Departamento de Estudos Orientais Vidyá

Planoconvex molded tablet from Harappa showing a deity battling two tigers.

"The thick jungles of the Indus Valley were full of tigers and leopards, so it is not surprising that the image of a ferocious feline is a recurring motif in ritual narratives on seals as well as molded tablets... The figure strangling the two tigers may represent a female, as a pronounced breast can be seen in profile. Earlier discoveries of this motif on seals from Mohenjo-daro definitely show a male figure, and most scholars have assumed some connection with the carved seals from Mesopotamia that illustrate episodes from the famous Gilgamesh epic. The Mesopotamian epics show lions being strangled by a hero, whereas the Indus narratives render tigers being strangled by a figure, sometimes clearly males, sometimes ambiguous or possibly female. This motif of a hero or heroine grappling with two wild animals could have been created independently for similar events that may have occurred in Mesopotamia as well as the Indus valley." (Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, p. 114).

More depictions of this theme on seals at https://www.harappa.com/blog/bare-handed-tiger-wrestling-seals

O corpus de conhecimento do Yôga é muito extenso. A chegada dos portugueses à Índia, por via marítima, marca o início de uma nova era das relações internacionas. Mas também o acesso directo às escrituras hindus (shástra-s). Muito está para desvendar, investigar, redescobrir. Do que se sabe, muito é surpreendente. Nomeadamente, as primeiras traduções do sânscrito para uma língua ocidental, no período pós-descobertas, foram feita por portugueses e para português. Embora só no séc. XX se tenha redescoberto tal facto. Reproduzo, seguidamente, parte da Oração de Sapiência, com que iniciei um dos Cursos de Formação de Instrutores de Yôga - Métodos e Técnicas do Yôga.

"Caros convidados, amigos, alunos e discípulos, Caros Colegas,
Minhas Senhoras e Meus Senhores,
Sejam bem-vindos a este sat sanga, a esta cerimónia de abertura do Curso de Formação de Instrutores de Yôga - Métodos e Técnicas do Yôga.
Cabe-me a tarefa de proferir esta que pretende ser uma lição, ou oração, de sapiência. Pretende esta ser a primeira lição da abertura de um curso. Referem os investigadores que esta tradição remontará, entre nós, aos tempos e à pessoa do Infante D. Henrique. No período do protectorado universitário – O Infante D.
Henrique foi o protector da Universidade de Coimbra. E é com grande prazer que o refiro. É D. Henrique que planeia e abre as portas à grande saga nacional que foram os Descobrimentos e, nestes, a descoberta do caminho marítimo para a Índia. Descoberta essa perpetrada, na sua fase final, pelo engenho de Vasco da Gama, o grande Almirante. E essa foi a nossa forma de chegarmos à Índia e ao contacto com as suas gentes, a sua cultura, as suas línguas, entre as quais o sânscrito, os seus dárshana, isto é, os seus sistemas filosóficos ortodoxos, entre os quais consta o Yôga. E é daí
que nos chegam desde logo, informações sobre o Yôga. Chegam-nos nas cartas de D. Afonso de Albuquerque a El-Rei D. Manuel I, mas a designá-lo por “joga”. Chegam-nos na História do Descobrimento e Conquista da Índia, uma obra em 10 volumes, escrita por um historiador, Fernão Lopes de Castanheda. Filho de um magistrado que foi colocado em funções no Estado Português da Índia, acompanhou o pai e, aí, reuniu toda a informação e documentação necessária para escrever tal obra. Esta obra foi traduzida para várias línguas e publicada em vários países da Europa no seu tempo. Também encontramos referências ao Yôga nos documentos do Padroado Português do Oriente. Tanto a obra de Castanheda, como as cartas de D. Afonso de Albuquerque a D. Manuel I, podem ser consultadas on-line.
Mas a existência do Yôga e as referências a esta prática não eram estranhas na Europa. E não recuarei muito, não me alongarei. Desde logo, os monges esicastas, do Monte Athos, na Grécia, praticavam técnicas de meditação e de pránáyáma similares à do Yôga.
Os árabes já depois da expansão religiosa dirigida pelo profeta Maomé entram em contacto com a Índia e Al-Biruni traduz o Yôga Sútra de Pátañjali, no séc. XI, o que veio a influenciar grandemente a mística e a espiritualidade do sufismo e dos seus adeptos, os sufi. Afonso Henriques, ou Afonso Ibnarrik, conhecia o sufismo. Aliás como todos os Cavaleiros Templários.
Os persas também conhecem o Yôga através do movimento sufi.
Marco Polo no seu Livro das Maravilhas, também descreve os jôga.
Mas não só. Também no que se refere ao sânscrito, a língua técnica do Yôga, foram os portugueses a descobrir as semelhanças entre o sânscrito, o grego e o latim. E não, como poderão encontrar nas referências oficiais, o Juiz Supremo do Tribunal de Calcutá, William Jones, no fim do séc. XVIII.
Os padres portugueses tiveram interesse imediato em estudar, conhecer, traduzir as línguas da Índia e as línguas em que os textos religiosos estavam escritos para melhor refutarem tais nsinamentos religiosos, teológicos, filosóficos, para converterem os indianos ao cristianismo. E de imediato surgiram compêndios e gramáticas de sânscrito. Também a língua concani, de Goa e a língua Bengali foram traduzidas no séc. XVI. Aliás, o Frade Manuel da Assunção compôs neste língua o Compêndio do Mistérios da Fé.
Sabe-se que os padres portugueses traduziram o sânscrito, no séc.
XVI, através do espólio da Biblioteca Pública Eborense. Já só no séc. XX se descobriu em tal espólio obras da missão de Goa. Uma dessas obras tem como título Notícia Sumária do Gentilismo da Azia. E aí descrevem-se as oito reencarnações de Vishnucontém ainda 11 desenhos e uma tradução do sânscrito para português da
escritura hindu Bhagavatam, ou Bhavata Purána. É o purána de Vishnu.
Como esta prelação inicial, muitas vezes, é já uma lição sobre uma secção ou um capítulo da matéria não me afastei da proposta e, em verdade, expus já parte da matéria, no que respeita à história do Yôga em Portugal e na Europa."

