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$1 Million Reward For Cracking The 5,300-year-old Indus Valley Script Mystery
Daily Galaxy ^ | June 19, 2025 | Ashley Morgan

Posted on 06/19/2025 12:52:37 PM PDT by Red Badger

The government of Tamil Nadu has announced a $1 million reward for anyone who can successfully decipher the cryptic script of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). Chief Minister M.K. Stalin made the announcement following a new study that suggests significant connections between symbols in the Indus script and markings found on ancient Tamil pottery.

The Enigma of the Indus Valley Script The Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished around 5,000 years ago in the fertile plains of the Indus River (present-day northwest India and Pakistan), is known for its advanced urban planning and extensive trade networks. However, one of its most intriguing aspects remains unsolved: the civilization’s script. Despite more than a century of research, the script, which consists of approximately 4,000 inscriptions, has remained undeciphered. Most of these inscriptions are brief, typically consisting of five to six symbols, and are found primarily on seals, pottery, and tablets.

One of the greatest obstacles to understanding the Indus script is the absence of longer inscriptions or bilingual artifacts—such as the famous Rosetta Stone—that could help unlock its meaning. While scholars have proposed various theories over the years, ranging from connections to Dravidian languages, early Brahmi, and even Sumerian, none have gained universal acceptance.

A New Theory Emerges

Recent research has brought fresh hope for deciphering the Indus script. Scholars K. Rajan and R. Sivananthan have compared over 14,000 ceramic sherds from Tamil Nadu and discovered striking similarities between these markings and those of the Indus script. Their findings suggest that as much as 60% of the symbols match, hinting at a possible cultural connection between the Indus Valley and southern India.

This revelation has inspired renewed excitement among researchers, including linguists, archaeologists, and computer scientists, many of whom are eager to decode the script once and for all.

The Reward and the Race to Decipher the Script

The $1 million prize has sparked a global race among experts to crack the code. Some researchers, such as Nisha Yadav from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, have turned to machine learning to analyze the patterns in the script.

Machine learning techniques have been successfully used in other areas of linguistic analysis, so their application to the Indus script holds promise. However, some experts remain skeptical about the effectiveness of machine learning in fully understanding such an ancient and enigmatic system of writing.

The prize announcement has already drawn attention from a wide range of disciplines, and the possibility of unlocking the secrets of the Indus Valley civilization’s language is now closer than ever.

What Could Decoding the Script Reveal?

Successfully deciphering the Indus script would offer unparalleled insights into the culture, governance, trade, and spiritual beliefs of the Indus Valley Civilization. Given that the civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures in human history, understanding its language could reshape our understanding of early societies in South Asia and beyond.

With this new development, the mystery of the Indus Valley script remains one of the most tantalizing puzzles in archaeology and linguistics, and the $1 million prize will undoubtedly continue to draw attention from around the world.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; History; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; harappan; indusscript; indusvalley
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To: Red Badger

I got the first row. It’s “Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky” - not liking where this is going...


21 posted on 06/19/2025 1:30:53 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Fledermaus

Well, considering they had the first plumbing system yet found.... could be!


22 posted on 06/19/2025 1:31:57 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: NonValueAdded

Ovaltine. You beat me with that one.


23 posted on 06/19/2025 1:32:43 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: Red Badger

Noah was right!


24 posted on 06/19/2025 1:34:15 PM PDT by ScottHammett
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To: Red Badger

Each symbol is a complete thought, not a word.


25 posted on 06/19/2025 1:41:50 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Red Badger

Send money! College tuition due!!


26 posted on 06/19/2025 1:59:58 PM PDT by Bobbyvotes (TERM LIMITS IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP CORRUPT CAREER POLITICIANS. )
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To: Red Badger; little jeremiah

Heads up


27 posted on 06/19/2025 2:06:51 PM PDT by thinden (Buckle Up!)
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To: Red Badger
I cracked it.



Now give me my money.
28 posted on 06/19/2025 2:43:55 PM PDT by nicollo (Trump beat the cheat! )
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To: Eli Kopter

The fifth one on the first set is a restaurant menu item. Says double lamb. With tziziki and a red wine. I looked at the other ones and I can make out, Slow children at play.


29 posted on 06/19/2025 2:45:46 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (TDS much?)
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To: Red Badger

“No Parking” “Trespassers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” “Naan loaves: 13 loaves for 1 rupee.”


30 posted on 06/19/2025 2:45:57 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Jamestown1630

I was thinking the same thing. As soon as AI gets a little smarter and has access to a larger database, all of these ancient language mysteries are going to be solved fairly quickly. This is the perfect task for AI.


31 posted on 06/19/2025 3:06:18 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: Red Badger

Pretty sure Alabama used those on their sideline last season.


32 posted on 06/19/2025 3:14:19 PM PDT by JZelle
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To: Red Badger

Geeze, everyone is over thinking it, it says 15 minutes can save you 15%.
sheesh, easypeesy.


33 posted on 06/19/2025 3:38:57 PM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

I’m not knowledgeable enough to know exactly what would go into it, but I imagine AI will someday be very useful for this sort of thing.

(I think cryptanalysts - the Friedmans? - finally decided that the Voynich was just nonsense; but maybe AI can have a crack at that someday, too.)


34 posted on 06/19/2025 4:02:45 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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35 posted on 06/19/2025 4:33:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Red Badger

36 posted on 06/19/2025 4:33:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Dad was my hero

My decoder ring must be faulty; it says ‘Sling lets you do that!’


37 posted on 06/19/2025 4:47:10 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Red Badger

M.K. Stalin, grand nephew of Josepf Stalin. You don’t see too many Stalin surnames anymore or ever.


38 posted on 06/19/2025 6:13:27 PM PDT by Sawdring
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

A bigger problem is the dearth of samples. What do we have for this civilization, besides a lot of seals, stamps, tokens...? You can’t do much translating without subjects and predicates, nouns and verbs.

AI might be very helpful here. Take every known ancient script, every sample. Indus Valley is most likely related to Dravidian but you never know.

A Rosetta Stone doesn’t turn up often enough. Or as I’ve often said, it’d be wonderful if we found someone buried with a library to pass the time in their afterlife — and they had a convenient Etruscan-Latin dictionary, or a Linear A -Greek.


39 posted on 06/19/2025 6:19:16 PM PDT by Buttons12 ( )
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To: Buttons12
The Latin-Etruscan dictionary did exist and so we do have the hope of finding it. Maybe in the ruins of Pompeii now that we have possibly learned how to read the charred scrolls.

Maybe other languages too.

40 posted on 06/19/2025 6:37:13 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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