Editing Indus Valley Civilisation (section)

==== Seals ====
{{Main|Indus script}}
[[File:IndusValleySeals.JPG|200px|thumb|right|Stamp seals and (right) impressions, some of them with [[Indus script]]; probably made of steatite; [[British Museum]] (London)]]
Thousands of [[steatite]] seals have been recovered, and their physical character is fairly consistent. In size they range from squares of side {{convert|3/4|to|1+1/2|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on|0}}. In most cases they have a pierced boss at the back to accommodate a cord for handling or for use as personal adornment.  In addition a large number of sealings have survived, of which only a few can be matched to the seals.  The great majority of examples of the [[Indus script]] are short groups of signs on seals.{{Sfn|Possehl|2002|p=127}}

Seals have been found at [[Mohenjo-daro]] depicting a figure standing on its head, and another, on the [[Pashupati seal]], sitting cross-legged in what some{{who|date=February 2020}} call a [[yoga]]-like pose (see image, the so-called ''Pashupati'', below). This figure has been variously identified. Sir John Marshall identified a resemblance to the Hindu god, Shiva.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mackay |first=Ernest John Henry |title=Excavations at Mohenjodaro |journal=Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India |year=1928–1929 |pages=74–75 }}</ref>

A [[:File:Indus bull-man fighting beast.jpg|human deity with the horns, hooves and tail of a bull]] also appears in the seals, in particular in a fighting scene with a horned tiger-like beast. This deity has been compared to the Mesopotamian bull-man [[Enkidu]].<ref name="Littleton">{{cite book |last1=Littleton |first1=C. Scott |title=Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology |date=2005 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9780761475651 |page=732 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u27FpnXoyJQC&pg=PA732 |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182624/https://books.google.com/books?id=u27FpnXoyJQC&pg=PA732#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Marshall|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds_hazstxY4C&pg=PA389 389]}}<ref name="Pearson">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Vipul |year=2008 |title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131717530 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&pg=PA35 |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182624/https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Several seals also show a man fighting two lions or tigers, a "[[Master of Animals]]" motif common to civilisations in Western and South Asia.<ref name="Pearson" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Indus Script. Text, Concordance And Tables Iravathan Mahadevan |page=[https://archive.org/details/TheIndusScript.TextConcordanceAndTablesIravathanMahadevan/page/n111 76] |url=https://archive.org/details/TheIndusScript.TextConcordanceAndTablesIravathanMahadevan}}</ref>

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MET 1984 482 237872.jpg|Seal; 3000–1500 BC; baked [[steatite]]; 2 × 2&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)

File:Stamp seal and modern impression- unicorn and incense burner (?) MET DP23101 (cropped).jpg|Stamp seal and modern impression: unicorn and incense burner (?); 2600–1900&nbsp;BC; burnt steatite; 3.8 × 3.8 × 1&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Clevelandart 1973.160.jpg|Seal with two-horned bull and inscription; 2010 BC; steatite; overall: 3.2 x 3.2&nbsp;cm; [[Cleveland Museum of Art]] ([[Cleveland, Ohio]], US)

File:Clevelandart 1973.161.jpg|Seal with unicorn and inscription; 2010 BC; steatite; overall: 3.5 x 3.6&nbsp;cm; Cleveland Museum of Art

File:Constitution Page1 Rammanohar.jpg|Seal painted on the first page of Constitution of India
</gallery>