Overview

Of the four most ancient civilizations of the Old World, only the South Asian or Harappan civilization's writing has not been deciphered. Ever since the discovery of that civilization in the early part of the 20th century, many efforts have been made by scholars and amateurs alike to solve the puzzle of the ancient writing. Building on the most enlightened of these efforts and on the archaeology of the Indus River region, this work develops a decipherment methodology and applies it to the writing. Having studied over 4000 inscriptions, Fairservis compiles and identifies the 419 signs used in the writing and their possible representation of words and sounds in the Harappan language. Sign identification lists, possible translations and a beginning of a grammar are included in this book. The motifs associated with the writing are also studied and analyzed. Combining the study of the language with archaeological evidence, the author aims to reconstruct life as it was lived in the western part of the Indian subcontinent in the third millennium BC. While not a claim for decipherment, his model may be a major step towards that end.

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9789004090668

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' Fairservis' attempt can and must be evaluated very positively...'<br>Jaroslav Vacek, Archmv Orientalnm, 1994.<br>

'Fairservis' attempt can and must be evaluated very positively...' Jaroslav Vacek, Archiv Orientalni, 1994.

Author Information

Walter A. Fairservis, Jr.: Ph.D., Harvard University. Professor of Anthropology, Vassar College. Director of the 1st and 2nd Afghan Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History. Director of the Indus Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History. He has published numerous books, articles and reviews, a.o. The Archaeology of the Southern Gobi, (1991).

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