Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus | Explore & Learn

Writing: Indus Valley

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The Indus script was invented around 2600 B.C. as large cities and associated administrators emerged across the region of the Indus Valley. Archaeologists are still trying to find out where the script was invented and how to decipher it, but they have begun to understand how the script was used and possibly why it disappeared. Writing in the Indus Valley is first found inscribed on pottery. More than four thousand two hundred objects bearing the Indus script have been discovered so far, but most of the inscriptions are extremely short with an average of five signs. By 2600 B.C. specialized engravers made seals with the writing in reverse so that when stamped it formed a raised positive message. In most instances the script was written from right to left. Inscribed items are found in all sites, throughout the cities in the streets and houses. They are mainly from the major streets leading into and out of the city gateway, the craft workshop areas and near the houses in the high walled areas, presumably areas where seals were used and lost. Only certain people owned seals, and few people were literate. The script disappeared by 1700 B.C. when the Indus Valley civilization declined and the elites who used this means of communication in trade and ritual were no longer dominant.


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Images, from top to bottom: Stamp seal with unicorn and ritual offering stand, ca. 2000–1900 B.C.; Harappan. Indus Valley, Harappa, 8796-01. Indus inscription. Harappa Museum, Harappa H99-4064. Courtesy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Minorities, Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan. Stamp seal with a deity in a tree and a human-headed horned quadruped, ca. 2000–1900 B.C.; Harappan. Indus Valley, Mohenjo-daro, DK 6847. Indus inscription. Islamabad Museum, Islamabad NMP 50.295. Courtesy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Minorities, Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan.

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