GLÓRIA AO SENHOR SHIVA !!!

No dia 1º de março de 2022 - terça-feira, comemora-se na Índia e em todo mundo o dia consagrado ao Senhor Shiva - conforme calendário solar-lunar hindu,

Segundo a tradição religiosa hindu, a Realidade Última do universo é sem forma ou atributos, mas pode assumir formas de diferentes deidades de acordo com as crenças dos devotos. Embora cada uma das deidades represente um aspecto ou qualidade do Deus onipresente, durante o processo de evolução Ele foi também simbolizado por imagens. As imagens são formas de Deus visualizadas por santos e videntes em suas horas de preces, meditação e comunhão.

Shiva é um dos deuses da Trindade Hindu (Trimurti). O primeiro é Brahma – o criador do universo; o segundo é Vishnu – preservador do universo; e o terceiro é Shiva – o destruidor, ou transformador do universo. As primeiras representações de Shiva apareceram no período neolítico em torno de 4.000 anos antes de Cristo.

Shiva é o deus supremo (Mahadeva), o meditante (Shankara) e o benevolente, onde reside toda a alegria (Shambo ou Shambhu).
O tridente que aparece nas ilustrações de Shiva é o trishula. É com essa arma que ele destrói a ignorância nos seres humanos. Suas três pontas representam as três qualidades da natureza psicofísica: tamas (a inércia), rajas (o movimento) e sattva (o equilíbrio).

Shiva usa uma serpente em volta da cintura e do pescoço, simbolizando que Ele dominou a morte e tornou-se imortal. Na tradição da yoga, ela também representa kundalini (a energia que reside na base da coluna). Quando despertamos essa energia, ela sobe pela coluna, ativando os centros de energia (chakras) e produz um estado de superconsciência (samadhi).

