[Fwd: INDUS]

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

 

below please find the reaction by Frits Staal (fritsstaal)

to the recent article on the Indus Civilization by A. Lawler in Science

Magazine. He has asked me to post his letter to the editor of Science

Mag. as he cannot send it on to the list from his buon' retiro in Thailand.

 

Cheers, M.W.

 

---------------

 

SIR

 

The article " Indus Collapse: The End or the Beginning of an

Asian Culture " (6 June 2008) raises important issues that need careful

analysis before conclusions are drawn. The first sentence mentions

correctly that the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia collapsed in the

22nd century BCE. But it fails to point out that the Mesopotamian

civilizations left records on thousands of clay tablets with cuneiform

writing, many of them edited, translated and studied in depth.

 

That contrasts with the Indus civilization which is mute. The letter

refers to scenes that are " imprinted upon seals. " It does not say that

these seals, which exhibit pictures and sequences of signs, remain

undeciphered. The average length of the 2,905 sequences listed in

Mahadevan's concordance is 4.6, too short for any language. Similar

sequences from the Near East link families, clans, etc. to celestial or

mythological figures. It is consistent with what is found on the seals but

no proof.

 

The letter mentions Pirak but it is not a part of the Indus Civilization

and left no inscriptions. The letter points out rightly that there is no

evidence for an " Aryan invasion, " but does not say that around 1500 BCE a

few speakers of Indo-European trickled across the high passes that

separate Central Asia from the South Asian subcontinent. Their oral

traditions have been preserved. These are the Vedas, their language and

culture are known and it is they that moved (not " drove people " ) to the

east.

 

It is admirable that SCIENCE covers topics like the Indus Valley

civilization but they should be presented by scientists who are familiar

with the facts and know how to interpret them.

Frits Staal

 

 

& #8195;

 

Frits Staal

http://philosophy.berkeley.edu/staal

 

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