Egyptian hieroglyphics influence on Indus script

Abstract

Many Indus symbols resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs, and there is a close connection between these two writing systems. The Egyptian priests and scribes likely contributed to the development of the Indus script, along with Sumerian and Vedic priests. The Indus symbols show a composite culture of all these three great civilizations. It was a composite culture 3500 years back, but scholars are unnecessarily quarrelling over that legacy as Aryan and Dravidian civilizations.

Direction of writing

The basic fundamental principle in any writing system is the direction of writing. Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from right to left. In hieroglyphic writing, the direction the human or animal figures face is the beginning of the line. Further, the upper symbols are read before the lower line symbol. (1) The Indus script follows the same pattern as Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

The Indus script follows the same method used by Egyptian scribes. The red arrow in the above-given seal picture shows the direction of the reading. The direction faced by the bull is the side from which the reading should begin.

Indus inscriptions are written in an ‘Ideogram’ (Idea) way

Logograms are visual symbols representing words rather than the sounds or phonemes that make up the word. It is easier to remember or guess the meaning of logograms, while it is somewhat harder to remember or imagine the sound of alphabetically written words. Modern examples of logograms include the pictorial representation of toilets of “Ladies” and “Gents” by simply showing the picture of a “Woman” or “Man” in an AirPort or Public place. The idea is expressed through images instead of written letters, which is more convenient and practical in a multilingual situation. (2)

Decipherment efforts so far show that the Indus inscriptions are written mainly in ‘Ideogram’. However, in a few cases, “logosyllabic” writing also exists. The best example is the word ‘Pithru-Karma’, frequently used in Indus inscriptions. This word is written in an ‘ideographic way’ as well as a ‘logo-syllabic way’. Iravatham Mahadevan first advocated the ‘ideographic way’ of interpreting Indus Valley civilization symbols in 2014. (3) However, his idea that those symbols indicate tablets of communication of the Dravidian people has not made much progress.

At this juncture, it is pertinent to introduce the research paper of Ms Bahata Ansumali. Her article has established that the Indus script follows the logogram and not the syllabic writing. (4) Her conclusions support my research finding that the Indus script follows a hieroglyphic (Logographic) way of writing.

The below–given table shows that the Indus symbols have evolved from Egyptian hieroglyphics.