Shiva está intimamente associado ao fogo, pois esse elemento representa a transformação. Nada que tenha passado pelo fogo, permanecerá o mesmo: o alimento vai ao fogo e se transforma, a água se evapora, os corpos cremados viram cinzas. Assim, Shiva nos convida a nos transformarmos através do fogo da yoga (prática de meditação e controle da mente). Sua graça é invocada com mantras como: “Om Namah Shivaia”.

O lingam, também chamado de linga, é o símbolo de Shiva. Ele representa o instrumento da criação e da força vital, a energia masculina que está presente na origem do universo. O linga geralmente é feito de uma pedra negra.
No topo da cabeça de Shiva se vê um jorro d'água. Na verdade é o rio Ganges (Ganga) que nasce dos cabelos de Shiva.

A lua, que muda de fase constantemente, representa os ciclos da natureza e a renovação contínua que todos estamos sujeitos. Ela também representa as emoções e nossos humores, que são regidos por esse astro. Usar a lua crescente nos cabelos simboliza que Shiva está além das emoções e da natureza transitória do universo.

Como Shiva Nataraja, aparece como o rei (raja) dos dançarinos (nata). Ele dança dentro de um círculo de fogo, símbolo da renovação e, através de sua dança, Nataraja cria, conserva e destrói o universo. Ela representa o eterno movimento do universo que foi impulsionado pelo ritmo do tambor e da dança.

O lado direito da estátua de Shiva é claramente masculino, apresentando os seus atributos: a serpente, o tridente, etc. Do lado esquerdo, vemos uma figura feminina, com os trajes típicos, o brinco, etc. Esse aspecto de Shiva representa a união cósmica entre o princípio masculino (Shiva) e o feminino (Parvati), entre a consciência (Shiva) e a matéria (Parvati).
Pesquisa: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre.

“Refugio-me em Ti, oh Senhor Shiva, Tu que és a personificação do conhecimento, do destemor, da força e da proteção de teus devotos. Tu que concedes todos esses dons aqueles que se inclinam com reverência diante de Ti. Oh Shiva, Tu que és hábil na orientação dos teus devotos sinceros para que tenham sucesso em suas práticas espirituais (yoga). Oh Deus que está sempre pronto a ajudar aqueles que estão desamparados e sem rumo, peço que ilumine o meu caminho e proteja-me de todos os males.”
__________________________

Vídeo: Bho Shambo - By Vijay Prakash - http://youtu.be/XcXMlCGU3n0

É curioso ver como a mente, o universo e a vida estão conectados.

Os Yogis (Jogues) em 1710 seguiam a castidade, mansidão, abstinência, paciência, humildade e desprezo pelo mundo. Existiam dois tipos de Jogues: Os de cabelo longo que praticavam penitências e os que rapavam o cabelo, Brâmanes na maioria, que eram contemplativos. Texto escrito por um jesuíta português.

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Conheça a nossa coleção!

Cabeceira de sepultura retangular, de época medieval, pertencente à Necrópole de São Pedro de Penaferrim, Sintra.

Apresenta uma estrela de 6 pontas em relevo. Dada a sua temática decorativa, podemos supor que assinalava a sepultura de um cristão novo.

Integra a exposição permanente do Museu.

Entrada gratuita | De terça-feira a sábado, das 10h às 13h e das 14h às 18h

Saiba mais: http://ow.ly/sZun50GWCk0

Participaremos na inauguração do novo dôjô (Shin Bu Dôjô) e sede do Centro de Artes Orientais, em Costas do Cão Almada, no próximo dia 1 de Dezembro, às 9h. Participaremos com demonstração de coreografias de ásana e mudrá, bem como com um workshop de Pránáyáma e Meditação, orientado pela Prof a Anabela Duarte da Silva, bem como, no ambito da Academia de Bonsai Vriksha, com um workshop de Bonsai, orientado pelo Mestre João Camacho. Tanto este como a Prof.a Anabela Duarte da Silva, são convidados de honra.

Departamento de Estudos Orientais Vidyá updated their address.

