Indus script

Long ago, people used special signs.

These signs are called the Indus script. They are on small stones and clay pots.

Some signs look like animals. You might see a bull or an elephant. Most signs are very short. We do not know what the signs mean yet. It is a big mystery!

Many people are trying to read them.

The Indus script is a set of symbols. They come from the Indus Valley people. These people lived a long time ago.

Most of these symbols are very short. They are found on small stone seals. They are also on clay pots and metal plates.

Some signs look like things from nature. You might see a bull or an elephant. Other signs look like simple shapes.

Scholars think there are over 400 different signs. Some experts think there are even more. Most people read the signs from right to left. This is because the signs get squished on the left side. This shows the writer ran out of room. We still cannot read the script today. This is because the writing is so short. There are no long stories to help us. There are also no books that use two languages. This makes the script a great mystery.

The longest piece of writing is on a copper plate. It has 34 signs on it.

The Indus script is a collection of mysterious symbols. These signs were used by the Indus Valley Civilization. This was a group of people who lived long ago.

Most of the writings are very short. They are often just a few signs long. Because they are so brief, we do not know if they record a spoken language. We also do not know which language they might represent. This makes the script a very big puzzle for experts today.

People used many different ways to make these signs. They carved or chiseled them into hard materials. Some people even used paint to make them. They wrote on many things like clay, bone, and shell.

They also used stone, silver, and gold. Most of the signs are found on small stamp seals. These seals were often only 2 to 3 centimeters wide. They were easy to carry around. Many seals also show pictures of animals like bulls or elephants.

Archaeologists have been studying these signs for a long time. Alexander Cunningham first published a drawing of a seal in 1875. Since then, many more objects have been found. By 1992, people had found about 4,000 inscribed objects. In 2025, reports said that 5,000 inscriptions have been found since 1924.

Most of these items were found near the Indus River in Pakistan. About 90 percent of the finds come from sites like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Some items have even been found far away in Mesopotamia.

There are many different signs in the Indus script. Scholars believe there are over 400 distinct signs. Some experts think there may be as many as 694 signs.

Most of these signs look like things from the real world. Some look like animals or people. Others are more abstract shapes. Some signs might even be early numbers. Most people believe the script was read from right to left. We know this because the signs look squished on the left side. This shows the writer was running out of space.

Scientists are still trying to connect this script to others. Some think it might be related to the Brahmi script. Others look at symbols found in southern India and Sri Lanka.

These symbols are sometimes called megalithic graffiti. Some scholars believe these symbols survived from the Indus tradition. Others have compared them to the Proto-Elamite script from Iran. Even with all this work, the script remains undeciphered. We still lack a bilingual text to help us translate it. This means the true meaning of the signs is still a secret.

The Indus script is a collection of symbols from the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is also called the Harappan or Indus Valley script. This script is a major mystery for historians and linguists today. Most inscriptions are extremely short, often only five signs long. Because they are so brief, experts struggle to decide if they represent a spoken language. Some believe they might just be non-linguistic marks used by merchants.

Writing in the Indus Valley involved many different methods and materials. People used carving, chiseling, embossing, and painting to create signs. They worked on diverse materials like terracotta, sandstone, and soapstone. They even used precious materials like silver and gold. They also used bone, shell, and copper.

Most of the text is found on small stamp seals. These seals were usually only 2 to 3 centimetres long. This size made them very portable for daily use.

The script evolved through several distinct historical stages. During the Early Harappan period, symbols appeared on pottery and clay impressions. These emerged alongside administrative tools like standardized weights. In the Mature Harappan period, signs became common on flat, rectangular stamp seals. They also appeared on tools, tablets, and ornaments.

During the Late Harappan period, the civilization became more fragmented. At Harappa, the use of the script and seals mostly ended around 1900 BCE. However, the script may have survived longer in other regions like Gujarat.

Archaeologists have worked for a long time to catalog these finds. Alexander Cunningham first published a drawing of a Harappan seal in 1875. By 1992, researchers had found approximately 4,000 inscribed objects. By 2025, reports indicated that about 5,000 inscriptions have been excavated since 1924. About 90% of these objects were found in Pakistan near the Indus River. These sites include famous locations like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.

The complexity of the script is revealed by the number of signs. There are over 400 principal signs, though some estimates reach 694. Because this number is so high, scholars believe the script is logo-syllabic. This means signs may represent both words and syllables. Most signs are pictorial, depicting objects from the natural world. Some signs are abstract, while others are compounds of simpler shapes. A few signs may even act as early numerals.

Deciphering the script is difficult due to several specific obstacles. First, there is no known bilingual inscription to act as a key. A bilingual text is a document that contains the same message in two different languages. Second, the inscriptions are very short. The longest known inscription is only 34 characters long on a copper plate.

Third, it is unclear if the symbols record a language at all. They might simply be symbols for ownership or accounting.

Scholars have searched for connections between the Indus script and other systems. Some suggest a link to the Brahmi script used later in India. Others compare it to the Proto-Elamite script from ancient Iran.

There is also a possible connection to megalithic graffiti symbols in southern India and Sri Lanka. Linguists like Asko Parpola have argued the script relates to a Dravidian language. However, a definite relationship to any other writing system remains unproven.