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--A pair of ‘standing person with spread legs or body’ graphemes is a Meluhha expression as seen on a number of inscriptions from Harappa and Lothal and cannot be interpreted as ‘non-Indian syntax’. Cuneiform text evidence shows that Meluhhan communities were present in Ur III and also in Sumer/Elam/Mesopotamia. Thus, the inscriptions cited are written by Meluhha speakers. -- dula ‘two’ rebus: dul ‘metalcasting’ + med ‘body’ rebus: med ‘iron, copper’ vikalpa. kāṭi 'body stature' rebus: khad 'iron stone'H. khātī m. 'member of a caste of wheelwrights’ (CDIAL 3647) Thus, a pair of bodies or a pair of Sign 1 read rebus as ‘metalcaster, wheelwright’ This pair of graphemes is incorrectly read as non-Indus syntax. Evidence is presented from a number of inscriptions from Harappa and Lothal including graphemes of such a pair of bodies or standing persons with spread legs which are emphatic Meluhha expressions signifying dul mẽṛhẽt khātī ‘cast iron metalcasters, wheelwrights’.
"The Hurrian language (Mitanni) is attested from the last centuries of the 3rd millennium BCE until around the middle of the thirteenth century BCE. It was called À ur-li-liin Hittite, Á orî in Hebrew,×ïññátïò1 in Greek, and [x rġ] */xuruγi/ in the Ugaritic alphabetic script (the Hurrianending¯i-appears in other ethnonyms). Hurrian is also possibly attested in Egyptian as Àr, vocalized as *[xuru]. The Hurrians are attested in Hattic as <wa-ur-li>, where <wa-> expresses the plural. Hurrian was the language of the once-powerful Mitanni Kingdom...clue of an ancient presence is the non-native Sumerian word tabira ‘metallurgy’, which has obvious and strong connections with the following set of Hurrian words: tab ‘to melt (metal)’, tabiri ‘metal-melter’ and tabrenni ‘(copper)smith’.This shows a lasting and widespread presence of the Hurrians in the mountains of eastern Anatolia, where the resources, work, and trade of metals have been a major economic activity and whereHurrians are the apparently native element...Our discussion now comes to an end. In the course of this book, we have attempted to show, through a careful analysis of the relevant phonological, morphological, and lexical data, that Urarto-Hurrian and Indo-European are, in fact, genetically related at a very deep level, as we indicated at the beginning of this chapter by quoting from the famous Third Anniversary Discourse (1786) of Sir William Jones. We propose that both are descended from a common ancestor, which may be called “Proto-Asianic”, to revive an old, but not forgotten, term." (Arnaud Fournet & Allan R. Bomhard, 2010, The Indo-European Elements in Hurrian, Charleston, La Garenne Colombes, pp.1, 2, 159) https://www.academia.edu/642012/The_Indo-European_Elements_In_Hurrian The shaded area indicates the location of the Mitanni Kingdom around 1350 BCE The word tabira 'metallurgy' is cognate with Santali word tam(b)a 'copper'. A number of cognate expressions in Indian sprachbund (speech union of Meluhha, mleccha) are: 5779 tāmrá ʻ dark red, copper -- coloured ʼ VS., n. ʻ copper ʼ Kauś., tāmraka -- n. Yājñ. [Cf. tamrá -- . -- √tam?]Pa. tamba -- ʻ red ʼ, n. ʻ copper ʼ, Pk. taṁba -- adj. and n.; Dm. trāmba -- ʻ red ʼ (in trāmba -- lac̣uk ʻ raspberry ʼ NTS xii 192); Bshk. lām ʻ copper, piece of bad pine -- wood (< ʻ *red wood ʼ?); Phal. tāmba ʻ copper ʼ (→ Sh.koh. tāmbā), K. trām m. (→ Sh.gil. gur. trām m.), S. ṭrāmo m., L. trāmā, (Ju.) tarāmã̄ m., P. tāmbā m., WPah. bhad. ṭḷām n., kiũth. cāmbā, sod. cambo, jaun. tã̄bō, Ku. N. tāmo (pl. ʻ young bamboo shoots ʼ), A. tām, B. tã̄bā, tāmā, Or. tambā, Bi tã̄bā, Mth. tām, tāmā, Bhoj. tāmā, H. tām in cmpds., tã̄bā, tāmā m., G. trã̄bũ, tã̄bũ n.;M. tã̄bẽ n. ʻ copper ʼ, tã̄b f. ʻ rust, redness of sky ʼ; Ko. tāmbe n. ʻ copper ʼ; Si. tam̆ba adj. ʻ reddish ʼ, sb. ʻ copper ʼ, (SigGr) tam, tama. -- Ext. -- ira -- : Pk. taṁbira -- ʻ coppercoloured, red ʼ, L. tāmrā ʻ copper -- coloured (of pigeons) ʼ; -- with -- ḍa -- : S. ṭrāmiṛo m. ʻ a kind of cooking pot ʼ, ṭrāmiṛī ʻ sunburnt, red with anger ʼ, f. ʻ copper pot ʼ; Bhoj. tāmrā ʻ copper vessel ʼ; H. tã̄bṛā, tāmṛā ʻ coppercoloured, dark red ʼ, m. ʻ stone resembling a ruby ʼ; G. tã̄baṛ n., trã̄bṛī, tã̄bṛī f. ʻ copper pot ʼ; OM. tāṁbaḍā ʻ red ʼ. -- X trápu -- q.v.tāmrika -- ; tāmrakāra -- , tāmrakuṭṭa -- , *tāmraghaṭa -- , *tāmraghaṭaka -- , tāmracūḍa -- , *tāmradhāka -- , tāmrapaṭṭa -- , tāmrapattra -- , tāmrapātra -- , *tāmrabhāṇḍa -- , tāmravarṇa -- , tāmrākṣa -- .Addenda: tāmrá -- [< IE. *tomró -- T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 65]S.kcch. trāmo, tām(b)o m. ʻ copper ʼ, trāmbhyo m. ʻ an old copper coin ʼ; WPah.kc. cambo m. ʻ copper ʼ, J. cāmbā m., kṭg. (kc.) tambɔ m. (← P. or H. Him.I 89), Garh. tāmu, tã̄bu. tāmrakāra 5780 tāmrakāra m. ʻ coppersmith ʼ lex. [tāmrá -- , kāra -- 1] Or. tāmbarā ʻ id. ʼ. tāmrakuṭṭa 5781 tāmrakuṭṭa m. ʻ coppersmith ʼ R. [tāmrá -- , kuṭṭa -- ] N. tamauṭe, tamoṭe ʻ id. ʼ. Addenda: tāmrakuṭṭa -- : Garh. ṭamoṭu ʻ coppersmith ʼ; Ko. tāmṭi.tāraká -- 1 see tārā -- Add2. tāmraghaṭa 5782 *tāmraghaṭa ʻ copper pot ʼ. [tāmrá -- , ghaṭa -- 1]Bi. tamheṛī ʻ round copper vessel ʼ; -- tamheṛā ʻ brassfounder ʼ der. *tamheṛ ʻ copper pot ʼ or < next? tāmraghaṭaka 5783 *tāmraghaṭaka ʻ copper -- worker ʼ. [tāmrá -- , ghaṭa -- 2] Bi. tamheṛā ʻ brass -- founder ʼ or der. fr. *tamheṛ see prec. tāmracūḍa 5784 tāmracūḍa ʻ red -- crested ʼ MBh., m. ʻ cock ʼ Suśr. [tāmrá -- , cūˊḍa -- 1]Pa. tambacūḷa -- m. ʻ cock ʼ, Pk. taṁbacūla -- m.; -- Si. tam̆basiluvā ʻ cock ʼ (EGS 61) either a later cmpd. (as in Pk.) or ← Pa. tāmradhāka 5785 *tāmradhāka ʻ copper receptacle ʼ. [tāmrá -- , dhāká -- ]Bi. tamahā ʻ drinking vessel made of a red alloy ʼ. tāmrapaṭṭa 5786 tāmrapaṭṭa m. ʻ copper plate (for inscribing) ʼ Yājñ. [Cf. tāmrapattra -- . -- tāmrá -- , paṭṭa -- 1]M. tã̄boṭī f. ʻ piece of copper of shape and size of a brick ʼ. tāmrapattra 5787 tāmrapattra