syllabic, and that the Indus language belonged to the Dravidian family.

Book Description:

The Indus script developed in the Indus or Harappan Civilization, which flourished around 2500-1900 BC in what is now modern Pakistan. In this fascinating study, Professor Parpola outlines what is known about the Harappan culture and its script and proposes a method which will permit further progress in decipherment.

Review:

'This book is substantial, in every sense of the word ... does make a forceful case for a partial decipherment ... it will become the standard reference work and the basis for any further debate.' Stuart Blackburn, South Asia Research

'... deserves much credit for having pursued this enquiry to the very limits of what is now possible.' John Chadwick, The Times Higher Education Supplement

'... indispensable research tool ... a book of lasting value.' Florian Coulmas, Language

'The best informed, most cogently argued, and important work to date on the Indus script.' Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society

'By far the most comprehensive and well researched study of the Indus script ... It will certainly remain a classic source book for many years to come.' Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, American Anthropologist

'... doubtless the most important study of the Indus script ...' Thomas Oberlies, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

'... most complete and best-informed treatment of the subject.' Michael D. Coe, Antiquity