Departamento de Estudos Orientais Vidyá updated their address.

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Navagrahas - the Nine Planets in Hinduism and Jyotish

Navagrahas - the Nine Planets in Hinduism and Jyotish Just as many ancient civilizations had their own versions of astronomy, Hindus had their own version of astronomy from very ancient times. Hindu astronomy is based upon the configuration of the nine planets and their collective influence on the world in general and each individual in particular. Dep...

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Le sumérien n'est plus la seule première écriture au monde

https://www.sciences-faits-histoires.com/blog/preuves-autre-histoire/le-sumerien-n-est-plus-la-seule-premiere-ecriture-au-monde.html?fbclid=IwAR3M7VnNycYWZWnWazMAKs891mgsm6q4gR470Ds5Na8jkqMIFQhb1Bnpy6w

Le sumérien n'est plus la seule première écriture au monde Nous découvrons en effet que vers 2300 avant J.-C., un système d'écriture parallèle existait en Iran, et que sa version la plus ancienne - appelée l’écriture proto-élamite, (3300 avant J.C. - 2900 avant J.-C.) – remontait aussi loin dans le temps que les premiers textes cunéiformes méso...

A painted dish of a pedestaled vessel from Harappa found in 1993.

The painted design includes two peacocks and a sacred tree. Mark Kenoyer writes: "Painted dish portion from a dish-on-stand. The black-on-red painted decoration is arranged in panels that are divided into four sections. Two peacocks are depicted on one side, and a many-branched tree with short leaves is painted on the opposite panel section. Between these two motifs are multiple lines of loops with circle-and-dot designs and hatching which totally fill all of the empty space. In the center of the dish is a geometric design with a single circle-and-dot motif on one side and a double circle-and-dot motif on the opposite side. All of the decorations on this dish undoubtedly had specific ritual and symbolic meaning, possibly relating to fertility, good health and good fortune. Originally part of a dish on stand, this elaborately painted dish may have been removed from the broken base and reused. It was found in the room of a house on the recently excavated Mound ET" (Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, p. 324).

Hoje é o dia do aniversário de Shrí DeRose, um filósofo e uma personalidade marcante. Parabéns Mestre.

History of Vedic Culture in the Middle East – Sanskriti - Hinduism and Indian Culture Website

History of Vedic Culture in the Middle East – Sanskriti - Hinduism and Indian Culture Website BY STEPHEN KNAPP Starting from India and heading to the west, this area had strong contacts with ancient India from many years ago, and is said to have been a part of greater Bharatvarsha before the war of Kurukshetra, which is said to have been about 5,000 years ago. In the Ramayana we find wherein...

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Pastoralism, climate change, and the transformation of the Indus Civilization in Gujarat: Faunal analyses and biogenic isotopes by Brad Chase, David Meiggs and P. Ajithprasad is an important paper - given the painstaking analysis of data - which shows just how careful one has to be in attributing the demise of the Indus civilization to climate change. "A thorough accounting of how Indus peoples were impacted by—and may have adapted to—climatic fluctuations at the end of the third millennium BC requires investigation of the specific ways in which local populations engaged with their environments and how land-use patterns changed during this period of social and climatic change (Madella and Fuller, 2006; Petrie, 2017; Petrie et al., 2017; Wright, 2010, pp. 39–44)," write the authors (p. 1). They look at pastoral practices at three sites Gujarat - Bagasra, Shikarpur and Jaidak – before and after the roughly 2000 BCE climate change event, when a major shift in the summer monsoon is thought by some to have led to major societal transformations on the ground. Given that the land became more arid, would pastoral peoples not have roamed more widely to feed their livestock? "Together, data from these three sites allow us to determine the extent to which pastoral land-use practices changed across the period when climatic changes may have impacted local environments" (p. 2).

