The Indus Age
Subtitle: The Writing System
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: January 1997
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9780812233452
Subjects: Anthropology; Asian / Middle Eastern history: BCE to c 500 CE; Palaeography (history of writing); Social Science; Literature - Classics / Criticism; Ancient Archaeology; Indo-Iranian Languages; Indic, East Indo-European & Dravidian Languages; Language; Sociology; ASIA; Miscellaneous; Penology; Harappa Site; Indus civilization; Indus script; Pakistan; Seals (Numismatics)
Description: This is a book about the undeciphered writing system of the Indus Civilization. Their pictographic script was invented by the people of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, and over a thousand other known settlements, in Pakistan and northwestern India. It was in use for about 600 years, 2500-1900 BC. Many attempts have been made to decipher this writing system. All of them have to be judged to be failures, at least in so far as can be proved by independent tests.

This book is not another attempt at decipherment. It is an in-depth survey of the nature of Indus writing and a comprehensive review of the most prominent decipherment efforts. The book ends with a discussion of the progress that has been made at decipherment, with some thoughts on the direction that future research should take.