S.No.	Hieroglyphic Symbol Reference to Gardiner’s list	Description	Egyptian Hieroglyph explanation	Indus symbol and notes
1	D 28	Two arms upraised	Ka (Life spirit) According to the Egyptian idea, life consists of four components, and ‘Ka’ was ‘spirit’.	Indus symbol is with the same meaning and the same sound, ‘Ka.’ (5)
2	D31A	Two arms upraised and club in the centre	Dead priest The ‘Ka’ priest was most probably involved in the death ceremony and could have specialized in dealing with the spirit (ka) of the dead men.	The Indus symbol looks similar, meaning ‘Karma’ (Pithru Karma). This ‘tilak’ symbol was likely worn on their forehead by specific priests involved in dealing with the dead man’s spirit. (6)
3	D54	Legs walking/	Approach enterprise, do not move, stop Injure leg, thigh / This leg symbol also has the meaning “come.” Determinative for motion.	This ‘walking leg’ logo appears with the same meaning ‘come.’
4	F25	Leg of an ox	1. “repeat, repetition.” 2. Ideogram for “bovine leg.” 3. (to repeat, narrate, recount, tell a story, tell a dream)	The leg of an ox appears in Indus script, but the leg symbol indicates the God ‘Pusan’ (Pan) (7)
5	N1	Sky	sky	God in the sky. Same meaning as given in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
6	N25A	Three hills	Ideogram for mountain	Three hills indicate the nether world. Called ‘Kur’ in Sumerian Language. In Sumerian ideas, the ‘Kur’ was located on the top of mountains. (8)
7	N26	Two hills	Ideogram for mountain	Egyptians thought the ‘netherworld’ lay beyond these two mountains. Indus people also believed in a similar idea. This symbol indicated the god ‘Aker.’ (9)
8	N35	Ripples of water	The letter’ n.’	This water symbol also appears in the Indus script; it indicates the same meaning as ‘water.’
9	O 43	Low fence	fence	A similar ideogram appears in Indus script, indicating the fence put up on the Anav-Astakia ceremony (10)
10	Q-3	Stool– support, stool, a stool made out of reed	Typical usage is for the name of God Ptah-	The mat symbol indicates ‘invitation’ and seat offered to gods /pithrus in a Yajna in the Indus script. (11)
11	R2	Table with slices of bread	Offering table	The same offering table appears in the Indus script with the same meaning. (12)
13	S-34	Ankh -life	Ideogram for ‘life’ and ‘live.’	It has the same meaning in the Indus script, but the ideogram is slightly different
14	U-6A	Hoe	Beloved of gods	The same symbol appears, but the meaning is different. This symbol indicates the ploughing ceremony of the place in which the corpse was burnt. (13)
15	V-28	The symbol for the word eternity/ — a-long-time period/	wick-Ra-wick God-Huh	The same symbol appears, but the meaning is not yet ascertained
16	X-8	Cone-shaped bread	Ideogram for the words ‘give’,’ given’, and ‘to give.’ In iconography and reliefs used for pharaonic statements: “Given, Life, Power…Forever”	The same meaning in Indus script symbols (14)
17	Z-1	Single stroke Egyptian Numeral one	indicates that the prior sign is an Ideogram as if it has no feminine ending and can stand as an abundance stroke at empty places.	The ordinary meaning is number one of numerals. But it also stands for the ‘Agnoukaran’ ceremony. It means the death anniversary ceremony in which a stick was offered to the dead ancestor. (15)
18	Z-2	Three strokes Egyptian numeral three	plural, majority, collective concept (e.g. meat) It can be used as a replacement for signs perceived to be dangerous to be written	Along with the ordinary meaning of the number three of numerals. It could also mean plurality and a danger sign, as in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. (16)
19	Z-2c		It can be used as a replacement for signs perceived to be dangerous to be written	Similar symbol exists in Indus script with the same meaning as that Egyptian hieroglyphics (16)
20	Z-3a	Three horizontal strokes	No explanation in the Wikipedia list (17)	May be used as a replacement for signs perceived to be dangerous to be written/(or) may be indicating plurality (Many gods) (16)
21		Three horizontal strokes within an elliptical circle		It May be used as a replacement for signs perceived to be dangerous to be written//(or) may be indicating plurality (Many gods) (16)
22	Z-4	Dual stroke (slanting)	Egyptian numeral two, plural, majority, collective concept (e.g. meat), Duality It can be used as a replacement for signs perceived to be dangerous to be written	Dual stroke (Slanting) can be seen here. With similar meaning as that of hieroglyphics (16)
23	Aa-1	Placenta	Embryo symbol in IVC scripts. (18)	A similar symbol appears with the meaning of ‘Embryo’, which is more or less the same meaning as ‘Placenta’. See the note below
24		Reference: List of hieroglyphic characters, serial no: 68. Book of Wallis Budge. (19)	Crocodile symbol indicates the Egyptian demon Ammit and Goddess Tawaret. (20)	In hieroglyphics, the ammit is in picture form, but in IVC script, it is in logo form. (20)
25		Reference: Book of Wallis Budge. (14)	The double arrow indicates the Egyptian goddess Neith. In IVC also, this symbol could have indicated Neith. (21)	See the note below:
26		The double Bow symbol means goddess Neith. Reference (19)	The same double bow symbol appears in IVC with the same meaning. (21)	See the note below:
27		Plummet	Plummet is a kind of amulet inserted during mummification (22)	This symbol plummet appears many times in IVC seal inscriptions. (23)
28	Reference-Wikipedia	Sa – symbol	Sa – symbol means protection –the papyrus reed rolled up in lifebuoy – implies protection.	The Sa-symbol appears in a slightly modified form but with the same meaning, ‘Protection’ (24)
29	Reference -Wallis Budge (19)		Swathe, a mummy hieroglyphic, means wrapping the mummy with a cotton cloth.	A similar symbol appears in IVC scripts with similar meanings. (25)
30	G54	Hieroglyph- logo- Plucked bird	Determinative for the Egyptian idea ‘Twist the neck of a bird	The same symbol appears in a modified form –a twisted bird symbol with the same meaning, ‘fear’. (26)
31		Egyptian Goddess attached to a brick	Egyptian goddess Meshkhenet was identified with a brick symbol associated with childbirth.	The above-given Indus symbol also looks like two bricks within an oval-shaped circle. (27)
32		X-symbol appears on the mummy of Osiris and other mummies	X- symbol could have indicated the Egyptian god of death, Osiris and generally the dead people – mummies.	The X- symbol stands for the god of death and dead people. (28)