They sort through the complexities of Bronze Age Gujarat - Indus civilization seems to have co-existed with other traditions before and afterwards - and the types of animals eaten (mainly bovines and caprines, or cows and buffaloes, sheep and goats) in what they call a "bottom-up epistemological approach" (p. 4). To put it simply, assuming that there was less rainfall, pastoral people would have had to range over larger territory to feed their livestock. If they did this, the dental remains of their livestock would reveal greater variety over time. "We evaluate this hypothesis with faunal and isotopic data that speak directly to livestock consumption, management, diet, and mobility at three well-dated archaeological sites whose occupational sequences span the period when migratory pastoralism is proposed to have in- creased. All three of these sites, Bagasra, Shikarpur, and Jaidak, were excavated by the same team of archaeologists from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda following similar excavation and documentation protocols. Situated within 65 km of one another, they were located in a generally similar climatic setting. All three have produced radiocarbon dates (Fig. 2, Table 1) that are stratigraphically consistent and commensurate with current understandings of local ceramic sequences. Fauna from all three sites have been studied following the same documentation system (Chase, 2014, 2010), and isotopes in faunal tooth enamel have been analyzed following a common set of procedures developed during the course of pilot studies undertaken in preparation for the current expanded study (Chase et al., 2018, 2014b), as described in more detail below" (p. 5).

The results? After exhaustive dental and other analyses, they write "overall, there is very little evidence for change through time in overall patterns of mobility for either bovines or caprines . . .. In sum, our data show very little evidence for a shift in pastoral land-use practices across the time when climatic changes have been documented in adjacent areas and may have impacted environments in Gujarat. Rather, pastoral land-use practices appear to have been remarkably resilient in the face of the social and climatic changes that characterized the beginning of the Localization Era—as was the case with rural lifeways in other regions of the Indus Civilization (Petrie, 2017, p. 56, 2019, p. 127; 2017, p. 19)" (p. 16).

As other scholars have pointed out as well, Indus peoples were remarkably resilient, and developed infrastructure and practices in different areas that responded to very different agricultural, water, crop and geographical realities. They could adapt. While this does not deny the fact that climate change may have played a major role in the civilization's demise or changes, it is not a simple matter to understand how these effects played themselves out in time. This paper offers a nice way of bringing together the many factors that are needed to develop sharp and effective analyses instead of jumping to simplistic theories.

Image: A map of Gujarat showing sites mentioned in the text along with 87Sr/86Sr values monitored in herbivore dung across Gujarat. Black squares indicate dung sampling locations, white circles indicate the sites under consideration here, black circles indicate sites mentioned in the text, and grey circles indicate sites generally contemporary with the occupations of Bagasra, Shikarpur, and Jaidak.

Read the paper at Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/43051387/Pastoralism_climate_change_and_the_transformation_of_the_Indus_Civilization_in_Gujarat_Faunal_analyses_and_biogenic_isotopes

A truly fascinating paper by Dennys Frenez and Massimo Vidale on composite Indus creatures and their meaning: Harappa Chimaeras as 'Symbolic Hypertexts'. Some Thoughts on Plato, Chimaera and the Indus Civilization."

Abstract
An analysis and interpretation of the so-called Harappan chimaera, one of the most peculiar and elaborate iconographies of Indus Civilization. It is represented on many stamp seals of fired steatite and corresponding clay sealings, terracotta tablets in bas-relief, copper tablets and tokens. The Harappan chimaera was composed of body parts derived from different animals, as well as humans and other fantastic beings of the Indus imagination. A detailed documentation and description of all the objects bearing chimaeras makes it possible to recognize not only a basic set of regular combinations and some aspects of their possible changes in time, but also visual associations among selected parts of the chimaera's body that could be perceived and semantically intepreted at different levels. We believe that the sophisticated structure of these images fully deserves to be considered an early form of 'hypertext', following current definitions used in computer sciences. We conclude by relating the evidence and its cognitive background to other spheres of the early urban societies in the Indus basin.

