Image: Iravatham Mahadevan
Image: Iravatham Mahadevan

This is the ideograph for the verb to drive combined with a pictograph of a thread. In the weaving process, the weaver passes the shuttle to and fro, thereby controlling the distribution of thread within the cloth. In a sense, she might be said to drive the thread. Hence, Mahadevan's sign number 222 is the verb to weave.


Illustrative Text Reference:

Lothal: Seal: L-51 a: Jagat Pati Joshi and Asko Parpola, 1987: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions: Volume 1: Page 249: Collections in India: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.

Comment:

This interpretation of Mahadevan's sign number 222 is supported by the motif on Seal L-51, which depicts a loom.


Image Credit:

Indus Script Sign Number 222: Sign List of the Indus Script: Iravatham Mahadevan, 1977: The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables: The Director General Archaeological Survey of India.