Question

Examine the challenges historians face in deciphering the Harappan script.

Answer 1

1. Historians have called the Harappan script enigmatic.
2. They have found that Harappan inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.
3. Although the script remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical but syllable.
4. It has just too many signs somewhere between 375 and 400.
5. The script was written from right to left, as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space.