topics: |  history | unknown | paranormal | indus-valley

Ironically, it was the building of India's railway system, in the 19th
c. that unlocked the ecrets of her remote past, pushing back the origins of
Indian civilisation by almost 2000 years. 

Two engineers, the brothers John and
William Brunton, were having difficulty laying tracks for the East Indian
railway on the sandy alluvial soil of the Indus valley.  In 1856, John, as he
later wrote, 
	was much exercised in my mind how we were to get ballast for the 
	line of the railway.
Then he heard that not far from the line was an ancient ruined city called
Brahminabad.  He visited the city, found it had been built of hard,
well-burnt bricks, and came away "convinced that there was a grand quarry for
the ballast I wanted."  And [ballast] is what Brahminabad became. p. 121

In the North, William's section of the line ran near another ruined
city, a collection of mounds, bricks from which had already been used by
villagers in the village of Harappa at the same site.  William Brunton duly
followed his brother's example and plundered prehistoric Harappa for
ballast.  Thus, 93 miles of good ballast were obtained at little expense.
[this railroad track today runs from Karachi to Lahore.]

Along with the bricks, the workmen dug up small quantities of artefacts,
including engraved soapstone seals.  
One of these aroused the interest of General Alexander Cunningham, who 
visited Harappa in 1856.  The seal was engraved with the figure of a bull
and various signs in an unfamiliar script.

When he became director ASI 1872, he started excavations, but not much was
found. 

Until 1920, all specialists agreed that the origin of Indian civilization
should be placed within a few hundred years of Alexander's expeditioni in 327
BC.

1920: John Marshall, DG ASI, sent "one of his Indian archaeologists, Rai
Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, to begin excavating the mounds at Harappa.  The
Indian made discoveries that supported an assertion by Marshall that before
Alexander, "a well-developed and flourishing civilization had existed in
India for at least a 1000 years." --> was a bold claim for the times.

In 1922, another of Marshall's Indian archaeologists began to excavate some
great mounds at a place known as Mohenjo-Dar ("mound of the dead" - in what
lg?) abt 350 mi s of Harappa.

now the IV Civ is dated between 2500 BC to 1500 BC

Finnish group reading the script: Each letter represents a sound, like the
figure of an "eye" representing the sign for the sound "i".  --> origins of
phonetic writing.

sculpture of haughty bearded man --> priest-king?