Can you crack this 5,000-year-old riddle for £800,000?
Can you crack this 5,000-year-old riddle for £800,000?
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Codebreakers could win an £800,000 prize if they successfully translate a 5,000-year-old language previously undeciphered. The 5,000-year-old Indus Valley Civilisation of modern-day Pakistan and northern India was one of the earliest urban centres in human history.
![[PAKISTAN - DECEMBER 10: Ruins of the archaeological site of Harappa, Indus Valley civilisation, 3rd millennium BC, Punjab, Pakistan. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237665815-08c3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Despite being rediscovered a century ago, what happened to the civilisation remains uncertain. Its script is described as ‘the most important system of writing that is undeciphered’ by renowned Indologist Asko Parpola. Various theories have been proposed. Could it be a Dravidian language, early Brahmi, an early Indo-Aryan language or even Sumerian? No one can agree.
![[$1,000,000 prize on offer to anyone who can crack ancient code]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237666510-22f3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Consisting of 4,000 inscriptions, mostly on seals, pottery and tablets, each trace of it is short – 34 characters at most – and absent of a bilingual artifact that could serve as a translation. But a new study points towards the far southeast of India and the ancient graffiti of Tamil Nadu.
![[Chief Minister elect of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, gestures as he delivers a speech during a press conference after winning the Tamil Nadu State election, at the memorial of his father and late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, in Chennai, on May 2, 2021. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP) (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237776521-eb0a.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
An analysis of 14,000 pieces of ceramic from this region revealed a 60% match with the mysterious Indus script. Could this indicate a cultural link with the Indus Valley 1,400 miles north? That’s what researchers K. Rajan and R. Sivananthan. Tamil Nadu’s government seems to agree. Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced an £800,000 prize for whoever can crack the code.
![[$1,000,000 prize on offer to anyone who can crack ancient code]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237665271-a813.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
