Indus Valley

type of soapstone). These seals are roughly square and feature simple images, together with a brief inscription. They are one of the world's first examples of combining pictures and writing.

The designs were incised or carved into the surface so that the image could be transferred when the seal was pressed into a soft material, such as wax or clay. They were clearly linked with the city's trading activities, since seals have also been found in Mesopotamia, where the merchants of the Indus Valley had established trading links. The most likely explanation is that they were used to identify goods and to show who owned them, either stamped onto merchandise or onto identification tags. Most seals have a perforation at the back, where a cord can be attached. They were produced in large numbers—more than 4,200 seals have been recovered.

Most of the designs portray animals. Often, these are domestic creatures, such as humped cattle, but others are more exotic, and some appear to be mythical, such as a creature resembling a unicorn. Some seals display miniature scenes of activities such as wrestling and the sport of bull-vaulting, whereby men attempted to leap over bulls. The most remarkable examples depict religious icons and rituals, including a goddess supervising an animal sacrifice, a beast with three heads, and a horned man seated in a yogic position, who has been interpreted as an early prototype of the Hindu god Shiva.

TASKS

1. Read the text and translate it into Ukrainian.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. When did cities spring up along the Indus Valley in India and Pakistan?

2. When were the achievements of the Indus Valley civilization first discovered?

3. What were the twin capitals of the Indus Valley?

4. What do excavations of Mohenjo Daro show?

5. How was the settlement dominated?

6. What things were not found by archaeologists?

7. How did the seals look like?

8. How many seals have been recovered?

9. What do most of designs portray?

10. What do the most remarkable examples of seals depict?

3. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following words and phrases:

to spring up

distinctive seals

sophisticated

excavations

to reveal a huge sprawling network

to decipher meaning

to show evidence

to contain elaborate drainage system

magnificent temple

to produce the most notable artworks

to incise and carve into the surface

to portray animals

domestic creatures

to appear to be mythical

to resemble

to depict religious icons and rituals

4. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases:

поєднувати слова та образи

виникати

відмінні печатки

відкривати величезну мережу

високоорганізований

розшифровувати значення

показувати підстави

розкішний храм

вести мирне добре зорганізоване життя

створювати найбільш видатні твори мистецтва

короткі написи

м’який матеріал

встановлювати торгові зв’язки

малювати портрет

бути схожим

показувати мініатюрні сцени

зображати ритуали