Types of Seals

In the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, seals were small objects made of various materials such as steatite, copper, terracotta, chert, faience, agate, gold, and ivory. These seals were burned to make them more durable and were used for commercial purposes like sealing jars and creating clay tags for sacks. They were also used in trading activities, as evidenced by the discovery of Harappan seals in Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and along the Arabian Peninsula’s coasts, and Mesopotamian seals in Lothal.

The seals came in various shapes, including triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles, but square-shaped seals were the most common in the Harappan civilization. Many seals had symbols or pictographic scripts on one side, which were typically written from right to left, but some were written in a bidirectional style. Animal impressions were carved on the surfaces of the seals on the other side, featuring animals such as tigers, buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceroses, bison, goats, unicorns, ibexes, humped bulls, and crocodiles.

Interestingly, some Harappan seals were discovered on dead bodies and had threaded holes, suggesting that they were used as amulets or as a necklace. Overall, these seals offer insights into the commercial and trading activities of the Indus Valley Civilization and provide a glimpse into the symbols and animals that were significant to this ancient civilization.

1. Procession Seal 

This is called the “sacrifice” seal that shows a religious ceremony, albeit different people have different ideas about what exactly is happening.  A person with big horns and bangles standing in a pipal tree, which is said to represent a deity, may be seen in the top left corner of the heavily used seal.   In front of the god, another figure—possibly a worshipper or priest—kneeled. There is a human head sitting on a seat next to this image. The upper layer of the image is completed behind this by a big horned animal. Seven individuals, possibly female, are depicted in a line in the lowest layer, each wearing a knee-length garment, bangles, and a plumed hat. Some IVC seals depict groups of seven figures and various trees with religious significance, such as the banyan, pipal, and acacia, which are still significant in later Hinduism. 

2. Pashupati Seal

The Pashupati seal is the most famous seal from the Indus Valley Civilization, made of steatite and featuring a carved human figure, possibly a deity named Pashupati, seated cross-legged. The figure is depicted wearing a three-horned headgear and is surrounded by animals, including an elephant and a tiger on one side, and a rhinoceros and a buffalo on the other, as well as two antelopes below. It measures 3.56 cm by 3.53 cm and has a thickness of 0.76 cm.

The human figure on the seal is seated on a platform with its heels touching and toes pointing downward. Its knees are bent. The double band that wraps around the waist and chest is embellished with what appear to be necklaces, and the arms reach outward and rest lightly on the knees.  The figure sports a tall, ornate headpiece with two enormous, striated horns on either side and a center fan-shaped structure.

Four wild animals surround the human figure, including an elephant, a tiger, a water buffalo, and an Indian rhinoceros on either side. Underneath the platform, two deer or ibexes stand with their curving horns almost touching in the middle. Seven Indus script symbols may be seen at the top of the seal, with the final one seeming somewhat dislocated due to a lack of horizontal space.

The seal, which is believed to date from around 2350-2000 BCE, has been subject to different interpretations by scholars. While some, like Marshall, identified the central figure as a proto-Shiva, others, like Srinivasan and Hiltebeitel, have proposed the figure to be a Buffalo-man, with headdresses that impart powers of fertility.  Some yoga researchers have used the seal to show that the Indus Valley Civilization was where yoga first emerged, but others, like Samuel and Jain, reject this claim as a mere anachronism.  

3. Swastika Seals 

The Swastika signs found in the Indus Valley Civilization were primarily engraved in button and square seals. Scholars classify them as “geometric motifs” that became predominant towards the end of the Mature Harappan Phase. The sizing of these seals may have reflected socio-economic, political, and religious hierarchy. The Swastika Seals were discovered to have had “mercantile purposes” along some trade routes. They may have served as proto-bureaucratic certifications or to identify the owners of a business participating in a transaction.  Even though it is still unclear what the Swastika Seals were used for in the Indus Valley Civilization, it is unlikely that they had any religious or ritualistic significance.  Many cultures around the world have the Swastika sign, some of which are contemporary with the IVC or even predate it. It’s possible that the Indo-Aryan migrations are where the Hindu Swastika had its start.

4. Animal Worship

The Harappan Civilization showed evidence of animal worship, as depicted in their seals, sealings, and terracotta figures. For instance, a seal from Chanhudaro portrays a bull-bison with an erect penis fertilizing a human figure lying on its back, with a plant sprouting from the person’s head, suggesting a fertility cult. The Brahmani bull, known for its large dewlap, is also commonly depicted on the seals. It is possible that the modern-day practice of revering cows and bulls in India had its origins in the Harappan Civilization.

The Harappan civilization also referred to as the Indus Valley Civilization, was present in the northwestern areas of South Asia during the Bronze Age. It lasted from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, with its mature form occurring from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Compared to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilization was the most widespread, with sites covering a vast area from northeast Afghanistan through much of present-day Pakistan and into western and northwestern India. It thrived in the Indus River basins, which were fed by a system of perennial rivers that mostly received monsoon rains. Unlike other ancient civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization did not have large temples or religious imagery, and deciphering the scripts did not reveal the names or characteristics of deities.