Book Reviewed: Brahmi script on Indus civilization coins, by Birendra Jha

The unicorn and the Brahmi script

In this book, largely based on two ancient seals with Brahmi inscriptions and a unicorn, the author attempts to explain an Indian culture may bear resemblance to an early Indian inhabitants in the ancient city of Babylon (Iraq). The unicorn was first found among ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization. Later is mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Prior to this it may have existed in early Mesopotamian artworks. But seals with a unicorn and Brahmi script were of high social rank or perhaps of a priest or a king in ancient India.

Certain poetical passages of the Bible refer to a strong and splendid horned animal called reʾem. This word was translated as “unicorn” or “rhinoceros” in many versions of the Bible, but many modern translations prefer “wild ox” (aurochs), which is the correct meaning of the Hebrew reʾem. As a biblical animal, the unicorn was interpreted allegorically in the early Christian church. One of the earliest such interpretations appears in the ancient Greek bestiary known as the Physiologus, which states that the unicorn is a strong, fierce animal that can be caught only if a virgin maiden approaches it. Then the unicorn leaps into the virgin’s lap, and she suckles it and leads it to the king’s palace, thus capturing the animal. Medieval writers thus likened the unicorn to Christ, who raised up a horn of salvation for mankind and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

The theory advanced by the author is a little far-fetched and the evidence is feeble. And the Brahmi script, the writing system ancestral to all Indian scripts except Kharoṣṭhī may be of Aramaic inspiration that can be traced only to the 8th or 7th century B.C.E. long after Indus Valley Civilization. It may have been introduced to Indian merchants by people of Semitic origin. The author must study more archaeological artifacts and provide explanations backed by the historical findings.