In southern India's Tamil Nadu state, there's a chance to win INR 8.64 crore ($1 million) without buying a lottery ticket. The challenge? Deciphering a script that's 5,300 years old.
The script, tied to the Indus Valley civilization, has baffled experts for decades. Over the years, many—mostly from India or the Indian diaspora—have claimed to unlock its mysteries, but the true meaning remains elusive. To inspire fresh attempts, the Tamil Nadu government announced this significant prize. This comes after a recent study revealed parallels between the enigmatic Indus symbols and inscriptions found on local pottery, reigniting interest in cracking the code.
The Indus, or Harappan, civilization is one of the world’s earliest urban societies, emerging over 5,000 years ago in what is now northwest India and Pakistan. It thrived for centuries, home to farmers and traders, before experiencing a sudden decline—a mystery that historians have yet to solve. Among the civilization’s greatest enigmas is its language. Researchers today speculate that a Dravidian language might have been spoken by the Indus people, but this remains unconfirmed.
One of the challenges in cracking the code of the Indus script lies in the fact that most of the symbols appear on small objects such as seals, pottery, and tablets. With around 4,000 scripts in total, each typically containing no more than five signs, there's limited context to work with. As a result, researchers are still uncertain whether the symbols represent full words, parts of words, or even phrases. The goal is to find a solution that can be recognised by archaeologists as the definitive answer to this linguistic mystery.
It's unclear why Tamil Nadu's Mr. Stalin chose to offer a reward for deciphering the script, but his announcement came after a recent study that connected Indus Valley symbols to graffiti discovered in his state. The Indian government has historically allocated substantial funds for the research and preservation of ancient artifacts. For instance, the National Culture Fund (NCF), established in 1996 under the Ministry of Culture, serves as a trust to support cultural funding, enabling institutions to undertake projects related to the conservation and promotion of India's rich heritage.
A notable globally recognized project is the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum, which took scholars over 20 years to complete. This effort, initiated in the early 19th century, involved the collaboration of linguists, archaeologists and historians, leading to the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs and significantly enhancing our understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Regarding the Indus Valley artefacts, once deciphered, they are expected to be displayed in various museums across India, particularly those under the Ministry of Culture. Some of these artifacts are already housed in the National Museum in New Delhi, which plays a key role in preserving and showcasing India's cultural heritage. Few pieces from the Indus Valley Civilization in the museum include the Seated Male in Namaskar Pose, a terracotta figurine from Harappa depicting a man in the Namaskar pose, and the Toy Cart, a clay toy from Harappa. There is also the Animal-Faced Pregnant Female, a terracotta figurine from Mohenjo-Daro, and a Bull, a baked clay figurine from Mohenjo-Daro.
