This ideograph is a combination of the words up and down, signifying the movement involved in work. Hence, it is the noun work or worker. The Indus sign shares a common root with the Chinese character gōng 工.
Illustrative Text References:
Rahman-dheri: Pottery Graffiti, incised: Rhd-171 A: Sayid Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Asko Parpola, 1991: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions: Volume 2: Page 368: Collections in Pakistan: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
Rahman-dheri: Pottery Graffiti, incised: Rhd-172 A: Sayid Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Asko Parpola, 1991: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions: Volume 2: Page 368: Collections in Pakistan: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
Comments:
Each of the examples is a single Indus sign, which appears to have been used as a potter's mark. In both instances, the symbol is incised on the lower side of a broken pot near the base.
It is assumed that the correct orientation for the character would be that when the pot was sitting upright on its base.
Image Credit:
Work: Lynn Fawcett, 2017.