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Asian Art :
Indus Valley Vessels : Indus Valley Civilization Alabaster Vessel
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Indus Valley Civilization Alabaster Vessel - LO.539
Origin: Pakistan/Western India
Circa: 2500
BC
to 2000
BC
Dimensions:
3.625" (9.2cm) high
Collection: Asian
Style: Indus Valley/Harappan
Medium: Alabaster
£1,500.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
The Indus Valley civilization was rediscovered in 1920-
21 when engraved seals were unearthed in the Punjab
province of Pakistan at a site called Harappa, a name
which is often used to describe the civilization as a
whole. Subsequent excavations at Harappa revealed
the size and complexity of this ancient city. Other sites
were unearthed as well along the banks of the Indus
River, including the equally large city of Mohenjodaro.
Through archaeological and historical research, we can
now say for certain that a highly developed urban
civilization flourished in the Indian subcontinent over
five thousand years ago. Though the Indus Valley script
remains undeciphered, the numerous seals, statuary,
and pottery discovered during excavations, not to
mention the urban ruins, have enabled scholars to
construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus
Valley civilization.
Some kind of centralized state, and certainly fairly
extensive town planning, is suggested by the layout of
the great cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The
same kind of burnt brick appears to have been used in
the construction of buildings in cities that were several
hundred miles apart. The weights and measures also
show a very considerable regularity, suggesting that
these disparate cities spread out across a vast desert
shared a common culture. The Indus Valley people
domesticated animals, and harvested various crops,
such as cotton, sesame, peas, barley, and cotton. Indus
Valley seals have been excavated in far away cities
such as Sumer, suggesting that a wealthy merchant
class existed, engaged in extensive trading throughout
the subcontinent and the Near East.
Other than the archaeological ruins of Harappa and
Mohenjodaro, these seals provide the most detailed
clues about the character of the Indus Valley people.
Bulls and elephants appear on these seals, but the
horned bull, most scholars agree, should not be taken
to be congruent with Nandi, for the horned bull appears
in numerous Central Asian figures as well. The women
portrayed on the seals are shown with elaborate
coiffures, sporting heavy jewelry, suggesting that the
Indus Valley people were an urbane people with
cultivated tastes and a refined aesthetic sensibility. A
few thousand seals have been discovered in Indus
Valley cities, showing some 400 pictographs: too few
in number for the language to have been ideographic,
and too many for the language to have been phonetic.
The image of a deity seated upon a throne has been
etched onto the bottom inside the vessel.
- (LO.539)
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