n. ʻ copper plate (for inscribing) ʼ lex. [Cf. tāmrapaṭṭa -- . -- tāmrá -- , páttra -- ] Ku.gng. tamoti ʻ copper plate ʼ. tāmrapātra 5788 tāmrapātra n. ʻ copper vessel ʼ MBh. [tāmrá -- , pāˊtra -- ]Ku.gng. tamoi ʻ copper vessel for water ʼ. tāmrabhāṇḍa 5789 *tāmrabhāṇḍa ʻ copper vessel ʼ. [tāmrá -- , bhāṇḍa -- 1]Bhoj. tāmaṛā, tāmṛā ʻ copper vessel ʼ; G. tarbhāṇũ n. ʻ copper dish used in religious ceremonies ʼ (< *taramhã̄ḍũ). tāmravarṇa 5790 tāmravarṇa ʻ copper -- coloured ʼ TĀr. [tāmrá -- , várṇa -- 1]Si. tam̆bavan ʻ copper -- coloured, dark red ʼ (EGS 61) prob. a Si. cmpd. tāmrākṣa 5791 tāmrākṣa ʻ red -- eyed ʼ MBh. [tāmrá -- , ákṣi -- ] Pa. tambakkhin -- ; P. tamak f. ʻ anger ʼ; Bhoj. tamakhal ʻ to be angry ʼ; H. tamaknā ʻ to become red in the face, be angry ʼ. tāmrika 5792 tāmrika ʻ coppery ʼ Mn. [tāmrá -- ]Pk. taṁbiya -- n. ʻ an article of an ascetic's equipment (a copper vessel?) ʼ; L. trāmī f. ʻ large open vessel for kneading bread ʼ, poṭh. trāmbī f. ʻ brass plate for kneading on ʼ; Ku.gng. tāmi ʻ copper plate ʼ; A. tāmi ʻ copper vessel used in worship ʼ; B. tāmī, tamiyā ʻ large brass vessel for cooking pulses at marriages and other ceremonies ʼ; H. tambiyā 'copper or brass vessel'.(CDIAL 5779 to 5790). The approximate area of Hurrian settlement in the Middle Bronze Age is shown in purple "The Hurrians (/ˈhʊəriənz/; cuneiform: 𒄷𒌨𒊑; transliteration: Ḫu-ur-ri; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurro-Urartian language called Hurrian and lived in Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia. The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni, the Mitanni perhaps being Indo-Iranian speakers who formed a ruling class over the Hurrians. The population of the Indo-European-speaking Hittite Empire in Anatolia included a large population of Hurrians, and there is significant Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology. By the Early Iron Age, the Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples. Their remnants were subdued by a related people that formed the state of Urartu. According to a hypothesis by I.M. Diakonoff and S. Starostin, the Hurrian and Urartian languages shared a common ancestor and were related to the Northeast Caucasian languages. The present-day Armenians are an amalgam of the Indo-European groups with the Hurrians and Urartians." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrians Arnaud Fournet & Allan R. Bomhard have demonstrated the Indo-European elements in Hurrian and suggested that the Hurrian may be derived from “Proto-Asianic”. I suggest that such a Proto-Asianic form is suggested by Meluhha (Mleccha) vocabulary used in the rebus renderings of over 8000 Indus Script inscriptions which include seals from Bogazkoy (Hurrian settlement area). The Louvre lion (Hurrian foundation peg) and accompanying stone tablet bearing the earliest known text in Hurrian language. See: R̥gveda ākhyāna of śyena by Gautama, son of Rāhugaṇa who migrated to Karatoya, Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. Soma and the Eagle (Agni as śyena 'thunderbolt' ) -- Maurice Bloomfield (1892) https://tinyurl.com/ycpf85x2 করতোয়ানদী Karatoya river which Sadānīra (Amara) and close to the tin belt of the globe in Ancient Far East (Mekong, Irrawaddy, Salween Himalayan river basins) to unleash Tin-Bronze revolution (ca.4th m. BCE). Amara Kośa asserts Sadānīra to be synonym of Karatoya River. See: सदानीरा स्त्री सदा नीरं पेयमस्याः । करतोयानद्याम् अमरः । “अथादौ कर्कटे देवी त्र्यहं गङ्गा रजस्वला । सर्वा रक्तवहा नद्यः करतोयाम्बुवाहिनी” स्मृत्युक्तेःतन्नदीजलस्य सदापेयत्वात् तस्यास्तथात्वम् । Source: https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/वाचस्पत्यम् It is posited that these Meluhha speakers had migrated to Mitanni settlements as metallurgical experts. • S. Kalyanaraman, Sarasvati Research Centre
Meluhha-Mleccha is traced as parole (vācas) of mleccha 'copper' workers. In linguistics (which studies language as an abstract system of signs), parole vācas refers to individual expressions of language in contrast to langue. What we find in many language lexicons of India are vācas or expressions used in lingua franca, common parlance. The evidence is remarkable that almost every single glyph or glyptic element of the Indus script can be read rebus using the repertoire of artisans (lapidaries working with precious shell, ivory, stones and terracotta, mine-workers, metal-smiths working with a variety of minerals, furnaces and other tools) who created the inscribed objects and used many of them to authenticate their trade transactions. Many of the inscribed objects are seen to be calling cards of the professional artisans, listing their professional skills and repertoire. The identification of glosses from the present-day languages of India on Sarasvati river basin is justified by the continuation of culture evidenced by many artifacts evidencing civilization continuum from the Vedic Sarasvati River basin, since language and culture are intertwined, continuing legacies: Huntington notes [http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/Makara%20Site/makara]: “There is a continuity of composite creatures demonstrable in Indic culture since Kot Diji ca. 4000 BCE.” On the banks of River Narmada are found speakers of Nahali, the so-called language isolate with words from Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Munda – which together constitute the indic language substratum of a linguistic area, ca. 3300 BCE on the banks of Rivers Sarasvati and Sindhu – a region referred to as Meluhha in Mesopotamian cuneiform records; hence the language of the inscribed objects can rightly be called Meluhhan or Mleccha, a language which Vidura and Yudhiṣṭhira knew (as stated in the Great Epic, Mahābhārata). Tracing Mleccha (cognate Meluhha) in texts of ancient India and language lexicons of the Indian sprachbund is the purport of this monograph.
