Fish symbolism in Indus Valley Civilization

Fish and the God of Waters

The puzzle of ‘fish symbol’ is discussed elaborately in website Harappa.com. The author of this article in this Harappa website suggests that the ‘fish’ pictograms of the Indus script meant ‘star’, why was the meaning ‘star’ not expressed directly with a ‘star’ symbol as in the ancient Near East? Why did the Harappans in a more complicated way use a ‘fish’ pictogram and the rebus principle? One answer could be that though this method may appear more complex to us, it probably did not appear so to the Indus scribes, in whose language the same word denoted both ‘fish’ and ‘star’ (1). The above-said explanation is not a satisfactory answer to this question.

Figure 1: Fish picture in an IVC pottery Picture courtesy – (2)

The ‘fish’ pictogram of the Indus script appears to have had a somewhat similar background. The reason why ‘fish’ and not ‘Star’ was selected to represent the concept of ‘god’ seems to be that

in the Early Harappan religion the fish occupied a central position: fish is one of the most popular motifs of the Early Harappan painted pottery. As the aquatic animal par excellence, it appears to symbolise the God of Waters. The importance of this deity in the Harappan pantheon is proved by his popularity in the Harappan iconography (1).

Figure 2: The Harappan ‘Proto-Shiva’ depicted in a Near Eastern seal

In one Indus-type cylinder seal from the Near East, this buffalo-horned deity is surrounded by a pair of buffaloes, a pair of snakes, and a pair of fish (drawn exactly like the ‘fish’ pictograms of the Indus script) (2).

Figure 3: Indus seal showing the longest seal inscription.

Picture courtesy – (3)

The above- given seal inscription shows three different kinds of fish on the first line of the inscription. My interpretation is that these three fishes could be indicating the three generations of Pithru worshipped by Hindus even today.

—This fish symbol with chevron cap could be indicating the third generation Pithru, which had reached heaven. The chevron symbol indicates ‘sky’ thereby ‘heaven’.

— Fish with two horns projection could be indicating the second generation of Pithru, which is in Yama Loka under the custody of Yama. This second-generation Pithru has not yet washed off its sins to reach heaven.

– Variation of second-generation Pithru.

– Another variation of second-generation Pithru.

–The fish without any appendages could be the first generation Pithru. It is the Parvan of the recently died person. This Parvan had to undergo various trials and tribulations to reach the god in heaven. Now, all these three variants of fish symbols (Pithrus) should be treated in the same way and simply read as

‘Pithru’, when these two symbols appear in combination, it

should be read as ‘Pithru Karma’. Then the frequency of this combination of symbols increases. The total frequency of this combination stands at 75. This frequency is significant for sample size under consideration.

‘Fish symbolism’ in other cultures

Now, let us look into ‘fish symbolism’ in other cultures.

Figure 4: Picture of Dagon Picture courtesy – (4)

Dagon

Dagon or Dagan was initially an East Semitic Mesopotamian (Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian) fertility god who evolved into a

significant Northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain (as the symbol of fertility) and fish and fishing (as the symbol of multiplying). He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) and Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria). He was also an important member, or perhaps head, of the pantheon of the Philistines. (4)

Fish Symbolism —By — S. H. HOOKE

The fish as a symbol of the divine source of life is developed in the Hellenistic period appears from a tomb painting from Gamboud, (5) in which the mummy, lying on a lion bed is gazing at a fish above him. Here the sacred fish replaces the usual Ka bird symbol, indicating the hope of immortality. Egyptian priests were forbidden to eat fish at all, although fish eating was obligatory for the laity on certain days of the month. (6 pp. 535- 537) On the famous Lamashtu tablet, apotropaic in nature, two priests are represented in fish-masks standing by the bed of a sick person, warding off the attacks of Lamashtu and her attendant evil demons. One of the forms assumed by Ea, the god of magic and friend of humankind was the goat-fish.

In ritual scenes depicted on various cylinder seals, we frequently find a fish accompanied by a rhomb or lozenge; the latter element is usually interpreted by archaeologists as representing the female vulva. Hence, the fertility aspect of the

fish symbol is here strongly emphasised. (5) Mrs Van Buren had collected the Mesopotamian material relating to fish symbolism. She suggests that the fish is connected with the underworld and has chthonic associations. She also suggests, however, that in very early times they symbolised life, and that the later conception of rebirth caused them to be used in funerary rites. (7 p. 15) On some Mesopotamian seals, birds are depicted as eating or attempting to eat the fish. In this connexion Professor Erwin Goodenough has made the interesting comment, ‘This conception of the destruction of life as itself hope of life is a paradox which we shall see regularly recurring with other symbols. (6) The relevance of the above-given statement is that similar scenes of ‘birds attempting’ to eat fish appear in Indus seals also.

