Crafting a Writing System: Advances in the Genesis and Evolution of the Indus Script

Dennys Frenez (Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, University of Bologna) donnera une conférence dans le cadre du séminaire de Sorbonne Université « Actualité de la recherche archéologique en Orient » (M2AA51AR/HA, M4AA51AR/HA).

Cette conférence s’intitule « Crafting a Writing System: Advances in the Genesis and Evolution of the Indus Script ».

Elle sera retransmise via vidéoconférence de 9h00 à 11h00 à l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (2, rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris, salle Grodecki) et en distanciel via le lien suivant : https://zoom.us/j/94216578157.

Résumé :

The Indus (or Harappan) Civilisation, flourished along the Indus River basin and neighbouring regions of present-day Pakistan and northwestern India between about 2600 and 1900 BCE, was one of the earliest state-level, literate urban societies in human history. Although the Harappans, likewise their contemporaries in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau, created their original writing system, attempts to decipher the so-called Indus Script have so far failed, severely limiting our understanding of the Harappan ethnolinguistic, socio-economic, and political organisation. After introducing the key features of the Indus Script and describing its various applications during the Harappan phase, this lecture will explore the socio-economic context and unique cultural patterns that led to its seminal emergence between approximately 3200 and 2600 BCE.