A number of hieroglyphs on cylinder seals of Ancient Near East have been explained as Meluhha rebus expessions in Indus Script cipher. What is the archaeological evidence for the presence of Meluhha speakers (of Indian sprachbund, 'language union') in Ancient Near East (ANE)? I submit three clusters of evidences: 1. Attestation in cuneiform records of Meluhha artisans/merchants and their settlements in ANE; 2. Shu-ilishu cylinder seal which shows him in an Akkadian inscription to be a translator of Meluhha; Mari priest hoisting an Indus Script standard of one-horned young bull in a procesion; and 3. 3. Archaeometallurgical research which has proved the provenance of Meluhha copper in ANE. Map of Meluhha and Southwest Asia (inset Bahrain) (After Fig. 1 Eric Olijdam, 2008, A possible Central Asian origin for the seal-impressed jar from the Temple Tower' at Failaka), in:Eric Olijdam & RH Spoor, eds, Intercultural relations between South and Southwest Asia, Studiesin Commemoration of ECL During Caspers (1934-1996), BAR Intrnational Series 1826 (2008): 268-287). Failaka, Persian Gulf, Indus Script Hypertext seal impressions on storage jars from 'Temple Tower' signify armour, metal equipment, weapons https://tinyurl.com/ybzbtpnu Notes: 1. See: Tracing Meluhha in Rigveda and Cuneiform texts of Ancient Near East Tracing Meluhha in Rigveda and Cuneiform texts of Ancient Near East https://tinyurl.com/y27dwbmq Melakkha, island-dwellers, lapidaries According to the great epic, Mlecchas lived on islands: “sa sarvān mleccha nṛpatin sāgara dvīpa vāsinah, aram āhāryàm àsa ratnāni vividhāni ca, andana aguru vastrāṇi maṇi muktam anuttamam, kāñcanam rajatam vajram vidrumam ca mahādhanam: (Bhima) arranged for all the mleccha kings, who dwell on the ocean islands, to bring varieties of gems, sandalwood, aloe, garments, and incomparable jewels and pearls, gold, silver, diamonds, and extremely valuable coral… great wealth.” (MBh. 2.27.25-27). The reference to gems, pearls and corals evokes the semi-precious and precious stones, such as carnelian and agate, of Gujarat traded with Mesopotamian civilization. According to Sumerian records from the Agade Period (Sargon, 2373-2247 BC), Sumerian merchants traded with people from (at least) three named foreign places: Dilmun (now identified as the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf); Magan (a port on the coastline between the head of the Persian Gulf and the mouth of the Sindhu river); and Meluhha. Mentions of trade with Meluhha become frequent in Ur III period (2168-2062 BCE) and Larsa dynasty (2062- 1770 BCE). To the end of the Sarasvati Civilization period, the trade declines dramatically attesting to Meluhha being the Sarasvati Civilization. By Ur III Period, Meluhhan workers residing in Sumeria had Sumerian names, leading to a comment: ‘…three hundred years after the earliest textually documented contact between Meluhha and Mesopotamia, the references to a distinctly foreign commercial people have been replaced by an ethnic component of Ur III society’ This is an economic presence of Meluhhan traders maintaining their own village for a considerable span of time.(Parpola, Simo, Asko Parpola, and Robert H. Brunswig, Jr., 1977, “TheMeluhha Village — Evidence of Acculturation of Harappan Traders in Late Third Millenium Mesopotamia?”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Volume 20, Part II.) 2. Shu-ilishu cylinder seal; Mari standard carried by a priest in a procession Identity and decipherment of 'unicorn' on Indus Script Corpora as a one-horned young bull, to signify workshop of a goldsmith, lapidary (turner, engraver). http://tinyurl.com/y2uekds6 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 lover విటుడు. 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 https://tinyurl.com/yd239gx4 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' http://tinyurl.com/ktafaud Indus Script Meluhha (Mleccha) speakers are evidenced on a cylinder seal & Cuneiform texts, and link to priest images of Mari (ANE) & Sarasvati Civilization https://tinyurl.com/y9v5kvf4 Shu-ilishu's Cylinder seal. Courtesy of the Department des Antiquites Orientales Musee du Louvre, Paris. The cuneiform text reads: Shu-Ilishu EME.BAL.ME.LUH.HA.KI (interpreter of Meluhha language). The Shu-ilishu cylinder seal is a clear evidence of the Meluhhan merchants trading in copper and tin. The Meluhha merchant carries melh,mr̤eka 'goat or antelope' rebus: milakkhu 'copper and the lady accompanying the Meluhhan carries a ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin'; On the field is shown a crucbile: kuṭhāru 'crucible'rebus: kuṭhāru 'armourer' Apparently, the Meluhhan is the person carrying the antelope on his arms. I also suggest that on the Shu-ilishu cylinder seal, a significant hieroglyph is shown. It is a crucible which may have been used by the copper-tin artisans to work with an extraordinary invention called ukku in Kannada produced in a crucible. I suggest that Kannada word ukku is the root word because of semantic association signified by cognate words: uggi, urika which mean 'burning'. Crucible steel process is vividly explained by these etyma. "Another Akkadian text records that Lu-sunzida “a man of Meluhha” paid to the servant Urur, son of AmarluKU 10 shekels of silver as a payment for a tooth broken in a clash. The name Lu-sunzida literally means “Man of the just buffalo cow,” a name that, although rendered in Sumerian, according to the authors does not make sense in the Mesopotamian cultural sphere, and must be a translation of an Indian name." (MASSIMO VIDALE Ravenna Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millennium BC Published in Melammu Symposia 4: A. Panaino and A. Piras (eds.), Schools of Oriental Studies and the Development of Modern Historiography. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Ravenna, Italy, October 13-17, 2001 (Milan: Università di Bologna & IsIao 2004), pp. 261-80. Publisher: http://www.mimesisedizioni.it/) https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/201402/Vidale-Indus-Mesopotamia.pdf • 1.Shu-ilishu cylinder seal 2. Detail of the Mari Ishtar temple victory parade: thestand topped by the image of unicorn wild bull (excavationno. M-458), height 7cm. (After Parrot 1935: 134, fig. 15) 3, Positing an Ancient Maritime Tin Route from Ancient Far East to Ancient Near East, based on Archaeometallurgical provenance study of tin-bronze artifacts of Mesopotamia https://tinyurl.com/yyeyfkxu Abstract from Iranica Antiqua, 2009: Copper from Gujarat used in Mesopotmia, 3rd millennium BCE, evidenced by lead isotope analyses of tin-bronze objects; report by Begemann F. et al. 1. Title: Über das frühe Kupfer Mesopotamiens 2. Author(s): BEGEMANN, F. , SCHMITT-STRECKER, S. Journal: Iranica Antiqua Volume: 44 Date: 2009 Pages: 1-45 DOI: 10.2143/IA.44.0.2034374
1. What is the language assumed in the Sarasvati Sindhu Civilization and what are the seals meant for? 2. What is the reason behind a civilization using a rebus? For example if they have a symbol to represent one word, why not just use a different symbol to represent a different word? What is the point of using a complex tool like a rebus? 3. What is the stance on the Aryan migration debate? What is the explanation for the presence of the Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic languages and their modern distribution in India? 1. Meluhha is mentioned as mleccha in ancient texts including Mahabharata where Vidura and Yudhishthira converse in Mlecch, says the Epic. I have argued that Mlecchita Vikalpa mentioned by Vatsyayana in Vidyaasamuddesa is Meluhha cipher or writing system of mleccha 'copper workers'. Seals are meant to record technical specifications of bills of lading of cargo for barter. So, Meluhha is the spoken form of Prakrit which was the lingua franca. It is like the dialect spoken in Tamilnadu by, say, farmers compared to the literary language of Tamil found, say, in S'ilappadikaram or Kamba Ramayanam. I have argued that the spoken form is traceable through the surviving words recorded in lexicons of more than 25 living languages of Bharatam. Even one of the two authors of the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary conceded in his lecture in Annamalai University that Dravidian Etymological Dictionary is faulty and that India was a sprachbund, 'language union' or 'linguistic area' where people from various language families, say, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Austro-asiatic absorbed language features from one another and made them their own. The author is MB Emeneau. Surprisingly, the words used in Indus Script inscriptions are found in vogue even today in many Bharatiya languages with variant pronunciations which are characteristic of Meluhha spoken forms. 