Boustrophedon
Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Boustrophedon is a way of writing in which the direction changes from one line to the next. One line runs right to left, and the next runs left to right. The word means "as the ox turns" in Greek, like an ox ploughing a field back and forth. Some scholars think a few Harappan inscriptions follow this pattern.
Example
Most Harappan writing on steatite seals runs from right to left. This is clear because the signs are cramped on the left side, where the writer ran out of space. A few longer texts may switch direction between lines, but the script is undeciphered (no one can yet read it), so this cannot be confirmed.
Don't confuse with
- Right-to-left writing: the normal direction of the Harappan script. Boustrophedon means changing direction on every line.