16 January, 2017

The Greatest Civilisation Ever Forgotten? | History Today

The Greatest Civilisation Ever Forgotten? | History Today: "Why does the Indus civilisation offer no definite evidence of warfare, in the form of defensive fortifications, metal weapons and warriors: a situation without parallel in war-addicted ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and China? Was the Indus religion the origin of Hinduism? Or is the apparent resemblance of some Indus seal iconography and practices to much later Hindu iconography and practices, such as the worship of the god Shiva and the caste system, based on wishful thinking? Does its seeming austerity have any relationship with Buddhism? Is the Indus language that is written in the script (assuming only a single language) related to still-existing Indian languages, such as the Dravidian languages of south India or the Sanskrit language of north India? Lastly, why did the civilisation decline after about 1900 BC and why did it leave no trace in the historical record? The characters of the script seem to have become indecipherable almost 4,000 years ago with the civilisation’s decline."



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