2. During the Tin-Bronze Revolution, technical processes related to metalwork and lapidary work became complex necessitating invention of words in speech forms to signify the nature of the resources and technologies used. Civilization using a rebus is comparable to the Egyptian civilization using Egyptian hieroglyphs. For e.g., this image in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Picture-writing is the earliest form of writing on tokens. Picture signifies a word; the same or similar sounding-word conveys the intended cipher message as a rebus reading. This was the early writing system principle; it was later that syllabic writing in Brāhmī or Kharoṣṭhī scripts evolved. Kharoṣṭhī is composed of two words; khara 'onager, wild ass' rebus:khār 'blacksmith' PLUS ओष्ठी f. (in a compound the ओ of ओष्ठ forms with a preceding अ either वृद्धि औ , or गुण ओ Ka1ty. on Pa1n2. 6-1 , 94) ; ([cf. Zd. aoshtra ; O. Pruss. austa , " mouth " ; O. Slav. usta , " mouth. "])ṓṣṭha m. ʻ lip ʼ RV. Thus, together, the Meluhha expression signifies 'blacksmith lip or speech' Enlarged cartouche of Narmer palette On the palette of King Narmer, the cartouche shows two hieroglyphs: Nar 'cuttle fish' + Mer 'awl'. this is an example of rebus principle, using similar sounding words in picture writing. The underlying cultural framework for the invention of rebus writing in Egyptian hieroglyphs is related to the adoration of the Kings of Egypt as divinely endowed people. In Sarasvati CIvilization, the underlying cultural framework is celebration of entering into the Tin-Bronze-Metals Age from the earlier chalcolithic (copper, stone) phase of civilizational advance. This Tin-Bronze-Metals Age resulted in extensive trade contacts with Ancient Far East (to obtain tin) and Ancient Near East -- ANE (to barter the tin-bronze-metal products and artifacts including jewelw, gemstones. The Meluhha artisans and seafaring merchants (across Persian Gulf where over 2000 Indus Script seals have been found) found the necessity to communicate to the Meluhha settlers in ANE to describe the nature of metallurgical/lapidary cargo reaching them as marketing agents to barter with the Akkadian speakers. The system similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs emerged as an accounting ledger entries or tokens in an industrial-scale organization for producing Tin-Bronze and jewellery products. Evidence for this industrial scale is provided by Harappa with circular workers' platforms which were smithies/forges. Harappa circular workers' platforms. Some green residue was found from the central part of these platforms. I submit that this is copper sulphate residue from anvils used in the centre of these platforms. So, the Indus Script on seals/tablets went with the Cargo as seal impressions which conveyed to the Meluhha settlers of ANE the nature of the metallurgical components and metallurgical processes used, like technical specifications in bills of lading for the cargo. This is evidenced by the Shu-ilishu cylinder seal which shows a Meluhha merchant couple trading in copper and tin signified by the hieroglyphs associated with them. The male merchant carries a goat; the female carries a liquid measure. The words associated with the hieroglyphs are: mlekh 'goat' rebus: milakkhu, mleccha 'copper'; ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin ore'. The Meluhha merchant carries melh,mr̤eka 'goat or antelope' rebus: milakkhu 'copper and the lady accompanying the Meluhhan carries a ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin'. Ka. mēke she-goat; mē the bleating of sheep or goats. Te. mē̃ka, mēka goat. Kol. me·ke id. Nk. mēke id. Pa. mēva, (S.) mēya she-goat. Ga. (Oll.) mēge, (S.) mēgegoat. Go. (M) mekā, (Ko.) mēka id. ? Kur. mēxnā (mīxyas) to call, call after loudly, hail. Malt. méqe to bleat. [Te. mr̤ēka (so correct) is of unknown meaning. Br. mēḻẖ is without etymology; see MBE 1980a.] / Cf. Skt. (lex.) meka- goat. (DEDR 5087) The Akkadian inscription on this cylinder seal reads: Sha-Ilishu EME.BAL.MELUHHA.KI 'Meluhha interpreter' (who is the boy sitting on the lap of the Akkadian metals trader or armourer (signified by the storage jars and crucible or moon hieroglyph" kamar 'moon' rebus: kamar 'blacksmith' Alternative: कुठारु kuṭhāru 'crucible' .कुठारु kuṭhāru 'an armourer'.) The reason behind the civilization using rebus is to communicate through hieroglyphs similar sounding words to signify the metallurgical technical specifications of the cargo. 3. I do have a stance of Aryan migration debate. There was extensive recording of trade transactions of the civilization with Ancient Near East (ANE); over 2000 Indus Script inscriptions with Indus Script hieroglyphs have been found. See for example, the Mari procession (on Euphrates river, Mesopotamia). A flagpost is carried by a priest followed by a procession on the Marble Mosaic discovered in Mari. The flagpost is unusual. It is a cōḷamkampu 'cob of millet'. The Meluhha word is khōṇḍa 'millet' rebus: khōṇḍa 'young bull' rebus: koṇḍa 'fire trench with live coals' agni kuṇḍa 'sacred fire altar'. The rein rings atop the flagpost: káṭaka 'bridle, rein-ring' rebus: káṭaka 'caravan':The one-horned young bull atop the flagpost: khōṇḍa 'young bull' rebus: koṇḍa 'fire trench with live coals' agni kuṇḍa 'sacred fire altar'. This is a reinforcement, a semantic determinative in Meluhha of what is intended to be conveyed by the cob of millet which is also khōṇḍa 'millet'. This firmly evidences use of Meluhha speech words in the hieroglyphs used by Meluhha merchants and artisans doing their trade/barter activities in ANE. There is not much evidence of Mesopotamia products received into Sarasvati Civilization. There are some cuneiform texts which indicate that the imports from Mesopotamia were: oils and woollen textiles as per the cuneiform Akkadian text inscriptions recording trade transactions. The major part of the products exported related to metalwork and lapidary work (gems, jewels, jewelry). The use of Indus Script in seals and seal impressions found in ANE are clear indicators of Meluhha speakers going into Ancient Far East trading area; there are also cuneiform texts which mention Meluhha settlements in the area. I have shown that the area extended upto Anatolia by the evidence of double-headed eagles found on Bogazkhoy seals. Eagle is a dominant hieroglyph of the civilization. Bogazkhoy seal. Double eagle. Endless knot. (Indus Script hieroglyphs) śyens 'eagle' rebus: áśan 'thunderbolt' rebus āhan 'iron' kharā 'hare' Rebus: khār, آهن ګر āhan gar, अहन्-गार् 'thunderbolt blacksmith, armourer' (Pashto.Kashmiri) Anatolia stone at Alaka Hoyuk, Anatolia. Indus Script hieroglyphs and rebus readings: śyena, aśani 'eagle, thunderbolt' rebus: P آهن āhan, s.m. (9th) Iron; asani 'thunderbolt' PLUS kharā 'hare' Rebus: khār 'blacksmith'; thus, together, the expression is Rebus: آهن āhan, s.m. (9th) Iron + khār 'blacksmith';thus,together, the expression is: अहन्-गार् (Kashmiri) آهن ګر āhan gar (Pashto) 'blacksmith' 'thunderbolt blacksmith' Harappa. Seal. Fire altar. Eagle, cobrahood (All Indus Script hieroglyphs)The square shape is a hieroglyph which signifies fire-altar. Fire-altar. Malhar. Sarasvati Sindhu Civilization. This shape becomes a hieroglyph on Harappa tablet. Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic languages and their modern distribution in India. From the days of Sarasvati Sindhu CIvilization, these language speakers from all parts of Bharat interacted with the Civilization area of trade centres. Tin-Bronze revolution resulted in words which were commonly used all over Bharat in all languages of Bharatam. The Austro-asiatic speakers contributed to the formation and evolution of Mon-Khmer languages by their migrations into AFE.
