Abstract
Prehistoric Sind and Sumeria.—Mr. Ernest Mackay publishes in Antiquity for December some further links between Mohenjo-daro and ancient Sumeria, which he is able to add to those given in the recently published “Mohenjo-daro”, edited by Sir John Marshall, as a result of the examination of material added to the Baghdad Museum since he left Iraq. Red carnelian beads with a white design found in graves at Ur are identical with those from Sind, the latter probably being a local copy of an imported bead. Other examples of decorated carnelian beads link the two civilisations, but at Mohenjo-daro they were probably imported and were greatly valued, as is shown by the fact that they were copied in steatite, the red ground being produced by a burnished hæmatite paint. Persia may have been the original source and may also have supplied Russia. A peculiar bead, rhomboidal in section, of which the long sides are notched, is also found at Ur and Kish, where it is dated at about 3100 B.C. They may be copied from sickle flints, and in Sind were probably imported from Sumeria. Terminals in gold, copper, or faience are frequently found at Mohenjo-daro. Though not yet found in Sumeria, they occur at Byblos, dating from the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. Hollow gold terminals exactly resembling these have recently been found at Gizeh (2900-2750 B.C.). A copper blade found at Mohenjo-daro in one of the upper layers exactly resembles one from Kish, except that the latter has a longer tang. Cubical dice, tetrahedral gamesmen, and pottery rings, thought to belong to a game, have been found at Mohenjodaro and in Sumeria. The framed Greek cross and the swastika occur in both areas, though a swastika found at Kish may have been made locally for an Indian resident. Other resemblances noted are feeding-cups with projecting spouts, beads capped with gold, perforated vessels, hollow animal masks in pottery and metal, and the narrowing of the eyes in certain human figures.
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Research Items. Nature 129, 61–63 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129061a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129061a0
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