A group of codebreakers could potentially win a prize of £800,000 if they succeed in translating a 5,000-year-old language that has never been deciphered before.
This challenge revolves around ancient writing that has eluded linguists and historians for centuries. The undeciphered language likely comes from an ancient civilization, and understanding it could provide valuable insights into the culture, history, and communication methods of that society.
The Chief Minister of the Indian state Tamil Nadu has announced a reward for anyone who can decode the cryptic script of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), one of the world’s oldest urban cultures.
The CM, MK Stalin, announced it as a follow-up to a new study suggesting striking similarities between symbols in the Indus script and those in ancient Tamil pottery.
The Indus Valley Civilization also known as the Harappan Civilization, was one of the earliest urban civilizations in the world, flourishing around 3300 to 1300 BCE in what is now Pakistan and parts of India.
It was contemporary with the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, and its cities, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, were highly advanced, both in terms of urban planning and technology.
Mr Stalin said: “We have not been able to clearly understand the writing system of the once flourishing Indus Valley.
“The riddle hasn’t been answered for the past 100 years despite several efforts by archaeologists and experts.
“I announce a cash prize of $1 million (£800,000) to individuals or organisations that decipher the script to the satisfaction of archaeological experts.
“The efforts of the state government is to ensure the right place for Tamil Nadu in the country’s history.”
The enigmatic script, consisting of approximately 4,000 inscriptions, is found primarily on seals, pottery, and tablets. Most inscriptions are brief, ranging from five to six symbols, with the longest known inscription containing 34 symbols.
The script’s short length, coupled with the lack of longer inscriptions or bilingual artefacts—like the Rosetta Stone—has posed a significant challenge for researchers.
The Indus script first gained international attention in 1875, when British archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham published an Indus seal he had discovered.
Since then, various theories have been put forward, suggesting the script might represent a Dravidian language, early Brahmi, an early Indo-Aryan language, or even Sumerian. However, none of these hypotheses have gained widespread agreement.