Serial No.1. (Ka- Symbol)

This symbol of ‘two arms upraised’ indicates the meaning of ‘Ka’ (life spirit) in Egyptian hieroglyphics. This Indus symbol gives the same meaning as the phonetic sound of ‘Ka’. I have written an exclusive article titled “Upraised hands means ‘ka’ (soul)”. (5) Read this article for more information on this symbol.

Serial. No.2 (Pithru Karma)

In Egyptian Hieroglyphics, this symbol is explained as ‘Two arms upraised and club in the centre’, meaning ‘Dead priest’. The idea of a ‘dead priest’ does not have a proper definition. It was probably a priest who dealt with the death ceremony and dealt with the ‘Ka’ spirit of the dead man. The Indus symbol is with a similar idea to the meaning of ‘Pithru Karma’. I have already explained this symbol in the article,” Tilak symbol means ‘Pithru Karma’”. (6) Read this article for more information.

Serial no.3 (‘walking legs’ symbol)

In the above-given seal, read the inscription from left to right. The first ideogram indicates the Yajna pit, stating that a yajna was performed. The second symbol is the ‘walking leg’ symbol, meaning ‘come’(invitation). The third symbol, the ‘stick symbol’, suggests that the ‘Agnoukaran’ ceremony was performed for the dead ancestor. (15) In ancient times, it was a ritual in that a ‘stick’ was offered to ancestors during the Pithru karma ceremony. Thus the ‘walking symbol’ indicates an invitation to Pithrus to attend the ‘Agnoukaran’ ceremony.

Serial. No. 13:

Ankh – gave eternal life to ancient Egyptian ideas, and it looks like IVC followed similar ideas. The symbol shown in the above-given seal picture looks similar to the ankh symbol.

Serial. no.23

In the above-given seal inscription, the placenta and Yajna symbols appear. However, this placenta symbol indicates a growing embryo in IVC symbolism. The Yajna was conducted to protect the growing embryo. Read the article “Yoni symbol indicates mother goddess’ for more information. (18)

Serial no.25

This IVC symbol (Figure -A) looks similar to the two crossed arrows of Goddess Neith. Hieroglyphic name of Goddess Neith(B). (21)

Serial.no 26:

A double bow and arrow indicated goddess Neith in Egyptian civilization. In Indus Valley civilization also, it could have indicated the same goddess. (21)

Thus, it can be seen that many Indus script symbols have a similar meaning to the ‘Hieroglyphic symbols’ of ancient Egypt. It shows the definite influence of Egyptian Hieroglyphics on the Indus script. However, the Indus script language is a composite language of Egyptian writing and Sanskrit. The details regarding Sanskrit language influence can be seen in my article under the title Sanskrit theory on deciphering the Indus script. (29)

Acknowledgements

The Indus seal pictures are taken from the book of sue Sullivan. (29)

The logos are made from the symbols available in the book of Asko Parpola. (30)

Bibliography

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