Above: Harappan chimaera and its hypertextual components

Read the full article at https://www.harappa.com/content/harappan-chimaeras

According to Nassim Haramein's unified field theory, the foundational fabric of spacetime itself has a holofractal tetrahedral lattice structure at the sub-quantum Planck scale. The seed of this geometry at any point is a 64 tetrahedron grid that forms the first two of what are infinite scalar octaves of perfectly balanced cuboctahedral structures forming a vector equilibrium at each scale (octave). To form one 64 tetrahedron grid you need 8 star tetrahedrons put together.

The star tetrahedron is one of the most foundational geometries in the universe, at all scales. Here we see this structure, also known as a Merkaba, made from 8 tetrahedrons pointing out (while the cuboctahedron is made of 8 tetrahedrons pointing inward) being depicted in 2D, in cultures form around the world.

One major question then becomes... how did they know?

Find out possible answers to this question and the many others that arise when you go down rabbit-hole that is unified physics meets ancient civilizations in the free online Unified Science Course in the Resonance Academy (available in English, French & Spanish) at ResonanceScience.org

Resonance Science Foundation • Resonance Science Foundation - Français • Resonance Science Foundation - Español • Nassim Haramein - Français • Post by Jamie Janover

ORGANIGRAMA DE LA FEDERACIÓN NACIONAL DE JUJITSU Y DISCIPLINAS ASOCIADAS.

Directores de departamento, junta directiva y comisiones de apoyo.
Seguimos creciendo.

One of the most evocative seals from Mohenjo-daro, depicting a deity with horned headdress and bangles on both arms, standing in a pipal (sacred fig) tree and looking down on a kneeling worshiper. A human head rests on a small stool and giant ram and seven figures in procession complete the narrative.

Asko Parpola writes "An anthropomorphic figure has knelt in front of a fig tree, with hands raised in respectful salutation, prayer or worship. This reverence suggests the divinity of its object, another anthropomorphic figure standing inside the fig tree. In the ancient Near East, the gods and goddesses, as well as their earthly representatives, the divine kings and queens functioning as high priests and priestesses, were distinguished by a horned crown. A similar crown is worn by the two anthropomorphic figures in the 'fig deity seal. Among various tribal people of India, horned head-dresses are worn by priests on sacrificial occasions." (Deciphering the Indus Script, pp. 256-8.)

Mark Kenoyer writes: "In the lower register is a procession of seven robed figures with long braids, short curved head ornaments, and arms covered with bangles. Some scholars identify the attendants as priestesses, but no specific gender is indicated, and lacking examples of female figurines with long braids and single plumed head ornaments, we cannot determine if the procession is comprised of male or female attendants." (Ancient Cities, p. 106).

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Journey of a Civilization Indus to Vagai is an exceptional book, from its high production value to well marshaled arguments and the broad perspective of its author, R. Balakrishnan. He has been researching the materials for decades in a careful and constructive manner. It is also a tribute to the late Iravatham Mahadevan, one of my favorite people in ancient Indus studies and India's most accomplished Indus script scholar.

Balakirshnan takes takes on two large questions in ancient Indian history: What happened to the ancient Indus culture and/or people after 1700 or so BCE? What are the origins of Tamil Sangam literature that describe cities, creatures and landscape features far different from the south India it is first geographically located in? Balakrishnan offers a single yet multi-faceted answer, and draws on the Indus script readings proposed by Mahadevan and Asko Parpola. This is supplemented with a variety of other evidence from words, visual motifs, the division of towns and cities, DNA analysis, and much, much more to weave a substantial answer that argues for the cohesion of ancient Indus and modern Tamil and Dravidian culture.

Nonetheless, if one agrees with the general conclusions, it also raises new questions about the "continuity" of culture and peoples across thousands of years. What that relationship between culture and people and language – are they even the same thing or separate manifestations that may float across time, space and peoples? What is identity across millennia?

