Harappans invented the art of writing like the people of ancient Mesopotamia. However, the Harappan script is yet to be deciphered.
Harappan script is not alphabetical but pictographic.
There are many specimens of Harappan writing on stone seals and other objects. Most inscriptions were recorded on seals and contain only a few words.
Approximately 3,700 inscribed objects have been discovered at Harappan sites, with the majority of the writing appearing on seals and sealings, and some on copper tablets, copper/bronze implements, pottery, and other miscellaneous objects.
Roughly half of the inscribed objects were unearthed at Mohenjodaro, with Mohenjodaro and Harappa together accounting for about 87 percent of all inscribed material.
Most inscriptions are concise, averaging around five signs, while the longest one, found on the Dholavira "signboard," consists of 26 signs.
The script comprises 400–450 basic signs and is considered logo-syllabic, meaning each symbol represents a word or syllable.
It was typically written and intended to be read from right to left (although this is reversed on the seals). There are a few instances, however, of writing from left to right.
Longer inscriptions, spanning more than one line, were sometimes composed in the boustrophedon style, with consecutive lines starting in opposite directions.
