Harappan Euhemerus

[Stephen Hodge]

Steve Farmer wrote:

> Do so and you will find the full range of Rgvedic gods --
> Indra and Varuna and Vishnu and Rudra and the Ashvins, etc. --
> transformed euhemeristically into Indus Valley officials or
> flesh-and-blood heroes of the "Aryas" who supposedly brought the
> Valley to its knees.

Ok, so Shendge may be guilty of unwarranted hyperbolic elaboration in
her reconstruction of specifics but why should one simply dismiss a
suggestion that certain gods were orginally mere mortals as euhemerism
just because the transformation took place in prehistoric /
proto-historic times ?   As I am sure you are aware, there are many
examples known from other parts of the ancient world but where the
apotheosis is better documented and thus more transparent.   Is it the
hyperbole or the hypothesized apotheosis that you object to ?   I do
not see how one could definitively disprove the second of these
alternatives.  Personally, I welcome all honestly argued theories that
challenge conventional thinking -- we often need to be open-minded and
rethink our cherished assumptions and perhaps eventually modify them
by elements drawn from seemingly far-fetched hypotheses otherwise
knowledge remains static.   The crackpot of one era often comes to be
seen later as a progenitor of the current standard theories.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge