# Indus script **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210 "2005-05-10T13:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/1 "2005-05-10T13:12:26Z")
Troy Dayton of Fargo ND asked **bibliophage** why we haven’t cracked the Indus script (Staff Report: [How come we can’t decipher the Indus script?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mindusscript.html)), and **bib** mentioned several other historic mysteries that we have not been able to solve. I just wanted to add, that a simple code like [Kryptos](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/kryptos19.htm) seems to take forever. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/2 "2005-05-10T14:25:13Z")
Ha_rappan paper_? 'phage, that was awful. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/3 "2005-05-10T14:29:29Z")
Great job, bib. Eminently readable and thorough. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/4 "2005-05-10T15:01:37Z")
As a lover of linguistics and scripts, I have to say, **bibliophage** , job well done! An excellent article. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/5 "2005-05-10T15:24:17Z")
Oh me too! Thanks **bibliophage**! I enjoyed it thoroughly! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/6 "2005-05-10T15:53:29Z")
Just to join in the love pile-on, great job. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/7 "2005-05-10T15:58:14Z")
I too enjoyed the article. It should serve as a warning, though, not to send in linguistic questions, or risk death by punnage. The “axe” jokes were even worse, but Harappan paper had a greater impact because it was at the end. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/8 "2005-05-10T17:23:32Z")
The article got me interested in reading more about hieroglyphics. Is the cited book a good read? ( **The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script** ) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/9 "2005-05-10T17:57:20Z")
Another good book on languages is [Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0071357432). It has been a longtime dream of mine to decipher the Indus script. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/10 "2005-05-10T18:40:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I too enjoyed the article. It should serve as a warning, though, not to send in linguistic questions, or risk death by punnage. The “axe” jokes were even worse, but Harappan paper had a greater impact because it was at the end. No, actually, it’s a warning against sending in any question which **bibliophage** might answer… All of his Reports are full of puns and bad jokes (what, no innuendo this time, **bib**? You’re slipping). Unfortunately, there’s no telling what books **bibliophage** might have consumed recently, so pretty much any question conceivable is potentially dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/11 "2005-05-10T19:53:45Z")
Thanks for a fascinating article. It occurs to me that I never actually knew what was inscribed on the Rosetta stone. Is it an alphabet or an essay? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/12 "2005-05-10T20:01:43Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Another good book on languages is [Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0071357432). > > It has been a longtime dream of mine to decipher the Indus script. This is one of the books **bibliophage** cites in the report. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/13 "2005-05-10T21:39:05Z")
I must admit it took me a bit to get the last one. I was pronouncing Harappan as HAR-a-pan, not ha-RAP-an 🙂 **Biblio** , you’re lucky you’re in Cyberspace and not near me right now. That was a most evil column - I almost lost my job I groaned so loud while reading it (I was on break luckily). “Joycean” as an undecipherable language - I would have laughed if terrors of English Literature 101 hadn’t flashed through my head. Great article - I would go so far as to say that I would have no problem if you were to take up the mantle of The Master when Ed…er I mean Cecil finally tires of fighting ignorance and heads for a Tibetan monestary to live out his days. critter42 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/14 "2005-05-10T21:43:39Z")
> [@YellowTail](#): > > Thanks for a fascinating article. It occurs to me that I never actually knew what was inscribed on the Rosetta stone. Is it an alphabet or an essay? Something else? Wikipedia is your buddy: > **[Rosetta Stone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone)** > > The Rosetta Stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences between the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. > The stone was carved during the Hellen... ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/15 "2005-05-10T23:42:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Wikipedia is your buddy: > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta\_Stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone) Huh. Wikipedia: “It is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing various taxes he repealed, and instructing that statues be erected in temples and that the decree be published …” Now I know. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/16 "2005-05-11T09:20:50Z")
Just tossing in another “good job!” Enjoyed it a lot, even if it’s starting to annoy me that I still don’t get all the puns. _grr_ ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/17 "2005-05-11T12:55:31Z")
I don’t understand the big deal about undecipherable scripts. My secretary said for years that my script was undecipherable. Anyhow, great job, **bib** , as usual. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/18 "2005-05-11T13:43:37Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > The article got me interested in reading more about hieroglyphics. Is the cited book a good read? ( **The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script** ) It’s an excellent book, but make sure you get Pope’s revised 1999 edition, not the original 1975 edition. The first edition unfairly downplays the contributions of Thomas Young. Some other sources unfairly hype his contributions at the expense of Champollion. Pope’s 1999 edition strikes the balance. > [@naita](#): > > Enjoyed it a lot, even if it’s starting to annoy me that I still don’t get all the puns. _grr_ Next time all puns will be in Norwegian. Except the blue ones of course, because that’s a Norse of a different color. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/19 "2005-05-11T14:10:52Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Next time all puns will be in Norwegian. Except the blue ones of course, because that’s a Norse of a different color. That is it. Somebody take away his crayons. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210/20 "2005-05-11T16:43:00Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Next time all puns will be in Norwegian. Except the blue ones of course, because that’s a Norse of a different color. OK, that confirms my suspicions. **Bib** is The Master in disguise. Not only did he make a pun, he slipped in a Monty Python reference while doing it! Pure genius. critter42 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script/303210.md?page=2)