H- Symbol could be indicating the Vedic God Indra (Marduk of Sumeria)

Abstract:

The H- symbol appears in Indus seal inscriptions few times. There is a possibility that the H-symbol indicated the weapon of Indra and thereby indicating God Indra himself. The H-symbol means four winds, used as a weapon by god Marduk to kill Tiamat in Sumerian mythology.

Figure 1:Scene of Marduk killing Tiamat.

The ‘H’ shaped weapon carried by Marduk in his left hand indicates the four winds used by him as a weapon; he holds the vajra, the thunderbolt in his right hand. This seal depicts the killing of a snake (Tiamat) by Marduk (1), similar to the killing of Vritra by Indra. This act of killing a snake is identical to the slaying of the hydra by Zeus and Hercules. Indra slaying Vritra is interpreted as killing the demon snake and the release of water from the heavens. Vritra means any barrier in Sanskrit. Mortimer Wheeler interpreted that Indra was responsible for the destruction of Indus civilisation, and he destroyed the earthen dams across the rivers by starving out the Indus people.

Indra stands accused- Mortimer Wheeler

In 1947, Mortimer Wheeler, then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with Rigveda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent. He wrote:

The Rigveda mentions pur, meaning rampart, fort or stronghold. Indra, the Aryan war god, is called purandara, the fort-destroyer. Where are – or were – these citadels? It has in the past been supposed that they were mythical. The recent excavation of Harappa may be thought to have changed the picture. Here we have a highly evolved civilisation of essentially non- Aryan type, now known to have employed massive fortifications. What destroyed this firmly settled civilisation? Climatic, economic or political deterioration may have weakened it, but its ultimate extinction is more likely to have been completed by deliberate and large – scale destruction. It may be no mere chance that at a late period of Mohenjodaro, men, women and children appear to have been massacred there. On circumstantial evidence, Indra stands accused.

From- Mortimer Wheeler, “Harappa 1946”, Ancient India, 1947. (2)

Indra destroying Vritra was a metaphor

This slaying Vritra was not an earthly event; it is a celestial event (star constellation), which was a simile to remember the calendar months, which had been misinterpreted as evidence for physical destruction of dams of Indus valley people by invading Aryans. Note the similarity of this snake slaying event to killing snakes by Arjuna in the khandava forest aided by Lord Krishna in Mahabharat.

If the figure of Marduk killing a snake is closely observed, it can be seen that Marduk is killing the snake with the “Vajra” weapon in his right hand, while in the left hand; he is holding the other weapon, “the four winds”. The four winds are depicted as “H” shaped weapon (3).

Figure 2:The spear and H shaped weapon indicates Marduk.

The Sumerian seal illustrated here shows the scene of a priest worshipping Marduk (3). He is worshipping the spear called “Mar” and “H” shaped weapon. (4)

Indra is identified by wheel symbol and elephant

Indra ruled the world, containing all as spokes (ara) within the felly (nemi)

This symbol is in Indus Valley with a wheel on top of Indra. Indra is also known as the Wheel (chakra) RV.1-32-15 (5)

Figure 3:Indra in Indus Valley seal.

Swaminathan says that the above-given Indus seal most probably shows Indra standing on an elephant, identified by a wheel. (5) there are many precursors seals with this theme of hero fighting beasts in heaven. Such motif seals are available in Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria artefacts and few Indus seals.

Figure 4:The Indus hero fighting two demons.

Figure 5:The Harappan’Proto-shiva’ depicted in a Near Eastern seal.

The above-given seal also shows the Hero fighting two demons to reach the god sitting on the right side. It looks like that the motif of god/hero fighting two demons is an ancient motif taken over by Indra.

London Swaminathan – Research Article Post No.1268; Dated 4th September 2014. (5)

The below-given Rig Vedic references show the nature of the war between Vritra and Indra and the release of rainwater; most probably, it was a metaphor for the arrival of monsoon rains after the long scorching summer of India.