See: Five Meluhha hieroglyphs of Indus Script are allographs to signify dul mẽṛhẽt 'cast iron', मेधा 'wealth, dhanam' http://tinyurl.com/ktmb2oj 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 [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) Ganweriwala tablet. Ganeriwala or Ganweriwala (Urdu: گنےریوالا Punjabi: گنیریوالا) is a Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization site in Cholistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Glyphs on a broken molded tablet, Ganweriwala. The reverse includes the 'rim-of-jar' glyph in a 3-glyph text. Observe shows a person seated on a stool and a kneeling adorant below. 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) kuṭila ‘bent’; rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) [cf. āra-kūṭa, ‘brass’ (Skt.) (CDIAL 3230) khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ‘ turner’ (G.) bhaTa 'worshipper' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace' baTa 'iron' (Gujarati) Canopy: Ku. pāl ʻ canopy ʼ; N. pāl ʻ tent ʼ; A. pāl ʻ sail, large sheet of cloth, palanquin ʼ; B. pāl ʻ sail ʼ, pāil ʻ sail, awning ʼ-- P. H. pallā m. ʻ cloth spread out for grain ʼ poss. < palya -- . Addenda: *palla -- 3: S.kcch. pāl m. ʻ big jute cloth ʼ.(CDIAL 7967). phala2 n. ʻ point of arrow ʼ Kauś., ʻ blade of knife ʼ MBh. 2. *phara -- 1. [i.e. ʻ splitting ʼ ~ phala -- 3 ʻ what is split ʼ. -- √phal]1. Pa. phala -- n. ʻ point of arrow or sword ʼ, Pk. phala<-> n. ʻ point of arrow ʼ; K. phal ʻ tip of arrow, blade of mattock ʼ; S. pharu m. ʻ blade, arrowhead ʼ; L.awāṇ. P. N. phal ʻ blade ʼ, B. phal, °lā; Or. phaḷā ʻ blade ʼ, phaḷī ʻ arrowhead ʼ; H. phal m. ʻ blade ʼ, G. M. phaḷ n.; M. phaḷẽ n. ʻ spear -- head ʼ.2. P. pharhā m. ʻ blade, nib ʼ.Addenda: phala -- 2. 1. Md. fali ʻ oar ʼ or < *phāla -- 2?(CDIAL 9052) Hieroglyph: kamadha 'penance' Rebus: kammata 'coiner, mint'. Prakritam gloss: kamad.ha, kamat.ha, kamad.haka, kamad.haga, kamad.haya= a type of penance. Allograph: Pictorial motif 69 (Mahadevan concordance). Tortoise. kamaṭha 'turtle' rebus: kammata 'coiner, mint'.కమఠము [ kamaṭhamu ] kamaṭhamu. [Skt.] n. A tortoise. Rebus: కమటము [ kamaṭamu ] kamaṭamu. [Tel.] n. A portable furnace for melting the precious metals. అగసాలెవాని కుంపటి. Allograph: कमटा or ठा [ kamaṭā or ṭhā ] m (कमठ S) A bow (esp. of bamboo or horn) (Marathi). Allograph 2: kamaḍha ‘penance’ (Pkt.) Signs 45, 46 Mahadevan Concordance. In Sign 46, Sign 45 is ligatured with a pot held by the adoring hands of the kneeling adorant wearing a scarf-type pigtail. I suggest that the rimless pot held on Sign 46 is a phonetic determinant: baTa 'rimless pot' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. So, is the kneeling adorant, a worshippper of a person seated in penance, a bhaTa 'worshipper in a temple' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'. For him the kole.l 'temple' is kole.l 'smithy, forge' (Kota language). Heulandite. H. 1 3/8 in. (3.4 cm); dia. 1 in. (2.4 cm) Proto-Elamite period, ca 3100-2900 BCE Sb 2675 Comment by Holly Pittman on Rutten, (Ed.), 1935-36, Encyclopedie photographique de l’art, Paris: “Although the tree on the mountain is undoubtedly a landscape element, tree, mountain, and the combination of the two are distinct script signs as well.” (After Fig. 45, Prudence O Harper et al, opcit., p.74). loa = a species of fig tree, ficus glomerata, the fruit of ficus glomerata (Santali) Rebus: lo ‘iron’ (Assamese, Bengali); loa ‘iron’ (Gypsy) dula 'pair, two' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' Thus, together, loh 'copper' PLUS dul 'cast metal' PLUS kuṭhi '(copper)metal smelter' Similarly, two antelopes signify by rebus-metonymy layer: dul 'cast metal' PLUS milakkhu 'copper' ORranku 'tin'. Similarly, two wild goats signify by rebus-metonymy layer: dul 'cast metal' PLUS mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.) OR med 'copper' (Slavic languages). Медь [Med'] (Russian, Slavic) 'copper' gloss is cognate with mē̃ḍ 'iron' (Munda) meḍ 'iron' (Ho.) . The early semantics of the Meluhha word meḍ is likely to be 'copper metal'. Rebus: मेढ meḍh 'helper of merchant'. Seafaring merchants of Meluhha ! Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic). Corruptions from the German "Schmied", "Geschmeide" = jewelry. Used in most of the Slavic and Altaic languages. — Slavic Мед [Med] Bulgarian Bakar Bosnian Медзь [medz'] Belarusian Měď Czech Bakar Croatian Kòper Kashubian Бакар [Bakar] Macedonian Miedź Polish Медь [Med'] Russian Meď Slovak Baker Slovenian Бакар [Bakar] Serbian Мідь [mid'] Ukrainian http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/element.php?sym=Cu This hieroglyph-multiplex has three hieroglyph components: mountain, two bunches of twigs, ficus glomerata leaf (NOT a tree).
