Image: Lynn Fawcett
Image: Lynn Fawcett

This Indus motif is a pictograph of a bull. The bull is depicted with one horn. The single horn draws attention to the head, which gives us a link with the Latin word capitalis, which means 'of the head', and thence to the word chattel.


Illustrative Motif Reference:

Mohenjo-daro: Seal: M-1792 a: Asko Parpola, B. M. Pande, and Petteri Koskikallio, 2010: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions: Volume 3,1: Page 51: New material, untraced objects, and collections outside India and Pakistan: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.

Comment:

Variations on the chattel motif are the most common motifs found on the Indus seals. I haven't been able to check every instance of this motif against the associated inscription, but I would expect all of the inscriptions to refer to movable property.


Image Credit:

Chattel: Lynn Fawcett, 2017.