Egyptologists had an advantage in deciphering hieroglyphs due to the similarity between the spoken Coptic language and hieroglyphs, as well as the abundance of texts available for reference. In contrast, researchers studying the Indus script lack a way to confirm pronunciation and are unsure if the script represents one or multiple languages. Scholars believe the Indus Valley civilization spoke a proto-Dravidian language, but finding a breakthrough in deciphering the script remains challenging.
The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world. But we barely know anything about them, in large part because we haven’t been able to decipher the cryptic symbols they left behind.
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