“Floods great and many, compassed by the Dragon Ahi, you made them swell and set free, O Hero. Strengthened by songs of praise, you tore apart piecemeal the Dasa, him who deemed himself immortal” – RV. 2-11-2

“Who slew the Dragon Ahi, freed the seven rivers, and drove the cows forth from the cave of Vala” – RV. 2-12-3

“The Dragon attached against the seven prone rivers, where no joint was, you tore apart with your thunder. Indra with might shook the earth and her foundation as the wind stirs the water with fury. (5)

Striving with the strength, he burst the firm asunder and tore away the summits of the mountains. They ran to you as mothers to their offspring; the clouds, like chariots, hastened forth together. You did refresh the streams and force the billows; you Indra, set free the obstructed rivers”. – RV. 4-19-3/5

Figure 6:The Indus seal showing H-Symbol.

The above-given Indus seal shows the ‘H’ symbol and

thunderbolt, which are the weapons of Indra. the ‘tilak’ symbol indicates the ‘pithru karma’ ceremony this symbol indicates

.

the messenger god who carries the sacrificed animal portion to heaven, which is the portion set aside for god. Together all these symbols narrate the following information, In the‘Pithru karma ceremony’, an animal was sacrificed, and a portion of meat was sent to god Indra through the messenger god’.

Figure 7:The H-symbol, along with the spear symbol indicating God Marduk/Indra -similar to the Sumerian idea shown in figure -2.

The above-given seal inscription shows the stick symbol and the ‘H’ symbol that Sumerian priests worshipped as god Marduk. Most probably, ‘Marduk’ had become ‘Indra’ in the Indian context.

Beehive ceremony	dvi-Kavu means – sacrifice for two entities	Two fishes — two Pithrus	Tilak means Pithru- karma ceremony	H- symbol with stick —- God Marduk/Indra	Arrow– Astaka- eighth day

The seal inscription can be read as follows: ‘Beehive ceremony (6) and Yajna sacrifice was for two entities (both god and Pithrus). In the Pithru karma ceremony, Marduk/Indra was the recipient of sacrifice meat offerings, and the ceremony was held on the eighth day (Astaka) of the month.

Frequency analysis

The H-symbol, along with its variants, appear 22 times in the list of seals maintained by me (my list does not contain all the seals). Iravatham Mahadevan has treated this H-symbol as a variant of the ladder symbol. (7) Hence, the correct frequency of appearance of this H-symbol is not precise. The list maintained by Sundar et al. also doesn’t mention this H-symbol because the frequency is less than ten. (8) He had also followed Mahadevan and treats the H-symbol as a variant of the Ladder symbol.

symbol	frequency	Analysis
	9	This symbol could be a variant of the H-symbol
	2	The sky- mark above the symbol shows it was a god – Marduk/Indra
	9	H-symbol
	2	H-symbol with sky mark —means god in heaven
Total frequency	22

Bibliography

1. Enumaelish. www.crystalink.com. [Online] 2009.
2. Wheeler, Mortimer. NCERT/l/lehs101.pdf. https://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/lehs101.pdf. [Online] https://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/lehs101.pdf.
3. Cotterell Arthur, Rachel Storm. The ultimate encyclopedia of mythology. London. : Anness Publishing Limited., 1999.
4. jeyakumar(book). New_Interpretations_on_Indus_Valley_civilization. academia.edu. [Online] 2009.

https://archive.org/details/NewInterpretationsOnIndusValleyCivilization/pa ge/n15/mode/2up.

1. Swaminathan, London. Oldest-engineer-in-the-world-indra-a-dam- buster-or-a-dam-builder. https://tamilandvedas.com/2014/09/04. [Online] https://tamilandvedas.com/2014/09/04/oldest-engineer-in-the-world-indra- a-dam-buster-or-a-dam-builder/.
2. Jeyakumar(Bee-symbol). Bee_was_another_form_of_dead_mans_resurrected_soul. academia.edu. [Online] 2016. https://www.academia.edu/23483592/Bee_was_another_form_of_dead_m ans_resurrected_soul.
3. Mahadevan.I. The Indus script -Text, Concordance and Tables. http://www.rmrl.in. [Online] http://www.rmrl.in/wp- content/uploads/2014/02/papers/5a.pdf.
4. Sundar. -The-Indus-Script-Text-and-Context.pdf. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/. [Online] http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/43-The-Indus-Script-Text-and- Context.pdf.