Seals of harappan civilisation

Indus Valley Civilisation produced a lot of artefacts and art forms. Indus Valley art form emerged during the second half of the third millennium BCE (i.e. from 2500 BC onwards). Thousands of seals have been discovered by archaeologists from the Harappan sites. Most of the seals were made of steatite, which is a kind of soft stone. A few of them were also made of terracotta, gold, agate, chert, ivory and faience. The standard Harappan seal was square in shape with a 2X2 dimension. It is believed that the seals were used for commercial purposes. A few seals were also carried as amulets, perhaps as a kind of identity card. All the seals have pictures of animals with something written in a pictographic script (which is yet to be deciphered). Chiefly, the animals represented are tigers, elephants, bulls, bisons, goats and so on. Most of the seals have been written on both sides. The writings are in the Kharosthi style (right to left). Some seals have mathematical images and must have been used for educational purposes. The most famous seal is the Pashupati Seal of Harappan civilization from Mohenjo Daro. It is a seal with a figure seated cross-legged in the centre with animals around; an elephant and a tiger to the right of the figure and a rhino and a buffalo to its left.