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umayrh's review against another edition
5.0
The last chapter of the book describes two scenes: (1) Jawaharlal Nehru, writing about the Indus Civilization in his book, The Discovery of India: "though she influenced them [other civilizations] and was influenced by them, her cultural basis was strong enough to endure. What was the secret of this strength? Where did it come from?"; and (2) Mohandas Gandhi, on being shown a pair of silver anklets from excavations at Taxilla, one of the sites of the Indus Civilization, remarking with a deep sigh: "Just like what my mother used to wear."
These images move me, a South Asian. They reflect the desire to construct a an ancient genealogical ground for personal or national identity; and, paradoxically, also at a native's own I-am-Jack's-complete-lack-of-surprise attitude towards a windfall concordance of the old and the new. If a theme haunts this book, and for good reason; it is that of nationalistic or religious grand narratives. If there's a lament raised in passing, it is the general lack of interest among South Asians in their heritage.
"The Indus" describes a 5000-year old civilization that spanned areas of modern-day India and Pakistan along the meanders and deltas of the river Indus.
The book begins by retracing the timeline of the civilization's discovery (starting in 1920s), the early protagonists (the colonial-era Archeological Survey of India), publications, and early debates (Do various sites sufficiently share cultural affinity? Is this civilization distinct from or part of Sumeria/Mesopotamia?). Next, it describes salient features of the architecture (anti-flood platforms, patterns in the building blocks, the compass-oriented street plans, the many wells and elaborate artificial drainage system); the arts and crafts ("Indus art objects always emphasize technical qualities and craftsmanship over monumentality"); agriculture (millets, rice, water buffaloes, and goats); trade (elaborate system of weights, strong evidence of trade with Mesopotamia); and finally broaching society, religion, and, in perhaps the best chapter of the book, the elusive Indus script.
What makes the book fascinating is this distillation of a complex subject; what makes it great is its treatment of ambiguity. How does one piece together the story of a civilization that doesn't seem to have monuments crying for attention, successor civilizations that provide evidence of continuous transformation, or a Rosetta Stone that can serve as a prophetic intermediary between the modern mind and ancient intention? Meanwhile, this 5000-year old history's material existence is constantly threatened by water-logging and salinity.
The author stands out in his frank acknowledgement of insufficient evidence, a respectful distance from tempting explanations (one that the books often addresses is the civilization's connection with Vedism), and an open examination of tactics assisting interpretation. The last quality is put on a dazzling display in the chapter "Deciphering Indus Script," as the author ponders three questions about the Indus language: (1) the direction of writing, (2) the collection of signs, (3) the segmentation of signs into numerals and words. We see, in illustrated examples, how kerning patterns, concordance indexing, the sheer number of signs (425 is too many for a syllabic writing system and too few for a logographic one), and positional and pairwise frequency analyses are used to find potential answers within reasonable doubt and with limited data.
Finally, I savor the new meanings this book has brought to Hölderlin's ode, Der Ister:
"But we sing, having come
Far from the Indus
And Alpheus, we have long sought
Adequacy to fate,
It takes wings to seize
The nearest things
Immediately
And reach the other side.
Let us settle here.
For the rivers make the land
Arable. If there be vegetation
And animals come to water
At the banks in summer,
Here men will also go."
These images move me, a South Asian. They reflect the desire to construct a an ancient genealogical ground for personal or national identity; and, paradoxically, also at a native's own I-am-Jack's-complete-lack-of-surprise attitude towards a windfall concordance of the old and the new. If a theme haunts this book, and for good reason; it is that of nationalistic or religious grand narratives. If there's a lament raised in passing, it is the general lack of interest among South Asians in their heritage.
"The Indus" describes a 5000-year old civilization that spanned areas of modern-day India and Pakistan along the meanders and deltas of the river Indus.
The book begins by retracing the timeline of the civilization's discovery (starting in 1920s), the early protagonists (the colonial-era Archeological Survey of India), publications, and early debates (Do various sites sufficiently share cultural affinity? Is this civilization distinct from or part of Sumeria/Mesopotamia?). Next, it describes salient features of the architecture (anti-flood platforms, patterns in the building blocks, the compass-oriented street plans, the many wells and elaborate artificial drainage system); the arts and crafts ("Indus art objects always emphasize technical qualities and craftsmanship over monumentality"); agriculture (millets, rice, water buffaloes, and goats); trade (elaborate system of weights, strong evidence of trade with Mesopotamia); and finally broaching society, religion, and, in perhaps the best chapter of the book, the elusive Indus script.
What makes the book fascinating is this distillation of a complex subject; what makes it great is its treatment of ambiguity. How does one piece together the story of a civilization that doesn't seem to have monuments crying for attention, successor civilizations that provide evidence of continuous transformation, or a Rosetta Stone that can serve as a prophetic intermediary between the modern mind and ancient intention? Meanwhile, this 5000-year old history's material existence is constantly threatened by water-logging and salinity.
The author stands out in his frank acknowledgement of insufficient evidence, a respectful distance from tempting explanations (one that the books often addresses is the civilization's connection with Vedism), and an open examination of tactics assisting interpretation. The last quality is put on a dazzling display in the chapter "Deciphering Indus Script," as the author ponders three questions about the Indus language: (1) the direction of writing, (2) the collection of signs, (3) the segmentation of signs into numerals and words. We see, in illustrated examples, how kerning patterns, concordance indexing, the sheer number of signs (425 is too many for a syllabic writing system and too few for a logographic one), and positional and pairwise frequency analyses are used to find potential answers within reasonable doubt and with limited data.
Finally, I savor the new meanings this book has brought to Hölderlin's ode, Der Ister:
"But we sing, having come
Far from the Indus
And Alpheus, we have long sought
Adequacy to fate,
It takes wings to seize
The nearest things
Immediately
And reach the other side.
Let us settle here.
For the rivers make the land
Arable. If there be vegetation
And animals come to water
At the banks in summer,
Here men will also go."
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