Q. With reference to the Harappan seals, which among the following statements is / are correct?
- Unicorn seals have been found in most Indus towns and cities
- The seals are engraved with pictures of not only bull, but also elephant, rhino, humpless bull and the tiger
- Most harappan seals are devoid of an inscription
Choose the correct option from the codes given below:
Answer:
Only 1 & 2
Notes: Harappan seals bore two things: a design and an inscription. The design could be recognized and its significance understood by anyone, while the inscription could be read only by the literate few. The Indus script is still undeciphered, so it is uncertain what these inscriptions said, but studies of seals from other cultures suggest they were probably personal names, titles, or both. On the stamp seals, the inscription was written in reverse, showing that it was usually read from sealings or impressions, not from the seal itself. All but a few of the images on seals depicted a single animal, often with a feeding trough in front of it. The most common was the unicorn, a creature with a single horn combining elements of a humpless bull and an antelope. Unicorn seals have been found in most Indus towns and cities, particularly in Mohenjo-daro; more than a thousand are known, while fewer than a hundred have been found of any other individual design. Around fifty seals depict a zebu bull: These are almost all confined to Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, though one is known from Kalibangan. Zebu seals were generally large and beautifully executed, and they had short inscriptions. Other animals included the elephant, the rhino, the humpless bull, the tiger, the water buffalo, the sheep, and the goat, and were mainly wild creatures native to the Indus region. A very small number of seals bear scenes rather than individual animals. These seals were generally larger than average and must have had a special significance. While the depiction of the animals was standardized, with only small differences occurring in their detail, the scenes are unique, though some share a theme.