November 19, 2009

The Indus Vallley Civilization may have been a Golden Age. The skilled artisans at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro erected no monuments to glorify an upper class. Although the cities were fortified, there were no depictions of warfare or conquered enemies. Power and status was indicated through the use of seals and fine jewelry, while the biggest extravagance was lavished on *water luxury* baths, whether or not some ritual was involved in their use.

...Yet there WAS ritual, with godlike figures pictured both with horns AND tree branches on top. Happy and bursting with the love of Nature, I'd like to think. Yet one can see severed human heads on little tables before the dieties. Does that show the horror of human sacrifice? In view of the generally peaceful nature of this society, I would speculate that these human (or animal) heads might just as well have been placed on their pedestals after a natural death, and that this observance was merely a funeral rite. Why not? Even the language hasn't been deciphered after 150 years of trying. And the famous priest-king statue may or may not show an advanced enlightened being, even as the depiction of yogic poses may or may not show the continuity of the Indian traditions. Until more is known for sure, one can either interpret these artifacts as evidence of a Golden Age, or not.

posted by Dan Folkus 15 years ago
  • Would like to hang out in the pool without worrying about loosing my head. Neat post, Dan.
  • Fascinating stuff Dan thanks!
  • Power and status was indicated through the use of seals THUS their King came unto the crowd and Lo! They saw that he was mighty in power and majesty. And they cried unto him, saying "wow, thou art truly giving off some powerful vibes! How dost thou do that?" And King Ashvasen said unto them, "Yo, you're probably looking at my seal. Pretty cool, huh?" And the crowd said "mmm - totally. What do you call him?" And Ashvasen their King told them that he called him Salty, and Salty said "ARP ARP!" and they showered him with gifts of fish. And thus Ashvasen ruled them for long years and it was a golden age of television, but then Ashoka the Usurper invaded the kingdom and he had a friendly dolphin called Flipper, and Lo! it was faster than lightening, and against the incessant cuteness of its antics none could stand. And thus was the ruin of the civilization of Harappa.
  • *Opens trench coat to reveal signs and sygils of power, including a sweet monkey seal*
  • Behold ye the seal of the mighty Monkeybashi
  • *trembles at teh Monkeyness*
  • Even though they didn't exalt war, and were a remarkably peaceful folk, still they were always good at defending themselves, as shown by their ancient towns being fortified. Indeed, their contemporaries in Egypt and Sumer, though warlike, thought it well only to trade with them. And yet, bringing up the question of today in the Afghani-Pakistani region, an invasionary force has been launched and even continues. Why is that? Or rather, how is that even possible, if not historically feasible?
  • Well, to be fair, the Indus Valley is only on the Afghan watershed. The actual valley is in Pakistan and Northern India... (I'm just trying to relate this to the present in order to ignite some more discussion, but hopefully not flaming discussion.)
  • Strangely, my brilliant niece Saraswati, is named after the river that was part of the Indus back then, and credited in the wiki with the Vedas themselves as well as written language, somehow...
  • That is, the diety and the river Saraswati are so credited!