Unicorn complex of the Indus culture

Scientific Study from the year 2024 in the subject Cultural Studies - Middle Eastern Studies, , language: English, abstract: The seals of the Indus culture also include depictions of the animal with a horn and an object under its head. Researchers refer to the animal as a unicorn and the object as a cult object. They assume that it is either a mythical creature or an animal shown from the side, whose second horn is covered by the first. The author is of the opinion that the animal was still alive at the time of the Indus culture and descended from an extinct cattle species Bos namadicus. The cult object is a symbol consisting of a combination of a basket made of plant fibres and the fruit of a fig tree. The unicorn of the Indus culture has nothing to do with the unicorn we are familiar with today. In the appendix, the author deals with the origin of the occidental unicorn. The idea of the western unicorn is based on three sources: Greek traditions, the Buddhist unicorn legend and allegorical in-terpretations of biblical passages.