Parpola Asko. Deciphering the Indus Script

Cambridge University Press, 1994. — 374 p. — ISBN: 0-521-43079-8.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.The Indus Civilization and its historical context.
The Indus Script.
Early writing systems.
Deciphering an unknown script.
Approaches to the Indus script.
Internal evidence for the type of script used in the Indus Valley.
Internal evidence for the structure of the Indus language.
External clues to the Indus script.
The Linguistic Context.
In search of the Indus language.
Dravidian languages and the Harappan culture.
Interpretations of Indus Pictograms.
The 'fish' signs of the Indus script.
The astronomical and astrological background.
The trefoil motif: further evidence for astral religion.
Evidence for Harappan worship of the god Muruku.
Evidence for Harappan worship of the Goddess.
Epilogue.Compounds ending in the word min in Tamil Lexicon.