The chief minister of an India’s southern state Tamil Nadu is offering $1 million to anyone who can decode the script belonging to an ancient Indus Valley civilisation.
A headless character, a fish under a roof… Assembled with others, these symbols form an impossible-to-decipher writing that is said to be the art of an ancient civilisation of the Indus Valley (India), several thousand years old.
To unravel the mystery, the chief minister of an Indian state is putting $1 million at stake for anyone who can decode the writing, reports CNN Word.
“A very important question about the prehistory of South Asia could be answered if we can completely decipher the script,” said Rajesh PN Rao, a professor of computer science at the University of Washington who has been working on the subject for more than a decade.
These writings, once deciphered, could allow a new reading of history and learn, in more detail, the life of the Bronze Age civilisation. According to CNN World, some specialists estimate that the territory had millions of people, cities with advanced urban planning and vast trade routes.
Battle over ownership
The discovery would also allow the people of the Indus Valley to access a hidden part of their identity and understand their ancestry. According to CNN Word, reading this writing would also help resolve a controversy over the identity of the people of the valley and its migratory flows.
Some believe that the script has links to Indo-European languages. Others believe that it is related to the Dravidian language family, commonly spoken in southern India. The leader of the southern state who is putting the million dollars at stake is leaning towards the latter hypothesis.
But the task is complicated. According to CNN World, there are few objects to analyse that would allow us to understand the succession of symbols that form the writing. The names of recognised rulers of the Indus are also not known. However, these identities allow some researchers to learn more about a civilisation. For example, the names of Cleopatra and Ptolemy helped them decipher ancient Egyptian.
Many enthusiasts mobilised
Since the prise was announced, many enthusiasts have been eager to solve the mystery and have contacted experts. “I used to get one or two emails a week. But now I get them almost every day,” one expert who has worked on the project for 20 years told CNN World.
“If we decipher the script, it will open a window into the life and ideology of the Indus people,” said an Indus Valley Civilisation enthusiast. “We will learn a lot from our ancestors… what they thought, what they focused on.”
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