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Walter Fairservis
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Walter Ashlin Fairservis Jr. (1921 – 1994) was an American archaeologist.
Quotes
It appears to be hieroglyphic or ideographic in form. Human, animal and floral figurines are readily recognizable, multiple dashes probably represent numbers , while such objects as wheels, bows and arrows , and trees very likely represent themselves - it would seem that they are not phonetic symbols.
quoted in The Problem of Aryan Origins by K.D. Sethna, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1992.
About the writing on the Harappan stamp-seals
We should join to them Mundigak in South Afghanistan, about whose pottery Fairservis, Jr., has the general statement: " ...the Mundigak sequence is closely paralleled in northern Baluchistan - so much so, in fact, that one can say that they are essentially of one and the same tradition."
quoted in The Problem of Aryan Origins by K.D. Sethna, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1992.
The succeeding phase of Mundigak I, says Fairservis, adds to the KGM ware " the jars and cups and design repertoire, including black and red polychrome painting familiar in Quetta [central Baluchistan] as the Kechi Beg wares, and which in turn have their equivalents in the early Hissar Culture of north-eastern Iran. "
quoted in The Problem of Aryan Origins by K.D. Sethna, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1992.
Walter Fairservis, Jr .,' describing the Harappan site of Mohenjo-daro, has dwelt on a structure "known to the excavators as the Assembly Hall". He 2 writes: "Badly preserved, it is nonetheless one of the most striking monuments at Mohenjodaro. It consisted of a broad pillared hall opening principally to . the north, i.e., towards the highest part of the site. Twenty rectangular pillars approximately five feet by three feet in size supported the roof. The pillars were arranged in rows of four with five pillars to each row." After detailing the rest of the important features of the building complex containing the pillared hall , Fairservis ' comments on this complex: " One cannot help but speculate.. . that it was constructed in response to a formality urged by religion or government. Was it indeed a place of assembly or perhaps a place of audience? Wheeler rightfully refers to the Achaemenid pillared hall of audience, the apadana, in this context, and such a comparison is certainly called to mind.
quoted in Ancient India in a new light by K.D. Sethna
External links
Category:1921 births
Category:1994 deaths
Category:Archaeologists from the United States
Category:Historians from the United States
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Vassar College faculty
Category:Non-fiction authors from the United States
Category:People from New York City