What is the etymology of the word "Mehrgarh", one of the earliest Neolithic site in South Asia?
Upvote:4
This isn't a definitive answer, so much as a research dump, but perhaps it may help someone else come up with one.
It appears that the site was "discovered" (archeologically that is) in 1974 by the late French Archeologist Jean-Francois Jarrige. Its possible there's an interview somewhere where he discusses the rationale for the name, or its in his first report about the site, but most likely that would be in French, which I am not fluent in.
The best English-language source about the discovery of the site itself I could find online was an Ancient Origins website that said this about the name:
In the native Balochi language, ‘mehr’ is said to mean ‘love’, and ‘garh’ means heaven. Thus, the name of the site may be taken to mean ‘the heaven of love’.
Putting this statement in there seems to strongly imply that the name was given by locals, but nowhere is this flat-out stated. (I'm also pretty dubious about the translation given in the second sentence, but probably nobody on earth knows the Balochi language less than I do, so I'm in no position to judge).
According to Unesco:
Following its abandonment it was covered by alluvial selts until it was exposed following a flash flood in the 1970s.
From this little bit of information, and what else I know about how sites tend to be "discovered", my best guess would be the following: The site was found by Balochi locals after said flash flood, and eventually Dr. Jarringe's team heard about it and went to check it out in 1974. The locals likely guessed it was some kind of ancient holy site, so amongst themselves they had already given it that "love-heaven" name.
Its possible the "love" part came from some of the figurines found there, pictures of which would be NSFW, as they seem to my prudish modern American eyes to be sexualized.
That's just a guess, based on incomplete information though.
Upvote:4
This reportage by Pakistani newspaper Dawn hints at a Balochi etymology for the name Mehrgarh:
In native Balochi, 'mehr' stands for love and 'garh' for heaven, translating Mehrgarh into ‘the heaven for love’
This suggests that French archeologist Jarrige simply used a local name given to the site.
If this is correct, then most probably "Mehrgarh" has no link to whatever name the local Neolithic people gave to themselves, since Baloch people are thought to have migrated to Pakistan in the 1st millenium CE, long after the collapse of the Mehrgarh settlement.
More post
- 📝 European Life Expectancy Comparable? Now or When?
- 📝 Can the Cassini maps of France be found online?
- 📝 Were there efforts made in the 19th century to inoculate the natives against smallpox?
- 📝 Did any English duke ever grant away an earldom he held?
- 📝 How did Hitler have his own private militia in 1923?
- 📝 How far would the average Silk Road caravan travel during the early reign of Justinian?
- 📝 In the US Civil War, what factors contributed to the Union having such a numerical advantage over the Confederacy?
- 📝 How many people died in the British Isles from religious persecution between 1532 and 1791?
- 📝 Which bastards became kings?
- 📝 Was the title "Democratic-Republican" really used?
- 📝 In Classical Athens, what did the portico of the archon basileus look like?
- 📝 Seeking floor plan of a classical Roman building with 20 to 30 rooms
- 📝 Outdoors Survival Knowledge for Samurai?
- 📝 What were the rules of the migration to the Louisiana Territory in USA?
- 📝 Who was Richard of York at the Battle of Grunwald?
- 📝 How did the debt collection of Gregorius IX work?
- 📝 Why did Kennedy refuse any military action in Laos at first and then decide otherwise by sending combat troops?
- 📝 Early modern vs late modern vs post modern?
- 📝 What were the factors behind the lowest AAA corporate interest rate in U.S bond history during 1946?
- 📝 Did Truman really believe that Hiroshima was a military base?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 Usage of "native American" in the 18th Century
- 📝 Did Hamilton really send Burr an "itemised list of thirty years of disagreements"?
- 📝 How useful are mythological king lists and geneologies for historians?
- 📝 Were any signers of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, or Constitution of the United States Black (also called Negro)?
- 📝 Treatments for the Plague
- 📝 Murder–suicide by sinking the ship
- 📝 Why didn't Russia help Saddam Hussein as it is helping Syria now?
- 📝 What was the attitude of the Scientific community when Hitler accessed power?
- 📝 Is the Sri Lankan Civil War really over?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the etymology of the word "Mehrgarh", one of the earliest Neolithic site in South Asia?
- 📝 What are the earliest examples in history where one state/people stepped in to rescue another?
- 📝 What is the etymology of the word "slave"?
- 📝 What is the earliest known account of the modern military salute?
- 📝 What is the earliest mention of space travel?
- 📝 What is the earliest evidence of contact between Ireland and Egypt?
- 📝 What is the earliest recorded female name in history?
- 📝 What is the earliest reference to "space aliens"?
- 📝 What other one word responses have been made to military ultimatums besides "Nuts!", "Mokusatsu" and "If"?
- 📝 What is the earliest reliably dated event exact to the year?
- 📝 What is the earliest mention of an estimate of 71% water (or 70.8%) / 29% land (or 29.2%)?
- 📝 What was the earliest professional recording of "Happy Birthday to You"?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 What is the earliest evidence for the use of hearing aids?
- 📝 What was the earliest knitted sweater?
- 📝 What is the earliest recorded example of an extradition treaty or law?
- 📝 What is the earliest example of the usage of 'Nazis' to refer clearly and exclusively to the National-Socialists?
- 📝 What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
- 📝 What was the ancient Egyptian word for "soldier"?
- 📝 What did the word 'unconstitutional' mean to Americans prior to the Revolution?
- 📝 What is the history of the use of word dividers in Greek?
- 📝 What is the earliest archaeological evidence of silk presence in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 What is the earliest known writing associating the number three with the dimension of the world?
- 📝 What is the earliest known book / novel trilogy in literature?
- 📝 What led to the abandonment of the word "canton" for RSFSR subdivisions?
- 📝 What is the earliest passage that describes Hippocrates' observation that blood stratifies into four layers?
- 📝 What is the earliest depiction of a crane?
- 📝 What was the earliest known written constitution?
- 📝 What are the earliest written accounts of Sub-Saharan Africa from the outside?
- 📝 What is the earliest historical record of Hungarian words?