Syria had its fish-goddess, Atargatis, whose priests offered fish daily on her altars, and the evidence would seem to indicate that fish was a ritual food of the priests but was taboo to the layman.

An aetiological legend explaining the fish taboo related that Atargatis was born from an egg brought up from the Euphrates by a fish and hatched by a dove; hence, fish was not eaten as food. (6)

Diffusion of the fish symbolism from Mesopotamia to Syria and Phoenicia.

In Greece, the dolphin became the centre of piscine myth and metaphor. It was associated both with Dionysus and with Apollo. The dolphin is also closely associated with Eros and Aphrodite. Indeed, the dolphin is associated with so many gods

that, as Professor Goodenough has said; it is a symbol in its own right and is ‘an excellent example of the vocabulary of the symbolic lingua franca of the period’. Underlying the various dolphin legends is the symbolism of the saviour-god, the psychopomp, carrying souls to immortality. This idea of psychopomp is borne out by the frequent use of the dolphin as a symbol on Jewish and Christian graves. (8)

The Egyptian idea of a soul (9) (10)

The above-given discussions in this article are the possible gods that could be linked to this ‘fish symbol’ of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). However, none of them adequately fits the idea of the fish symbol in Indus inscriptions. The only saving explanation is the view expressed by S.H.Hooke in his article ‘Fish symbolism’. He states that the sacred fish replaces the usual Ka bird symbol, indicating the hope of immortality. In Indus Valley Civilization also similar replacement had taken place.

In IVC inscriptions, the bird symbol has been replaced with

‘Fish symbol’. Please note that the ‘bird’ symbol appears in few seals and disappears after some time, whereas the ‘fish symbol’ is prolifically used in many seals. In the Egyptian idea, the soul consists of five portions and two important entities called ‘Ka’ and ‘Ba’. The Wikipedia article on ‘Ka’ and ‘Ba’ is reproduced below here for easy reference.

Figure 5: Ba takes the form of a bird with a human head (9)

Ba (personality)

The ‘Ba’ was everything that makes an individual unique, similar to the notion of ‘personality’. (In this sense, inanimate objects could also have a ‘Ba’, a unique character, and indeed Old Kingdom pyramids often were called the ‘Ba’ of their owner). The ‘Ba’ is an aspect of a person that the Egyptians believed would live after the body died, and it is sometimes depicted as a human-headed bird flying out of the tomb to join with the ‘Ka’ in the afterlife (9) (10).

In the Coffin Texts, one form of the Ba that comes into existence after death is corporeal, eating, drinking and copulating. Louis Zabkar argued that the Ba is not part of the person but is the person himself,

In another mode of existence, the ‘Ba’ of the deceased is depicted in the Book of Going Forth by Day returning to the mummy and participating in life outside the tomb in non- corporeal form, echoing the solar theology of ‘Re’ (or Ra) uniting with Osiris each night (9) (10).

in hieroglyphs

Figure 6: the figure of ‘Ka’ symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Picture courtesy- (9)

Ka (vital spark)

The Ka was the Egyptian concept of vital essence, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the Ka left the body. The Egyptians believed that Khnum created the bodies of children on a potter’s wheel and inserted them into their mothers’ bodies.

Egyptians believed that Heket was the creator of each person’s Ka, breathing it into them at the instant of their birth as the part of their soul that made them alive. This idea resembles the concept of spirit in other religions. The most important point to be noted here is that the same ‘Upraised hand’ symbol has been used for the same meaning with same sound ‘Ka’ in Indus script also. This ‘Upraised hand symbol’ is evidence to show that the Egyptian Hieroglyphics had influenced the Indus script.

The Egyptians also believed that the ‘Ka’ was sustained through food and drink. For this reason, food and drink offerings were presented to the dead, although it was the ‘Kau’ within the offerings that was consumed, not the physical aspect. The ‘Ka’ was often represented in Egyptian iconography as a second image of the king, leading earlier works to attempt to translate Ka as double of the dead king.

Figure 7: Bird symbol indicates the Agnicayana ceremony Picture courtesy – (11)

The idea behind these rituals is liberating the soul from the dead body and delivering the same in heaven through the ‘Vedic-bird’. The idea is very similar to the Egyptian concept of ‘Ba’ and ‘Ka’. The ‘Ba’ is indicated by ‘bird symbol’ here also, whereas the idea of ‘Ka’ (bird) had been replaced with ‘fish symbol’ in the same way as it happened in Egypt also.

The idea conveyed by ‘fish symbol’ is very intangible. That is the reason for the immense difficulty in deciphering Indus inscriptions. It is finally concluded that ‘Fish symbol’ indicates the part of the soul of a dead person or rebirth of people as ‘fish’ in another realm (i.e.Heaven).