--Chronology, cultural information inferred from geometric forms-Tribute to Meadows and Kenoyer for reports on archaeological contexts of discoveries and types of inscribed objects-amulets (to be worn), tablets-flat, triangular, deeply rectangular to square, planoconvex, biconvex, or almost cylindrical , incised bas-relief duplicated steatite or terracotta tablets (made from same moulds), imprints on soft clay, on ceramic vessels, inscribed copper tablets, bas-relief copper tablets
Prologue Indus Script decipherment results in a Meluhha lexis; a select, short vocabulary list is indicated in this monograph; a comprehensive vocabulary list will relate to ca. 7000 inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora all of which relate to only one category: metalwork catalogues. Such a comprehensive lexis of ancient Indian lingua franca, will span Meluhha (Mleccha), Chandas and all languages of Indian sprachbund. The lexis relates to semantics of metalwork 1. words and expressions of Bronze Age; and 2. words which signify hieroglyph-multiplexes which are homonyms, rebus catalogues of such metalwork. The authors of these catalogues were Bhāratam Janam, 'metalcaster folk' of Bronze Age, Sarasvati's children who toiled on the banks of Sapta Sindhu 'seven rivers' and laid the foundations of the Hindu civilization, dateable from ca. 8th millennium BCE. https://friendsofasi.wordpress.com/writings/the-8th-millennium-bc-in-the-lost-river-valley/ The earliest evidence of writing is on a Harappa potsherd with Indus Script dated to ca. 3300 BCE. Harappa. Potsherd. Indus writing (HARP) dated to ca. 3500 BCE. tagaraka 'tabernae montana' rebus: tagara 'tin'. kolmo 'three' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'. Introduction: Adapted from Sri Ramakrishna's ferryman and scholar story This is an adaptation of an encounter which Sri Ramakrishna used to narrate which was called 'The story of a ferryman and a scholar’. This narrative is extended by a reference to Indus Script hieroglyphs signifying metalwork catalogues on a boat showing the ferryman as a seafaring merchant carrying supercargo of metalwork ingots and hard metal alloy implements. A scholar of grammar undertook a journey to cross a river. He hired a boat which ferried passengers across the river. The scholar asked the ferryman, if he knew grammar and language rules. The ferryman said, "No, I don't." The scholar expressed his anguish in Chandas, ‘prosody’: “Ferryman, dear mleccha, you have wasted your life.” Suddenly the boat started tossing as water levels rose in the river. The ferryman asked the scholar, “Pandita, can you swim?" "No!" panicked the scholar, lost for words since he did not know the river and hydrology rules. “Arya, noble atman, you have wasted half of your life," the ferryman felt sorry as he said these words in Mleccha, ’parole’ perfectly intelligible to the scholar, and continued a refrain from the ferryman’s song "Elo! Elelo! He’lava, he’lavo !! You have wasted your whole life, the boat will capsize soon." While the scholar got the message, he was baffled by the words used in the refrain and wondered about the appropriateness of Indo-European linguistics to deal with survival issues, etymology of and characteristic mispronunciations in the ungrammatical expression, 'elo, elelo, he'lava, he'lavo'. The scholar lapsed into a meditative mood in kamaDha 'penance' with the confidence that the ferryman would somehow save him from drowning, after the boat capsized. This narrative of the scholar and ferryman is in nuce, in a nutshell, the Itihāsa of Bhāratam Janam, the narrative of Hindu civilization which dates back to ca. 8th millennium BCE. The expression, Bhāratam Janam occurs in Rigveda (RV 3.53.12). The expression is traceable to the following etyma: भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c.भरतखंड (p. 603) [ bharatakhaṇḍa ] n (S) भरतवर्ष n S A division of the globe,--that from the Himálaya range to the ocean, India.भरतशास्त्र (p. 603) [ bharataśāstra ] n S The shástra of the drama, the authoritative treatise upon dramatic composition and representation. 2 Used freely in the sense of The laws of the drama and of scenic exhibition.भरताचें भांडें (p. 603) [ bharatācē mbhāṇḍēṃ ] n A vessel made of the metal भरत. 2 See भरिताचें भांडें.भरती (p. 603) [ bharatī ] a Composed of the metal भरत. A hieroglyph to signify भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] is: barad, balad 'ox'. One side of a molded tablet m 492 Mohenjo-daro (DK 8120, NMI 151. National Museum, Delhi. A person places his foot on the horns of a buffalo while spearing it in front of a cobra hood. Hieroglyph: kolsa = to kick the foot forward, the foot to come into contact with anything when walking or running; kolsa pasirkedan = I kicked it over (Santali.lex.)mēṛsa = v.a. toss, kick with the foot, hit with the tail (Santali) kol ‘furnace, forge’ (Kuwi) kol ‘alloy of five metals, pancaloha’ (Ta.) •kolhe (iron-smelter; kolhuyo, jackal) kol, kollan-, kollar = blacksmith (Ta.lex.)•kol‘to kill’ (Ta.)•sal ‘bos gaurus’, bison; rebus: sal ‘workshop’ (Santali)me~ṛhe~t iron; ispat m. = steel; dul m. = cast iron; kolhe m. iron manufactured by the Kolhes (Santali); meṛed (Mun.d.ari); meḍ (Ho.)(Santali.Bodding) nAga 'serpent' Rebus: nAga 'lead' Hieroglyph: rã̄go ʻ buffalo bull ʼ Rebus: Pk. raṅga 'tin' P. rã̄g f., rã̄gā m. ʻ pewter, tin ʼ Ku. rāṅ ʻ tin, solder ʼOr. rāṅga ʻ tin ʼ, rāṅgā ʻ solder, spelter ʼ, Bi. Mth. rã̄gā, OAw. rāṁga; H. rã̄g f., rã̄gā m. ʻ tin, pewter ʼraṅgaada -- m. ʻ borax ʼ lex.Kho. (Lor.) ruṅ ʻ saline ground with white efflorescence, salt in earth ʼ *raṅgapattra ʻ tinfoil ʼ. [raṅga -- 3, páttra -- ]B. rāṅ(g)tā ʻ tinsel, copper -- foil ʼ. paTa 'hood of serpent' Rebus: padanu 'sharpness of weapon' (Telugu) Hieroglyph: kunta1 ʻ spear ʼ. 2. *kōnta -- . [Perh. ← Gk. konto/s ʻ spear ʼ EWA i 229]1. Pk. kuṁta -- m. ʻ spear ʼ; S. kundu m. ʻ spike of a top ʼ, °dī f. ʻ spike at the bottom of a stick ʼ, °diṛī, °dirī f. ʻ spike of a spear or stick ʼ; Si. kutu ʻ lance ʼ. 2. Pa. konta -- m. ʻ standard ʼ; Pk. koṁta -- m. ʻ spear ʼ; H. kõt m. (f.?) ʻ spear, dart ʼ; -- Si. kota ʻ spear, spire, standard ʼ perh. ← Pa.(CDIAL 3289) Rebus: kuṇṭha munda (loha) 'hard iron (native metal)' Allograph: कुंठणें [ kuṇṭhaṇēṃ ] v i (कुंठ S) To be stopped, detained, obstructed, arrested in progress (Marathi) Tablet. Crocodile above. Peson kicking and spearing a bison, near a seated,horned (with twig) person.Harappa. Harappa Museum, H95-2486 Meadow and Kenoyer 1997 karA 'crocodile' Rebus: khAr 'blacksmith' (Kashmiri) kamaDha 'penance' (Prakritam) Rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coiner' kUtI 'twigs' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter' muh 'face' Rebus: muhe 'ingot' (Santali) See: Catalogs of pola, kuṇṭha, goṭa, bichi native metalwork in Meluhha Indus script hieroglyphs http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/09/catalogs-of-pola-kuntha-gota-bichi.html Meluhha is the spoken form of language and glosses are present in almost all languages of Indian sprachbund "A sprachbund (/ˈsprɑːkbʊnd/; German: [ˈʃpʁaːxbʊnt], "federation of languages") – also known as a linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, diffusion area or language crossroads – is a group of languages that have common features resulting from geographical proximity and language contact." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprachbund Ferdinand de Saussure, presents Langue (French word meaning 'language') and Parole (French word meaning 'speech'). (de Saussure, F. (1986). Course in general linguistics (3rd ed.). (R. Harris, Trans.). Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company. (Original work published 1972). p. 9-10, 15.) Langue is abstract, a system of rules and conventions of a signifying system; independent of, and pre-exists, individual users. Parole is an individual phenomenon, a series of speech acts or utterances by a speaker. In such a framework, chandas is langue, while mleccha is parole. √म्लेछ् mlech speaking indistinctly, pronouncing incorrectly / avyakta śabda speaking confusedly, barbarously / avyaktāvāc cutting, smearing, anointing, accumulating / chedana. A phonetic variant and semantic expansion of the utterance mleccha is milakkha 'mleccha speaker'(Pali). The word mleccha also refers to 'copper' as in mleccha mukha 'copper ingot' (Samskritam). An expression milakkhu rajanam signifies 'copper red' (Pali). The word Meluhha is a variant pronunciation of Pali milakkha. The word Meluhha is attested in an Akkadian cuneiform inscription on a cylinder seal of Shu-Ilishu. Shu-Ilishu cylinder seal authenticates Meluhha merchant dealing in copper and tin The rollout of Shu-ilishu's Cylinder seal. Courtesy of the Department des Antiquites Orientales, Musee du Louvre, Paris. Akkadian. Cylinder seal Impression. Inscription records that it belongs to ‘S’u-ilis’u, Meluhha interpreter’, i.e., translator of the Meluhhan language (EME.BAL.ME.LUH.HA.KI) The Meluhhan being introduced carries an goat on his arm. Musee du Louvre. Ao 22 310, Collection De Clercq 3rd millennium BCE. The Meluhhan is accompanied by a lady carrying a kamaṇḍalu. Since he needed an interpreter, it is reasonably inferred that Meluhhan did not speak Akkadian.Antelope carried by the Meluhhan is a hieroglyph: mlekh ‘goat’ (Br.); mr̤eka (Te.); mēṭam (Ta.); meṣam (Skt.) rebus: milakkhu 'copper'. Thus, the goat conveys the message that the carrier is a Meluhha speaker/copper merchant. A phonetic determinant. mrr̤eka, mlekh ‘goat’; Rebus: melukkha Br. mēḻẖ ‘goat’. Te. mr̤eka (DEDR 5087) meluh.h.a. The kamaṇḍalu carrie by the lady is ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin'. Thus, the message on the cylinder seal is a metalwork catalogue signifying an Akkadian trader's transaction with a Meluhhan engaged in copper and tin metalwork. The crucible is the center-piece hieroglyph on the cylinder seal. Hieroglyph: kuThari 'crucible' Rebus: kuThari 'storekeeper
Cuneiform texts evidence trade of Ancient Near East areas with Meluhha and Shu-ilishu seal attests a language called Meluhha. Indus Script inscriptions use a logo-semantic writing system to express Meluhha words related to wealth accounting ledgers of metalwork. A vivid link to priest image carrying, in a procession, the banner of 'one-horned young bull' of Sarasvati Civilization is presented on a painting in Mari (showing association with metalwork/metal weapons). Frieze of a mosaic panel Circa 2500-2400 BCE Temple of Ishtar, Mari (Tell Hariri), Syria Shell and shale André Parrot excavations, 1934-36 AO 19820 (Fig.2) Indus Script Cipher provides a clue to the standard of Mari which is signified by a young bull with one horn. On the Mari mosaic panel, a similar-looking priest leads a procession with a unique flag. The flagpost is a culm of millet and at the top of the post is a rein-ring proclaiming a one-horned young bull. All these are Indus Script hieroglyphs. The 'rein rings' are read rebus: valgā, bāg-ḍora 'bridle' rebus (metath.) bagalā 'seafaring dhow'. Hypertexts on a procession depicted on the schist panel inlaid with mother of pearl plaques are: 1. culm of millet and 2. one-horned young bull (which is a common pictorial motif in Harappa (Indus) Script Corpora. Culm of millet hieroglyph: karba 'culm of millet' rebus: karba 'iron'. One-horned young bull hypertext/hyperimage: कोंद kōnda ‘young bull' कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, turner'. कुलालादिकन्दुः f. a kiln; a potter's kiln; kō̃da कोँद 'potter's kiln' (Kashmiri) Thus, an iron turner (in smithy/forge). The rollout of Shu-ilishu's Cylinder seal. Courtesy of the Department des Antiquites Orientales, Musee du Louvre, Paris. The cuneiform text reads: Shu-Ilishu EME.BAL.ME.LUH.HA.KI (interpreter of Meluhha language). The Shu-ilishu cylinder seal is a clear evidence of the Meluhhan merchants trading in copper and tin. The Meluhha merchant carries melh,mr̤eka 'goat or antelope' rebus: milakkhu 'copper and the lady accompanying the Meluhhan carries a ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin'; On the field is shown a crucbile: kuṭhāru 'crucible' rebus: kuṭhāru 'armourer' Apparently, the Meluhhan is the person carrying the antelope on his arms. I also suggest that on the Shu-ilishu cylinder seal, a significant hieroglyph is shown. It is a crucible which may have been used by the copper-tin artisans to work with an extraordinary invention called ukku in Kannada produced in a crucible. I suggest that Kannada word ukku is the root word because of semantic association signified by cognate words: uggi, urika which mean 'burning'. Crucible steel process is vividly explained by these etyma. "Another Akkadian text records that Lu-sunzida “a man of Meluhha” paid to the servant Urur, son of AmarluKU 10 shekels of silver as a payment for a tooth broken in a clash. The name Lu-sunzida literally means “Man of the just buffalo cow,” a name that, although rendered in Sumerian, according to the authors does not make sense in the Mesopotamian cultural sphere, and must be a translation of an Indian name." (MASSIMO VIDALE Ravenna Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millennium BC Published in Melammu Symposia 4: A. Panaino and A. Piras (eds.), Schools of Oriental Studies and the Development of Modern Historiography. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Ravenna, Italy, October 13-17, 2001 (Milan: Università di Bologna & IsIao 2004), pp. 261-80. Publisher: http://www.mimesisedizioni.it/) https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/201402/Vidale-Indus-Mesopotamia.pdf The 1977 paper of Simo Parpola et al reviews texts containing references to Meluhha and Meluhhans, focussing on 9 texts dated to Ur III times (22nd to 21st cent. BCE) and included references to Sargonic texts (24th to 23rd cen. BCE). (Parpola S., A. Parpola & R.H. Brunswig, Jr. (1977) “The Meluhha Village. Evidence of acculturation of Harappan traders in the late Third Millennium Mesopotamia.” Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient, 20, 129-165.) Massimo Vidale provides a succint summary of the general picture presented in the paper of Simo Parpola et al. The surprising references relate to the fact that metals like gold, silver and tin were imports from Meluhha and involved Meluhhan settlers in Ancient Far East. "The maximum archaeological evidence of Indian imports and Indusrelated artefacts in Mesopotamia may be dated to latest phases of ED III (at the Royal Cemetery of Ur) and immediately later to the Akkadian period, when, as widely reported, Sargon claimed with pride that under his power Meluhhan ships docked at his capital, and at least one tablet mentions a person with an Akkadian name qualified as a “the holder of a Meluhha ship.”