Indus Valley Texts
Stuart Harris BS, MS, MBA
USA
Summary: Indus Valley/Harappan inhabitants employed a stylized form of Old European, left to right, top to bottom, written in Finnish. They mastered how to combine syllables to make a word, then squeeze that word into a narrow shape on a small writing surface. There was room to spare, so that many inscriptions contain a picture of an animal. A typical inscription had one to three sentences, while the longest had five. The selection is based primarily on those in good condition in order to reduce errors in spelling.
Incriptions come from two distinct periods, 3600-2600 BC. From the earliest period came notes on pottery, and a button seal that describes the torment of slavery. From the latest period, several sealstones concern courtship and preparations for marriage, one the philosophy of wizards, and others concern war: can war be stopped, confession of war crimes, the indiscrimininate killing of men and raping of women.