Ichthys

Ichthys was the offspring son of the ancient Sea goddess Atargatis and was known in various mythic systems as Tirgata, Aphrodite, Pelagia or Delphine. The word also meant “womb” and “dolphin” in some tongues, and representations of this appeared in the depiction of mermaids. The fish also a central element in other

stories, including the Goddess of Ephesus (who has a fish amulet covering her genital region), as well as the tale of the fish that swallowed the penis of Osiris, and was also considered a symbol of the vulva of Isis. (12)

Along with being a generative and reproductive spirit in mythology, the fish also has been identified in certain cultures with reincarnation and the life force. Sir James George Frazer noted in his work, “Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion” (Part Four of his larger work, “The Golden Bough”) that among one group in India, the fish was believed to house a departed soul. Also, as a part of a fertility ritual, specific fish is eaten in the belief that it will be reincarnated in a new-born child. (13)

Well before Christianity, the fish symbol was known as “the Great Mother,” a pointed oval sign, the “Vesica Piscis” or Vessel of the Fish. “Fish” and “womb” were synonymous terms in ancient Greek, “Delphos.” Its link to fertility, birth, feminine sexuality and the natural force of women was also acknowledged by the Celts, as well as pagan cultures throughout northern Europe. Eleanor Gaddon traces a “Cult of the Fish Mother” as far back as the hunting and fishing people of the Danube River Basin in the sixth millennium (B.C). Over fifty shrines have been found throughout the region, which depicts a fish like deity, a female creature who “incorporates aspects of an egg, a fish and a woman which could have been a primaeval creator or a mythical ancestress…” The

“Great Goddess” was portrayed elsewhere with pendulous breasts, accentuated buttocks and a conspicuous vaginal orifice. (13)

Thus, the fish symbol is an ancient symbol indicative of female anatomy and reproductive potency — the very sign of the Great Mother. Rekha Rao has put the same idea forth in her latest e-book, ’Symbolography in Indus seals’. (14)

Also, note that in figure -2 (Harappa.com) the two fish symbols are shown near the god ‘Anu’. The author of the article concludes that the fish symbol indicates a god. Most probably, the fish symbols mean the souls of dead persons who had reached heaven and living with God ‘Anu’ in his court.

It is the common belief among Hindus that dead person either goes into heaven (sky) or hell (underworld) depending on his karma. There is no doubt that ancient priests made extraordinary efforts to send the soul to heaven. This idea is ingrained in the Indian mind; however, just to produce some literary evidence, the literature available on this issue are reproduced here for easy reference. Franz Cumont states that the primitive people regard the spirit of the dead as departing to inhibit the stars. In Homeric age and popular belief, doctrines taught that the abode of souls was neither the tomb nor the netherworld of Pluto, but the upper zone of the universe. Some other people with more precise definition made the souls companion of stars. (15)

The idea conveyed by ‘fish symbol’ is very abstract. That is the reason for the immense difficulty in deciphering Indus inscriptions. It is finally concluded that the ‘Fish symbol’ indicates the part of the soul of a dead person or rebirth of a people as ‘fish’ in another realm (i.e. The Heaven).

1. Harappa.com. http://www.harappa.com/. http://www.harappa.com/. [Online] 2014. http://www.harappa.com/.
2. harappa.com. script/parpola8.html. harappa.com. [Online] December 2015. http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola8.html.
3. Sullivan, Sue. Indus Script Dictionary.
4. Wikipedia(Dagon). Dagon. wikipedia.org. [Online] December 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagon#/media/File:Dagon_2.jpg.
5. Goodenough, E. Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman World, VI, p. 14.
6. Hooke, S.H. Fish Symbolism. 1960.
7. Buren, E. Van. Fish Offerings in Ancient Mesopotamia.
8. Hooke, S.H. http://www.luxlapis.co.za/astro/fish.htm. http://www.luxlapis.co.za/astro/fish.htm. [Online] December 2015. http://www.luxlapis.co.za/astro/fish.htm.
9. Wikipedia(Egyptian-soul). Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul. Wikipedia. [Online] 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul#Ka_.28vital_spark.29.
10. Wikipedia(EgyptianAfterlife). Ancient_Egyptian_religion#Afterlife. wikipedia.org.

[Online] 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion#Afterlife.

1. Subramanian.T.S. Harappan-surprise. www.frontline.in. [Online] April 2015. http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/harappan-surprise/article7053030.ece.
2. Walker, Barbara G. The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. s.l. : http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/fish_symbol.htm.
3. fish_symbol. godlessgeeks.com. [Online] December 2015. http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/fish_symbol.htm.
4. Rao, Rekha. Symbalography in Indus seals (e-Book). s.l. : Amazon, 2015.
5. Cumont, Fraz. Astrology and religion among the Greeks and Romans. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2006.