… (pp.262, 263)… according to the literary sources, between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC Meluhhan ships exported to Mesopotamia precious goods among which exotic animals, such as dogs, perhaps peacocks, cocks, bovids, elephants (? Collon 1977) precious woods and royal furniture, precious stones such as carnelian, agate and lapislazuli, and metals like gold, silver and tin (among others Pettinato 1972; During Caspers 1971; Chakrabarti 1982, 1990; Tosi 1991; see also Lahiri 1992 and Potts 1994). In his famous inscriptions, Gudea, in the second half of the 22nd century BC, states that Meluhhans came with wood and other raw materials for the construction of the main temple in Lagash (see Parpola et al. 1977: 131 for references). Archaeologically, the most evident raw materials imported from India are marine shell, used for costly containers and lamps, inlay works and cylinder seals; agate, carnelian and quite possibly ivory. Hard green stones, including garnets and abrasives might also have been imported from the Subcontinent and eastern Iran (Vidale & Bianchetti 1997, 1998-1999; Heimpel et al. 1988; Vidale 2002; see also Collon 1990, Tallon 1995 and Sax 1991). Carnelian could have been imported in form of raw nodules of large size (as implied by some texts) to be transformed into long beads, or as finished products. As we shall see, recent studies would better suggest that the Indus families in Mesopotamia imported raw materials rather than finished beads (Kenoyer 1997; Kenoyer & Vidale 1992; Inizan 2000), and expediently adapted their production to the changing needs of the Mesopotamian demand and markets. To the same period is ascribed a famous cylinder seal owned by a certain Su-ilisu, “Meluhha interpreter” (Sollberger 1970; Tosi 1991). Another Akkadian text records that Lu-sunzida “a man of Meluhha” paid to the servant Urur, son of AmarluKU 10 shekels of silver as a payment for a tooth broken in a clash. The name Lu-sunzida literally means “Man of the just buffalo cow,” a name that, although rendered in Sumerian, according to the authors does not make sense in the Mesopotamian cultural sphere, and must be a translation of an Indian name…… the Mesopotamian demand and markets. To the same period is ascribed a famous cylinder seal owned by a certain Su-ilisu, “Meluhha interpreter” (Sollberger 1970; Tosi 1991). Another Akkadian text records that Lu-sunzida “a man of Meluhha” paid to the servant Urur, son of AmarluKU 10 shekels of silver as a payment for a tooth broken in a clash. The name Lu-sunzida literally means “Man of the just buffalo cow,” a name that, although rendered in Sumerian, according to the authors does not make sense in the Mesopotamian cultural sphere, and must be a translation of an Indian name." (MASSIMO VIDALE Ravenna Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millennium BC Published in Melammu Symposia 4: A. Panaino and A. Piras (eds.), Schools of Oriental Studies and the Development of Modern Historiography. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Ravenna, Italy, October 13-17, 2001 (Milan: Università di Bologna & IsIao 2004), pp. 261-80. Publisher: http://www.mimesisedizioni.it/) https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/201402/Vidale-Indus-Mesopotamia.pdf Among the imports from Meluhha into the Ancient Near East, the imports of silver and tin metals are significant because these two metals were the principal engines of the Tin-Bronze Revolution from 5th millennium BCE and for laying the foundations of monetary systems based on currency-based transactions which emerged in 7th century BCE with the Lydia electrum coins and Aegean Turtle silver staters of 480 to 457 BCE. Massimo Vidale, 2017, A “Priest King” at Shahr-i Sokhta? in: Archaeological Research in Asia The paper discusses the published fragment of a statuette made of a buff-grey limestone, recently found on the surface of Shahr-i Sokhta (Sistan, Iran) and currently on exhibit in a showcase of the archaeological Museum of Zahedan (Sistan-Baluchistan, Iran). Most probably, it belongs to a sculptural type well known in some sites of Middle and South Asia dating to the late 3rd-early 2nd millennium BCE - a male character sitting on the right heel, with the left hand on the raised left knee, and a robe leaving bare the left shoulder.
In studies related to evolution of PIE and IE languages, adequate attention has not been paid to the intermediation by trade contacts in the Levant and Ancient Near East and consequent impacts on Bronze Age cultures and on PIE/IE languages (Tocharian, Samskritam and Proto-Iranian, in particular) of the region. Instances of cultural implications of such contacts have been indicated at: https://www.academia.edu/12144939/Indian_sprachbund_of_Sarasvati-Sindhu_Hindu_civilization_and_the_imperative_of_further_Proto-IE_language_studies Indian sprachbund of Sarasvati-Sindhu (Hindu) civilization and the imperative of further Proto-IE language studies https://www.academia.edu/10344521/An_Indo-European_god_in_a_Gudea_Inscription An Indo-European God in a Gudea inscription (Indara) There are two relatively ancient sources for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European: 1. Preservation in Samskritam and contibution made by Samskritam to PIE (as elaborated by Nicholas Kazanas) and 2. Meluhha (cognate mleccha) as elaborated by the identification of about 2000 glosses describing metalwork of Bronze Age and hieroglyphs used in rebus-metonymy layers identified in Indus Script corpora, for trade during the Bronze Age -- in particular, of tin-bronzes and cire perdue (lost-wax) metalcastings using alloys. These sources may provide the base data to promote studies in identifying the PIE urheimat, historical formation and evolution of PIE and IE languages, languages in Indian sprachbund. The indications of Meluhha studies based on Indus Script decipherment point to an east-to-west transmission of metalwork glosses, drawn from Meluhha sources. Two examples of IE (perhaps PIE) glosses may be cited: aya, ayas 'metal' (Rigveda) signified by the hieroglyph ayo, aya, hako 'fish' (Munda). saṁghāṭa m. ʻfitting and joining of timberʼ (Samskritam, Ramayana)Hieroglyphs: sãghāṛɔ m. ʻ lathe ʼ (Gujarati); sãgaḍ f. ʻ a body formed of two or more fruits or animals or men &c. linked together, part of a turner's apparatus ʼ, sã̄gāḍā m. ʻ frame of a building ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻ lathe ʼ(Marathi) Rebus: saṁghāta 'collection' (of metalwork) sanghāta 'holding or binding together' (Pali) Rebus: S سنګر sangar, s.m. (2nd) A breastwork of stones, etc., erected to close a pass or road; lines, entrenchments. Pl. سنګرونه sangarūnah. See باره (Pushto) Since meluhha (mleccha) was the parole, speech or vernacular as distinct from chandas (prosody), the studies may also promote a sharper understanding of the cultures of the Vedic period with particular reference to archaeometallurgy technologies along the Tin Road traversed from Hanoi, Vietnam to Haifa, Israel. That Eastern Mediterranean had regular contacts with Sarasvati-Sindhu (Hindu) civilization in the third and second millennia BCE is a significant pointer to the sources of early glosses of Proto-Indo-European related to Bronze-age metalwork and other cultural phenomena of the times. This explanation for the isoglosses of PIE should be reckoned in reconstructing the urheimat. This reconstruction starting with the glosses identified by the Indus Script decipherment as Meluhha (Proto-Prakritam or parole of Samskritam in Indian sprachbund) has also to take into account the arguments of Nicholas Kazanas in the following and related papers posted at http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/en/indology_en.asp
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