vmp916 t1_ja6juw7 wrote on February 27, 2023 at 5:19 AM

Reply to comment by ManannanMacLir74 in 4,500-year-old Sumerian temple dedicated to mighty thunder god discovered in Iraq. by Rifletree

How came some say it’s a script while others say it’s not? A representation of a spoken language which in modern day would be script but back then it could mean representation of sounds or meanings behind sounds. How is that not a script?

ManannanMacLir74 t1_ja7k4b9 wrote on February 27, 2023 at 12:57 PM

Please read up on the "Indus valley script"

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-we-still-cant-read-the-writing-of-the-ancient-indus-civilization

https://www.harappa.com/answers/why-has-language-harappa-not-been-deciphered#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20the%20Indus%20writing,of%20the%20same%20general%20period.

Flammenschwert t1_ja80dob wrote on February 27, 2023 at 3:08 PM

There's kind of a big muddy area between abstract symbols and a full on script, which is specifically symbols representing spoken language. They may have had symbolic meaning without directly standing in for language. For an example in the modern world, a roadsign indicating a turn has symbolic meaning, but that doesn't make it a script. The Nike logo definitely stands for a particular meaning, but it's not part of a script either. It's unknown whether or not the Indus Valley script is a proper script or if it has non-language symbolic meaning.