-Caveat Lector-
I'm doubtful that the Indus Valley civilization had any signficant
IE-speaking component, let alone that it supplied Sumerian with so many
loanwords. However, J.P. Mallory, *In Search of the Indo-Europeans*,
suggests a solution: in examining the origins of the Mitanni, who were
*East* IE (Proto-Indic) in origin but who somehow landed in the middle of
*West* IE speakers (Armenians, Hittites) in Anatolia, he proposes, assuming
an IE "homeland" in the region of the Caspian Sea, that the Proto-Indic
speakers (pre-Vedic) moved directly south into modern Iran. The river
structure of eastern Iran is a much better match for the Sarasvati basin in
which the *Mahabharata* takes place than is the traditional location in the
Indus Valley. Mallory argues that a later movement of Proto-Iranians into
this territory forced the Proto-Indics to split, with the larger group
moving through modern Afghanistan into the subcontinent, while a smaller
rump, isolated from the main body by the Iranians, turned west into
Anatolia, becoming the Mitanni. It is entirely possible, even likely, given
this assumption, that the *Mitanni* or closely-related peoples would have
traded with the Sumerians and even infiltrated into their territory. Thus
Proto-Indic words used in commerce by the Sumerians could easily have been
the result of contact between the Sumerians and this isolated Proto-Indic
speaking community in Anatolia.
As to where the Indus Valley civilization came from, without a better
understanding of the culture, anything anyone says can only be suggestive.
My own intuitive response is that they were the easternmost fringe of the
Neolithic culture horizon which we know best from Southeastern Europe and
Anatolia--"Old Europe", to use Marija Gimbutas's term. But I have no hard
evidence for that belief.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Das GOAT [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Saturday, October 16, 1999 6:48 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: [CTRL] [Fwd: Danite Irish]
>
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> In a message dated 99-10-15 12:38:00 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> > The most intriguing proposal I've seen is that they were colonists from
> the
> >Indus Valley (Mohenjo-Daro) civilization--there is definite evidence of
> trade
> >contact, and it's not too much of a stretch to visualize an expedition
> >traveling along the coast of the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf from India
> to
> >Mesopotamia.
>
> A possibility, yes -- but then the question is, Whence the INDUS culture?
> LOL
>
> You might enjoy reading the following:
>
>
> Subject: Sumer Indus Valley Relations
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 09:21:46 -0600
> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Sumer -Indus Valley Civilization relations revealed through Sumerian
> language and contemporary literature of both countries
>
<snip>
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