"Of all the suggestions on the language of the Indus civilization," writes Balakrishnan, "the Dravidian Hypothesis is by far the best working hypothesis for the decipherment of the Indus script and the understanding of the language and culture. This book attempts to assemble all possible ideas that would essentially substantiate this view" (p. 59). Indeed, it is not only the language theories from Parpola and Mahadevan that drive the approach, but also the author's painstaking look at place names in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan and their frequent parallels in Tamil Nadu and other parts of South India. "Place-names do Travel," is the first of these chapters, and it must be said that Balakrishnan has a gift for metaphor and relevant quotations – as in the preamble quote from a tribal man in Odisha for this chapter: "How can we change the name of the village given by our ancestors? Their spirits may get confused when they want to visit us!"

The analysis of place names is rooted in an appraisal of Sangam ("royal literary academy") literature, which have been thought to date to roughly 300 BCE, but contain numerous references to even earlier texts and poems as well as geographic features - like the Himalayas - far from present-day Tamil country but seemingly quite familiar to Sangam poets. They also invoke a rich, multi-cultural urban life and references to tribes in hill country, from where they emigrated, not to mention a vibrant coastal trade with goods from the west coast of India like teak wood, pearls and ivory. They could have been sourced from the region and were traded in ancient Indus times as far away as Mesopotamia – "it would be hard to believe that the Indus traders would have missed the scope and opportunity southern India offered them for sourcing their export mercantile" (p. 95). This is a very solid point. There were many roads to the South, and if Dravidian speakers originated in Iran as some have supposed (there is pre-Indus Iranian ancestry in the Ancestral South Indian genome, as well as linguistic traces), a migration of people, traditions and culture is well within the realm of possibility. In fact the free flow of peoples has been happening throughout the history of the subcontinent and Central Asia. Assuming that Sangam literature is drawing from an earlier, hazy past and oral tradition, the best candidate for this might well be the Indus civilization, however wide the gap in centuries from what we know today.

Continue reading the second half of the review at https://www.harappa.com/content/journey-civilization-indus-vaigai

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Painted and unpainted burial pottery from Harappa. The two largest vessels were found in the same burial and are described below. The other smaller vessels were found in an earlier burial and represent an older style of pottery. The bottom images shows a collection of burial pottery which come from one of the later burials towards the end of the Harappan period, possibly dating to 1900 BCE.

Tall jar with concave neck and flaring rim: The rounded base was originally supported in a ring stand. The black painted geometric designs are arranged in panels with a red slip as background. After initial firing, the entire painted design was obliterated with a red slip and fired again at a low temperature that turned the exterior layer of the slip red through oxidation, but the inner layer remained gray. This overslip was not well bonded to the previously slipped surface and was partially eroded when first discovered. After initial conservation and documentation, one half of the overslip was removed to reveal the original painted design. The lid and ring stand with this vessel were also covered with an overslip. This tall jar was located at the foot of the burial pit for burial 148a.

Read more here: https://www.harappa.com/indus/69.html

An interesting series of reflections on how we have viewed the ancient Indus through the prism of whatever archaeological priorities or worldviews were in fashion then, and how the evidence, slowly, can push against these preconceptions. The work of early archaeologists Stuart Piggott, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, V. Gordon Childe is taken on; they primarily published in the 1940s through the 1960s, but their ideas continued to influence Indus archaeology long afterwards.

The so-called "granaries" at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the focus of the discussions - crudely, were they meant (including the areas around them) for slaves or subordinated communities, or, on the contrary, did they house acetic priests who ruled the cities in some form? Similarly they discuss the "lower" and "upper town" division in ancient Indus cities that has been thought to represent two different classes of residents, with the wealthy elites living in the "upper town" of course - except that data like the locations where seals and hoards of valuables were discovered does not seem to support such simplifications.

A valuable discussion, that concludes, very nicely with this sentence, still very relevant in today's context: "However, until its script is deciphered, or more rigorous archaeological methodologies are adopted, the very nature of the Indus Civilization’s social and economic infrastructure and framework will be unclear, allowing successive generations of archaeologists to reflect their own ethnocentric ideals and values upon this silent Bronze Age world."

Read the paper: https://www.academia.edu/5274281/Priest-Kings_or_Puritans_Childe_and_Willing_Subordination_in_the_Indus

Above: A side view of the so-called "Priest King," Mohenjo-daro.